Great Camping tips

I was just out camping this weekend with the kids and it made me think how unprepared that I was for the camping trip. I am sure that I will get better but at the same time wanted to shared these tips that I found a few minutes ago to have a better camping trip.

I have added my own bits to the end of all the points here to reflect on my last trip to the mountains camping this weekend.

We all love to unwind and take a breather. We love to explore nature at its pristine beauty. Generally speaking, we love to camp.

But do you think camping is as easy as strolling along the shores? Or perhaps you are thinking of something adventurous, like riding on the back of an elephant? Pretty simple as they seem, but once you get there, you’ll need more than anything you have planned. Camping is not merely a day out in the sun; more often, it is a much-needed adventure for many. And it would be more fun if it involves a lot of daring challenges.

For you to have the best adventure ever, here are the top ten tips you must consider before you hit the camp site:

Plan the activities that you will be doing out there whether you will be in Yosemite or at the Grand Canyon. You can hunt with your Air soft. You can learn using twigs for your campfire, or try some wild edible fruits or maybe go trout fishing in the nearest stream. Who knows you’ll end up in Ernest Hemingway’s lake cabin one of these days. But even so, how about playing volleyball, or windsurfing as you feel like being on top of great waves?

Make a list of all your personal effects. A camper needs to be meticulous with his camp needs. Bring extra clothes but not the whole closet. You have to be wiser than that. Also remember swimming and other water stuff and look at what you want to use on the trip for recreation.

Never forget your comfortable camp chairs. Camping is not it without the campfire. Your camp chair will make a lovely pair with the camp fire as allies for relaxation. To stop fights everyone has to have a chair. The kids get cold and bored and cranky at times and you don’t want to have them fighting over chairs too.

Don’t forget your matches, unless you are training yourself to make fire out of rocks. And an axe. I had a bit of trouble starting a fire but borrowed an axe from our camping neighbors after I gave up.

Choose to bring a tent that can give you just enough space for sleeping; that is if you plan of sleeping alone. Get one that’s water resistant. You can’t live in a makeshift tree house when the rain strikes.

A small pillow will make great sleeping aid. Make sure it can fit inside your back pack though; otherwise it’s more of a burden. This weekend the kids had me bring three big pillows which took as much space as our blanket, probably could have been a bit smaller.

Pack along your sleeping bag. A tent is not enough when it gets colder and a blanket is just so much trouble. We only had one blanket for the three of us this weekend but it would have been nice to have a blankety underneath us as well instead of just sleeping on a covered foam.

Bring all necessary supplies from insect repellants to aspirin. You don’t know when misfortune will strike. Oh and sunscreen too. It is sometimes hard to find shade depending on where you go.

Bring anything that you often use to calm your nerves, whether it is a guitar, a flute or what have you. My kids brought toys and each of them has an old digital camera so that they could take pictures and used my video camera to take some movies as well.

Be responsible for yourself and your team. No man is an island during camping. That’s why you need to make sure there’s extra space in your tent.