My daughter and I are enthusiastic campers these days but it took quite a bit of nerve and some practice to get there. Here’s 10 things I wish someone had told me when we started out…
1. Find a friend
It really helps to go with a friend the first time if you can. I’m not sure I would have had the courage without knowing there was someone there to help if something went wrong. Plus it’s all much more fun as an experience if you’re sharing it.
2. Getting the right tent
The joys of tent shopping. There are so many different kinds and sizes. You can get ones which inflate as well as the old fashioned ones with poles and they all come in different styles. Think about finding the layout that will suit you best and which you’d find easier to put up. Think about what size you need too. If you’re planning on camping for a while you might want to go up a size or two.
3. Practice putting the tent up before you go
I find the worst thing about camping is that you have to get the tent set up AFTER driving miles and usually with the evening coming on fast. I really recommend practicing first. We put ours up on a bit of common land behind our house. This drew stares and some comments but it was worth it. If you know someone with a large bit of grass you can second for an hour or two it’s worth an ask.
Where we camp we don’t have any phone, broadband or WIFI signal so it was the only chance of setting it up with reference to a YouTube video. This might be overly modern but it’s the only way I know how to do it without someone else talking you through. With a bit of luck someone will have done a video on your exact model.
4. Get the kids to help
As B’s got older she’s gone from not helping much at all to being indispensable. Putting together the tent poles are her favourite job, closely followed by pulling the tent pegs out when we’re leaving. She blows everything up that needs it and takes over connecting the inner bedroom section. She’s small enough to wriggle into the corners.
5. Choosing a bed and bedding
Blow up mattresses are the most common (electric pumps and spare batteries are essential). We have some blow up armchairs as well – for luxury! You can get camp beds that fold up instead and stand above the ground, if you don’t want to deal with inflatables.
Finding a good sleeping bag can be quite an endeavour. Generally, I find them all too hot so we’ve got a summer one that can zip out so it’s more like a duvet. They come in lots of different sizes and weights so worth thinking about what will suit you best.
6. Food and cooking
Camping is a great opportunity for barbecues. You can also get little camping stoves which run on gas (which you buy in cannisters). There are little saucepan and kettle sets that fold into each other and don’t take up much space if you don’t want to take pans from home. Consider a washing up bowl and a colander. You can get collapsible ones. Remember you’ll need plates, bowls, cups and utensils too.
If you don’t have access to electricity, keeping anything cool for more than 24 hours is pretty tricky. After a few stressful attempts I’ve pretty much given up. If the temperatures warm keeping fresh food from going off can be hard too. Think about shade.
7. Remember you have to get it all in the car
I never quite believe it will all go in but it usually does in the end. Depending on how much space you have you might want to find smaller travel versions of things!
I find the tent doesn’t take up nearly as much space as all the stuff we want to put in it!
8. Find a campsite you’re comfortable with
Do you want to be close to other campers or have some space around you? Will you go somewhere you know well or somewhere completely new? Would you like a site with good showers and toilets and maybe entertainment and leisure facilities? Or to go out in the wild with just port-a-loos and silence.
Friends and families recommendations are great. If you’re travelling with kids it’s worth looking for sites that have other families heading there too. B is happiest if she can find a friend onsite to go exploring with and it’s better if everyone’s sleeping at similar times.
If you’re not sure if you want to make the jump and camp away from home you could always put the tent up in your garden and sleep there. It’s a good way of getting kids used to it.
9. Think about organisation
The biggest issue I’ve found camping, once we’ve got everything set up, is working out how to organise all our stuff. I spent the first few trips tripping over everything and going through all the bags every time I needed something. I have a system now. It doesn’t always work but it’s a lot better than it was and it’s improving every time.
…and finally: 10. Remember to enjoy yourself!
It’s a lot of stress and thought that gets us there but it is, honestly, the best weeks of our year. There’s nothing else like it and it stays with us, long after we’ve come home again.
WISHING YOU A BRILLIANT CAMPING TIME!
