The Camper and the Spiders 🕷

What’s a fear you’ve overcome — and how did you do it?

This is my first ever blog… ¡ started it back in November of last year… one reason was to help make it easier for me when ¡ get ready to write my first ever book… about my life…

¡ know fear

It knows me

¡ve been at war with it since the 90s

And newsflash

¡m winning

¡ always knew ¡ would

¡ do not give up

And ¡ do not give in

There’s been many dim lit days… dark nights… where it appeared though it had me.

But fear’s power is one that is borrowed

Borrowed from me

So ¡ve learned not to fuel it

All ¡ know… is what it did take to make this

All ¡ am… is what it will take… to break this

On a lighter note

Let’s talk about something a little more relatable

Spiders.

Big effin’ huge ones.

So ¡ve always been scared of them in the past… like fearful…

And I’m an outdoorsman haha

¡m not scared of much

Like snakes for example

Even poisonous ones ¡ will catch and hold carefully…

They don’t bother me at all

But spiders had my number

Until the summer of 2o1O

That’s when ¡ finally dealt with it

¡ was living and working at a Christian men’s drug rehab in Florida

It was a long-term treatment program

The guys lived there for 18 months

¡ was the resident director and lived in the same house with them

Well… the pastor that ran it wanted me to have my own place separate from everyone

So he purchased a used fifth-wheel camper trailer and we set it up out back on the ten-acre property

Hold up…

Let me back up a lil

The property had a lot of spiders

Florida has a lot of spiders lol

We would find them in the men’s residence all the time

Come to find out… they are called Huntsman spiders

And they are enormous and intimidating… most as big as your hand.

Ok… back to the story…

The camper had some type of hole somewhere underneath the frame

And shortly after ¡ moved in

So did all my long-legged, hairy little roommates

They would crawl on me while ¡ was sleeping

¡d wake up and they would be on… the ceiling… the walls… the floor… just all over

¡ went to put my bedroom shoes on once…

And a big one was in there

¡ could feel it on my bare toes

It was frantically moving around trying to get out haha

So like lightning… ¡ pulled my foot out and out it came… then it ran up my leg

These types of things happened often with my new friends

¡ didn’t think ¡ could stay

Live here like this

In this place… with them. 😬

We searched and searched trying to find how they were getting in

But we never found it

As the days passed

¡ had more encounters

Daily…

Nightly…

Then it occurred to me

¡ had never once been bitten by one

So ¡ did much praying

Asking God to help me get over this fear

And He did

Little by little

¡ got to where it didn’t bother me

¡ even stopped trying to kill them

¡ got to where ¡ could lay in bed at night and read

Even if one was resting on the wall beside me

Sometimes there might be three or four in plain sight in the room at the same time

And it didn’t faze me anymore

¡ stayed in that camper for about a year

Never once got bit

Not one time

There was nothing to fear… ever.

only something to face.

This is a Huntsman Spider I was told… not a Wolf Spider as me and my friends are calling it in this video…

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. — 2 Timothy 1:7

© 2026 bryanforchrist. All Rights Reserved.

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The Cottage Where Tigers Came Home 🐅🌴

ₑdᵢₜₑd ₐddₑd ₐ ᵥᵢdₑₒ

Back in 2o1O… life was just amazing for me…

At the time, I was serving as the resident director at a Christian men’s drug rehab and discipleship training program down in Bradenton, Florida… in the Tampa Bay area…

It was so rewarding… so awesome… to have a hand in helping guys get off drugs… to watch the transformation take place in their lives… to see hope return where there had once been none…

We also did a lot in the community to help people.

Folks would call my office looking for help. Maybe they needed help moving… maybe an elderly person needed some yard work done… and sometimes it was something completely different. I received those kind of calls often, and through them, I made many friendships.

One day I got a call from an older gentleman named Dan.

He lived alone… his health wasn’t the greatest… and he needed some work done around his property. He wanted to know if there was any way we could help him.

Of course, I told him we could.

So I grabbed a few guys, and we headed out to his place.

Dan lived on Anna Maria Island… in Holmes Beach… and his property sat directly on the Gulf side.

As I pulled up and stepped out of the truck, I was in awe.

It was beautiful.

There were three houses on the property.

One was the main house where Dan lived.

Another was a rental house.

And then there was a little two bedroom cottage… over eighty years old… sitting quietly near the water.

It needed a lot of work.

No one had lived in it for more than ten years…

Dan and I became good friends…

I would often stop by to check on him.

Sometimes I’d pick up some food, and we’d sit out on his back deck… have lunch… talk… and stare out at that blue green water.

It was so vibrant in color that it didn’t even look real.

Dan had lived a lot of life.

He was full of true stories… the kind you can’t make up.

I loved listening.

Every visit felt like opening another chapter of a book.

One day he told me he wanted to start renovating the cottage and renting it out again.

He asked me if I’d be interested in helping.

I agreed.

And over the course of the next year… I spent much of my free time out there on the island working on it…

Most days I’d bring a couple of the guys with me.

Little by little… room by room… we started bringing it back to life.

And finally… one day…

We put the last finishing touches on it.

It was ready to be lived in again.

A few days later, Dan called me.

He asked if I could come by.

Said there was something he wanted to talk to me about.

He knew I was looking for a place to live.

And then he told me something I’ll never forget.

He said he’d love for me to be his neighbor. 😁

A few weeks later…

I relocated myself to 3220 Gulf Drive.

And just like that…

I became about that life…

The Salt Life.

My buddy Nathan lived there with me for a while…

And we made a lot of good memories…

It was just unreal living there…

I had a hammock stretched between two palm trees in my backyard.

I had an enclosed back patio with an incredible view.

