Big told me the other day, "Mom, we go camping A LOT." (Insert hair flip and eye roll here.)
I grew up going to school during the week, so I could recover from last weekend’s adventure and prepare for my next weekend of camping, fishing, and hunting. Captain Stud grew up outside, literally. Something about a horse ranch, some gardens, orchards, a river running down the middle of it all. But my eyes turned green with envy and I stopped listening. So we go camping...AND we drag them along with us.
On our last trip, it occurred to me camping may not come naturally to other families the way it does ours, so here's mistakes that we have learned from over the years.
The most important thing is
ATTITUDE
Confession time: our very first camping trip as a family was not amazing. Ummm, ok...it was a disaster. We left after breakfast and arrived around lunch time. Within the first hour of being there, my brother-in-law and I nearly got into a fist fight. And long story short, we arrived back home with plenty of time to prepare dinner. Captain Stud refers to it as "a sinking disaster covered in flames". Now I can pyscho-analyze the whole situation but it boils down to attitude. I had unvoiced expectations that were unfulfilled, mostly because my husband isn't a mind reader. Those unmet expectations bred resentment which turned into anger. He was in the same boat. His years of camping had led him to performing certain tasks certain ways and he expected me to assist. But, once again, the mind reading is not strong in this family.
My advice is "Let go". Sing the song from Frozen, if you have to. Letting go is a lot easier said than done, I know. But change your perspective. You wanted the tent set up before dark, and he did, so who cares HOW he set it up! You are outside, there is dirt, and the children will get dirty. Grab some baby wipes and let it go. Just let it go.
The second most important thing is the camping box. The camping box came up years ago, when my daddy and I built a wooden box for my mom as a Mother's Day gift. The camping box is just a container that holds your camping kitchen gear. Mine is a large Tupperware box that I bought from a home improvement store. It was on sale and I had a gift card, otherwise I would have used something else. In fact, I just made an executive decision (because it's my blog, I can do that). I think the camping box concept is so vital to a fun and enjoyable camping trip that I am going to do an extra post about it. Lucky you!!
If you need some ideas on where to start, this checklist is a good one. Like all checklists, one size does not fit all. And that is exactly why I like this one. Download it, save it, modify it. As you get a few trips under your belt, you will realize what you use most of and what you can leave home.
Next important thing is gear. The checklist above covers a lot of the basics of what you need. Camping can be a cheaper vacation option, or it can be just as expensive as a week at a resort. If you are just starting out and don't know if camping is right for you and your lovely spouse, borrow gear. There is always the possibility of renting gear, but sometimes that is not the most economical. Gear gathering is a year round thing. Yard sales and thrift stores are fantastic for it. Facebook has a lot of swip-swap groups that are awesome. There are some websites out there, like OfferUp. (Of course, don't be stupid. Use the brain God gave you when meeting strangers.) We try to pool our resources when camping with other families. "Hey Sara, if we bring our camp stove, can you bring that cute tabletop grill?" Finally, go here for ideas on how to take care of all your awesome new found gear.
We do not glamp. I can't believe I actually put "glamp" in my blog. BUT there are some upgrades. Camping with a family means I don't rough it anymore. Our minimum campsite is probably still pretty primitive by most standards. Our latest trip, to my favorite campground,-had 9 kids, not all of which were potty trained. I require trash service in an actual campground, because I am not hauling 4 day old diapers 2 hours in an enclosed vehicle back to my home to my trash can. This campground has vault toilets. They do smell by the end of the trip, but I don’t have to worry about stepping in someone's poop hidden behind a tree. And that's it. My minimum requirements mean $10 a night.
My biggest luxury is an extra car battery and a 12 volt power inverter. This started for one reason: my son. The Boy has chronic asthma. He requires a nebulizer and daily treatments and if he has asthma attack, emergency breathing medications while driving to the nearest heliport. Yes, I have the locations of nearby heliports committed to memory. However, now that I have an inverter, I will never go back. I am spoiled and it has evolved into awesomeness, which brings me to our final important thing.
