The Simple Camping trip- Sort of!

Camping!

We love to go camping, and people look at our photos and see us relaxing by the fire and see all of our fun adventures. What you don't see is what it takes to do it!

Gone are our days of whatever you can carry in a backpack camping days! We, and many others, bring along everything but the kitchen sink. MMmmm, OK, we bring that too!

Over the years, we have it down to an art. If Van calls and says, "let's go camping when I get home from work," I can have the car packed and ready to go in no time flat! How? Prep and planning!

If you love the idea of camping, but don't want to go minimalist, here is what we find makes a great camping trip:

I have a medium-sized plastic tote filled and ready to go with just a few things to add on the fly. In the tote I have:

• Packing cubes. One cube for each category:

  • dishes and cutlery, including prep things like knives

  • first aid

  • coffee supplies

  • cleaning supplies

• I also have the portable burner

• a broom that comes apart

• coffee pot

• a cooking pot

• and a small frying pan in the tote.

All I have to do is grab the tent, chairs, bedding, and tote, and we are ready to go.

The Essentials:

• A good tent! - That is obvious, but picking one is tricky! We have 3 sizes.

  • A small two-man pop-up tent - they call it a 4-man tent, but in tent language, they mean like sardines. Toss it in the air and poof! A tent! Ours is perfect for a quick overnight or short weekend trip when the weather is going to be perfect. However, we've done rain it too!

  • We have a medium-sized tent, which is great for longer trips. It has enough room for our mattress pads with some space to put our things and move around, plus ours is tall enough for my husband!

  • We also have a big family-sized tent. We use this for long trips and if there looks like a lot of rain. It gives us a space for a "bedroom" and a "living room", well 2 camping chairs. Sometimes we camp in very cold weather, and TIP: we put the pop-up tent inside the big tent so that sleeping is a little warmer.

  • Bring extra tent pegs

  • A good tarp - if you don't need it for the tent area, they are great to cover firewood with.

  • A mallet to pound the tent stakes in

  • ropes

  • Duct tape for emergencies

• A propane stove - The idea of making all our meals over the fire sounds wonderful, but it isn't always practical. While Van is getting the fire started I will often make dinner on the stove. I linked the one we have above, but we also have a burner that fits right on a can of fuel. We use this for making coffee with a camp percolator. Because camping needs coffee too!

  • fuel

  • plates

  • cups & coffee cups

  • cutlery

  • a sharp knife

  • cutting board

  • serving spoons etc.

  • tongs are handy

  • A pot and/or pan to cook in

  • coffee pot

  • A lighter and matches

• Sleeping pads - We are a little past wanting to sleep on the hard ground, and Van found these amazing pads for a great deal. They are so comfortable, I forget I'm not at home in my own bed.

  • Many people use air mattresses, but they leak, if one person is bigger than the other person gets bounced, and if it's cold outside cold air is circulated inside making your rear end cold even if you are warm on top.

  • Remember sheets and covers or sleeping bags and a pillow is always nice.

The Extras

• hand warmers

• first aid kit

• cleaning supplies: rags, nature safe dish soap, dish rag, a towel

• headlights - flashlights that strap to your forehead

• camp chairs

• a camp light - we use an inflatable solar lamp

• a portable dish basin for washing dishes

Bonus Extras

• A water jug. We fill ours up and set it on the end of the picnic table for drinking and cooking water.

• A portable shower - handy for campgrounds that don't have showers.

• A changing tent - these handy tents are great for changing clothes, showering in, and putting a portable toilet in.

• A small axe for cutting firewood down to size.

• Charger packs - many sites don't have electricity, and this way you can charge your phone and watch.

• Portable toilet with compostable bags

• A tablecloth

• Rug - we started putting one inside the tent as well as outside at the door. It feels nice on your feet and helps keep the tent cleaner because it's easy to shake out the rug.

Food - Don't forget the food!

• An option is to eat out, we occasionally do this if we are just going overnight

• Pre-make meals and freeze them. We usually do this and eat them in order of what is thawing first.

• Bring the ingredients to cook meals on site. I often do this too.

• Tip: if you don't want to do all of the work, buy pre-made frozen food. I have bought frozen lasagna and cooked it on the stove.

• Lunch supplies and snacks

• Beverages

It sounds like a lot if you're new to camping, but I can be packed in less than an hour and have camp set up in 30 minutes! Plus!!! It all fits in my little Kia Soul. Then we rest and soak in nature!

Happy Camping!