Happy Camping
Summer is finally here and with it comes popsicles, beach days, and, of course, family camping trips! While everyone and anyone can camp, sometimes it takes time to develop the true art of camping, especially when you factor in children and pets. We’ve compiled a few tricks of the trade to hopefully help make your family camping trip a little smoother and more fun!
Be organized.
Taking the time to create a checklist and pack everything in advance can really minimize the stress that might come along with big family trips (Print out our Camping Checklist to help you on your next trip). Another trick we’ve noticed that can minimize clutter and confusion is packing everyone’s clothing separately and even going so far as to planning out your outfits for each day in a single bundle. While you might not want to pack a duffel bag for every person, you can always split a duffel bag between two people.
Consider the crowd.
Chances are, there will be varying levels of camping experience among your group. While camping with little ones who are new to the scene, consider them when picking your site. When you are camping with multiple little ones and pets, you probably aren’t going to want to hike 5 miles to the site. A good place to start is perhaps a less rural site with access to bathrooms and showers.
Share the workload.
Kids loved to feel like they are playing an active role in all the activity. Camping trips can be a great opportunity for kids to learn the importance of hard-work and teamwork. Let them tackle some of the easier tasks like collecting firewood, collecting and throwing out the trash, and helping prep for dinner. While this is a wonderful hands-on learning experience for them, it will surely help lighten your load as we often underestimate how much work camping trips truly are!
Don’t over-plan.
One of the most wonderful things you can do on a camping trip is nothing. Under what other circumstances can you literally hang out in a hammock for hours on end without someone accusing you of being lazy? Resist the urge to plan out every minute with hiking, swimming, and other fun activities. While these are all wonderful and should definitely play a part in your trip, the last thing you want is to come home from you relaxing trip feeling exhausted. So enjoy the rare opportunity to sit and chill with your family.
