Awhile back I posted about why to go camping (see linked post). Ever since then, I’ve been intending to post a “How To Camp” guide that is some tips and helps on how to make the experience enjoyable. Well, this is that guide.

Preparation

The most important way to start, in my opinion, is to have a comprehensive checklist. It really sucks to get out there, ready to open a can of something for dinner, and not have a can opener, for example. I have put together a checklist format that I think is really effective for families. Every time we go camping, we print out a hard copy of the checklist, add anything specific that is unique the that trip, then we load up. If you don’t get anything else out of this guide, download my checklist, and make it your own. Obviously many of the things I have on there are specific to my family, but you can edit it for your own needs. Look specifically at the individual items section: each column is for an individual family member: since we have 6 kids, there are 8 columns. (BM me for the link)

My next suggestion is to put together a plastic tub (with lid), that has general purpose camping stuff in it. Other than pulling out things to wash well at home, or replenishing supplies, these items will stay in the box. On my list, this is the “camping box”. When you’re ready to go camping, you just load your camping box into the vehicle, and you’re a good portion of the way there. You may not use everything in there, but it pays to be prepared. People who know us call it “the magic blue box”, because when somebody camping with us needs something, we almost always have it in the box.

There are a lot of things that you can bring just to make the experience nicer. These include a coffee pot (heating water for washing, hot chocolate, etc.), a water container with spigot, a canopy with sides (protection from sun and rain) or a screen room (keep out bugs), table cloth, etc. See my camp list. These aren’t essential, but if you’re car camping, and you have the space, this takes the experience up a few notches above basic survival. Oh, and definitely invest in an LED lantern. These are very bright, and just avoid the mess and hassle of the old-style propane or gas lanterns.

A final thing that I highly recommend is investing in a small, enclosed utility trailer. If you plan to camp regularly, these are amazingly useful. Not only do you have a lot more room for extra equipment, but you also have protection against critters (i.e. bears). We were in Banff this past summer, and it was really nice to be able to put the food and cooking stuff right in there before heading out.

Travel

A lot of people don’t like to go camping because they hate traveling with their kids for long distances. We regularly travel with our young children 6 to 12 hours for a summer vacation, and honestly it works fine. You just have to prepare. The obvious travel aid for kids is movies, but we don’t like to use that as a crutch very much. We like to either have an audio book, or have mom read to the family from some book for everyone. My kids LOVE to have their mom read to them.

My wife also bought inexpensive sectioned plastic boxes for each of the kids. Each child can load them up with the individual snacks they want (Cheezits in one section, grapes in another, M&Ms, etc.). Then, they eat what they want when they want from an approved selection. This was genius by my wife, I thought. This is especially good for young kids.
My wife also puts together activity bags for the small kids. These include crayons, coloring books, puzzles, and other such things to occupy their time. They can grab their bag, and have fun when they want.

Finally, Dramamine is your friend on long trips. We had to experience several occasions of car sickness before we realized this. Check the dosage instructions (or get the Children’s version), and you will have a lot fewer revisits with breakfast. Oh, this isn’t a silver bullet, though: make sure to put several gallon ziplock bags within reach of each seat, and teach your children about them. This has saved us on numerous occasions.

Setup/Take down

I don’t have much to say here except we have two rules: 1) everybody helps, 2) work first, then play. Honestly, kids LIKE to help set up the tent. They love to pound in the stakes. Let them help, and they feel more a part of things. Plus, when you get your young ones trained on how to do things early, as they get older, setup and take down is SO much quicker and more efficient. My teenagers have been doing this for years, and they are a huge help now.

Cooking

Camping sucks if all you eat is canned chili and hot dogs. My mantra is that when camping you have to eat well and sleep well, so this is the first part of that. It really isn’t that hard to make some fun and delicious meals with just a little preparation and the right equipment. The first thing I recommend is to invest in a good camp stove. I have a Camp Chef 3-burner, and that thing is fantastic. Along with it, I have a 3-burner griddle, and a 2-burner. Why both? With the two-burner, I have plenty of surface cooking area for my individual family, and I can also throw the coffee pot on at the same time to heat water. The 3-burner griddle is a lot better for large groups (i.e. pancakes, fajitas, burgers, etc.). On a camp stove, you can make just about anything you would make on your stove at home. I’ve actually made Teppanyaki-style dinner while camping at Zion NP.
Next, dutch oven cooking is actually a lot of fun, and not hard once you learn the basics. I’ve already posted a guide that you can refer to. https://www.cougarboard.com/board/message.html?id=12479583
Try it out! I’ve made some pretty amazing stuff. And don’t only think of DOs for desserts, although certainly they are amazing for that too.

Cleaning up for cooking can be a pain if you’re not prepared for it. You can take a plastic basin, heat up water on your stove, and that makes things WAY better. Many national parks have decent facilities for washing dishes, but heating your water before you go over is extremely helpful.

One final pointer: take a folding table if you can. They almost always come in handy.

Sleeping
This is the second part of my mantra: you have to sleep well. Air mattresses are great (we love our 18-inch high one), but you can also get cold on them in certain conditions. Remember to bring some sort of padding to place underneath, like foam, an extra blanket, or a spare sleeping bag. Seriously, this one thing will improve your sleeping a lot because that’s where you can lose a lot of heat.

Next, a lot of people make do with cheap sleeping bags. I get it, you do what you can afford. You can bring extra blankets, or another trick is to put one sleeping bag inside another. But make sure people have enough to keep them warm, or neither you nor your kids will be happy.

One thing we have now that we LOVE is bunk bed cots (available at Costco). Those things are very comfortable, and they save space in the tent. It’s an added bonus that the kids love sleeping on them.

Keeping Clean

One of the biggest complaints I get from people about why they don’t like to camp is they think it’s several days of stinking. Well, yeah, it can be. But it doesn’t have to be, either. The simplest thing you can do is baby wipe military baths. Basically, take some time every morning to wipe all your stinky regions before changing into fresh underclothing. That helps a lot.

But, sometimes only a shower really cuts it. You can invest in camp showers (we have a propane one that works well), and even a dedicated shower tent thingy, but if you have a canopy with sides, that can work really well. We moved the sides in to tighten the space (they connect with Velcro), put a camp chair in there, heated water on the stove, and had a pretty darn good shower. It felt great.

For kids, sometimes a bath is easier. Just take a plastic storage container, fill it up with heated water (and some cold to get the temperature right), and scrub away. Our kids thought this was great.

Camp fun

We sometimes get in the mode when camping that every moment has to be filled with hiking or sightseeing, but planned downtime is actually really nice too. Also, sometimes the weather or emergencies give you unintended down time. So, what do you do? We have a hammock that is really nice for camp down time: take a nap, swing in it, what ever. My wife also likes to take crafts or games for the kids to play while in camp. I’d also recommend a book for everyone: it’s actually incredibly relaxing to sit or lay around camp, in beautiful surroundings, just reading a book.

Some parents get pretty uptight about their kids getting dirty while at camp. Get over it. It’s a fact of life that kids have fun playing in the dirt, so let them. I have pictures of every single one of my kids as a toddler walking around with a stick and a rock they found in the dirt. They’ll have fun, and you’ll have fun seeing them enjoy it.

If you made it this far, I’m amazed. Hopefully some of that was helpful for you.