I’d sit out there and play my guitar… and watch the sunsets.

At night… I’d lay in bed and fall asleep to the sound of the waves crashing.

I found out the cottage had quite a history…

Back in the 80s and 90s… Dan rented it out to many famous people…

Two of which were the Allman Brothers Band…

And Gunther Gebel Williams… the famous animal trainer from Ringling Bros. Circus.

Gregg Allman… Jaimoe Johanson… and Allen Woody were regulars…

Dan told me many times that he’d have to walk over late at night and tell them to quiet down…

They’d be partying like crazy… drinking… playing music… and making way too much noise. 😂

I always got a kick out of those stories.

But Gunther’s story was just unbelievable…

When he stayed at the cottage… he always brought his friends with him.

And umm…

His friends were tigers. 🐅 🐅

One of them was pregnant…

And she gave birth right there…

In the very place I called home.

So eventually… Gunther ended up finding another place down the street that was better suited for him and his friends…

Probably bigger. 😂

Late one night… Dan received a phone call from an older couple who were on vacation and staying at the cottage.

They told him they thought someone was at the front door trying to break in.

So he went outside to see what was going on…

And to his disbelief…

There was a huge tiger standing at the front door wanting in.

About that time, Gunther came running down the street yelling for his furry friend.

He grabbed him and took him back home.

Later, Gunther told Dan that tigers instinctively want to return to the place where they were born.

So for a while… this became a regular problem.

They’d get loose… wander off… and end up right back at the beach house.

It got to the point that Dan finally told Gunther it had to stop because it was bad for business. 😂

Apparently around that time… there were quite a few reported tiger sightings on the island…

I lived on the island from 2o12 to 2o14…

Then I got married… moved away to a different part of Florida… and never saw Dan again.

Today… all the homes that were on the property have been torn down… and new ones built in their place.

I’m not even sure if Dan is still living.

I’ve been trying to find out here recently…

No luck yet…

I used to have a lot of pictures and videos from my time there.

They were all on my old phone…

Which eventually ended up at the bottom of the sea. 😁

Today… I have nothing to look at from those days…

Just the memories.

it was a time in my life…

That I’ll never forget.

I did find this video from 2o11… a year before I moved to the island 👇 this was the beachfront of the cottage

The new homes
The new homes

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places… indeed… I have a beautiful inheritance. — Psalm 16:6

Copyright © 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All Rights Reserved.

🌴🐅🎸🌊

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We Don’t Call It Camping… Where I’m From

Have you ever been camping?

Are you kidding me…

I’m a Gen X kid.

We didn’t call it camping…
that’s what city folks say…
when they do it once in a while.

We called it…

the weekend.

…and sometimes in the summer—
it was just life.

Growing up in Georgia…

I didn’t have to go anywhere—

to find it.

I lived on the edge of thick… deep woods…
the kind full of things
that could hurt you.

We weren’t scared…

didn’t matter—

we were in there anyway.

Kids… by ourselves…
no parents…
just dirt… trees… and whatever moved in the shadows.

Then there were the weekends…

My friend Chris—
his folks had land on Lake Oconee.

Man… we lived out there.

Tents…
or just sleeping by the fire…

Fishing… boating… skiing… swimming…

Great times.

And when I wasn’t there…

I was with my dad… and my uncle…
heading up into the north Georgia mountains…
along the Tallulah River.

We’d drive about 15 miles down a narrow gravel road…
till we hit the river crossing.

Then we’d drive straight through it.

Clear water…
ice cold… even in summer…

on the other side—
was nothing.

No people.

Just us…
and whatever else was out there.

Bears…
Bigfoots…
timber rattlesnakes…

just the locals.

We’d set camp right on the water…

Fish all day.

Rainbow… brown…
beautiful native brook trout…

Trout for breakfast—
fish… grits… eggs…

Lunch—
fish sandwich… chips…

Supper—
we went all out…

Grilled or fried fish…
vegetable kabobs…
baked potatoes in the fire…
salad…

We ate like kings out there.

I’ve caught so many fish in that river…
I couldn’t even guess the number.

Been going since I was about 7…

I’m 52 now.

Haven’t been in a few years…

Life gets busy…

…but that place is down in me.

Some summers…

the riverbanks would glow red—

tiny garnets everywhere.

We’d sift through them…
looking for the bigger ones…

We’d also look for gold…
found some too.

I remember once…
I had a handful of decent-size wild garnets and gold… glistening in my palm

but that place for me—
is more valuable than anything I can hold.

Then came Florida…

Lived there for 12 years.

Different world—
same soul.

Many freshwater fishing trips inland…
spent much time at many of the different springs…

…but also the coast…

I lived on Anna Maria Island…

Had a sea kayak.

Weekends…
I’d load up my truck…
drive to Bishop Harbor…

Drop in…

Paddle 45 minutes out
to these tiny… remote islands.

Set up camp.

Mornings—
I’d paddle and fish…

Afternoons—
back to camp…
eat… rest… chillax…

Evenings—
back out till dark…

Then nights…

just me…

the fire…
the water…
the sounds…
the wildlife…

Alone…

but not really.

Down there…

we call it…

Salt Life.

Had the sticker on my truck and everything.

So yeah man…

I’ve been what yall call camping
a few times 😁

All jokes aside…

I’m about that life.

It’s in me…

just like music.

been singing this in my head and on guitar all day…

Me and my buddy Jonathan… fishing in Florida

Jon and I were fishing when 3 huge wild boars walked behind us

My friend Jimmy holdin’ my fish… this is my pb 9.3 lbs… caught at Lake Istokpoga FL… Feb 2o14
Supper one evening on the remote island

Romans 1:20

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

© 2026 bryanforchrist. All rights reserved.

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