Food. Wait, that's not dramatic enough. FFFOOOOOOD! We do camping food right! I precook a lot. Precooked chili, stored in a half gallon mason jar and frozen solid in the deep freeze, will act as a block of ice in the ice chest and thaw in time for dinner on the third night. Precooked pork and beans, no not the canned kind, stored like the chili is also a camp dinner staple. Precooked seasoned meat, stored the same way, will thaw for second night's dinner. It also requires less propane to heat up than it would to cook from raw. I bring my electric griddle, plug it into the power inverter, and make pancakes in the morning. No judging allowed until YOU cook breakfast for 15 people in the forest. Prebake your potatoes, wrap them in foil and all you have to do is heat them up. Here in the Southwest, we have issues with things like droughts and forest fires. Occasionally, (read: all the time) there is some sort of fire restriction in place. So we throw a can of sterno in the...wait for it....CAMPING BOX! That way we can always do smores, even if we can't have a camp fire.
Good luck out there!
I grew up going to school during the week, so I could recover from last weekend’s adventure and prepare for my next weekend of camping, fishing, and hunting. Captain Stud grew up outside, literally. Something about a horse ranch, some gardens, orchards, a river running down the middle of it all. But my eyes turned green with envy and I stopped listening. So we go camping...AND we drag them along with us.
On our last trip, it occurred to me camping may not come naturally to other families the way it does ours, so here's mistakes that we have learned from over the years.
The most important thing is
ATTITUDE
Confession time: our very first camping trip as a family was not amazing. Ummm, ok...it was a disaster. We left after breakfast and arrived around lunch time. Within the first hour of being there, my brother-in-law and I nearly got into a fist fight. And long story short, we arrived back home with plenty of time to prepare dinner. Captain Stud refers to it as "a sinking disaster covered in flames". Now I can pyscho-analyze the whole situation but it boils down to attitude. I had unvoiced expectations that were unfulfilled, mostly because my husband isn't a mind reader. Those unmet expectations bred resentment which turned into anger. He was in the same boat. His years of camping had led him to performing certain tasks certain ways and he expected me to assist. But, once again, the mind reading is not strong in this family.
My advice is "Let go". Sing the song from Frozen, if you have to. Letting go is a lot easier said than done, I know. But change your perspective. You wanted the tent set up before dark, and he did, so who cares HOW he set it up! You are outside, there is dirt, and the children will get dirty. Grab some baby wipes and let it go. Just let it go.
The second most important thing is the camping box. The camping box came up years ago, when my daddy and I built a wooden box for my mom as a Mother's Day gift. The camping box is just a container that holds your camping kitchen gear. Mine is a large Tupperware box that I bought from a home improvement store. It was on sale and I had a gift card, otherwise I would have used something else. In fact, I just made an executive decision (because it's my blog, I can do that). I think the camping box concept is so vital to a fun and enjoyable camping trip that I am going to do an extra post about it. Lucky you!!
If you need some ideas on where to start, this checklist is a good one. Like all checklists, one size does not fit all. And that is exactly why I like this one. Download it, save it, modify it. As you get a few trips under your belt, you will realize what you use most of and what you can leave home.
Next important thing is gear. The checklist above covers a lot of the basics of what you need. Camping can be a cheaper vacation option, or it can be just as expensive as a week at a resort. If you are just starting out and don't know if camping is right for you and your lovely spouse, borrow gear. There is always the possibility of renting gear, but sometimes that is not the most economical. Gear gathering is a year round thing. Yard sales and thrift stores are fantastic for it. Facebook has a lot of swip-swap groups that are awesome. There are some websites out there, like OfferUp. (Of course, don't be stupid. Use the brain God gave you when meeting strangers.) We try to pool our resources when camping with other families. "Hey Sara, if we bring our camp stove, can you bring that cute tabletop grill?" Finally, go here for ideas on how to take care of all your awesome new found gear.
We do not glamp. I can't believe I actually put "glamp" in my blog. BUT there are some upgrades. Camping with a family means I don't rough it anymore. Our minimum campsite is probably still pretty primitive by most standards. Our latest trip, to my favorite campground,-had 9 kids, not all of which were potty trained. I require trash service in an actual campground, because I am not hauling 4 day old diapers 2 hours in an enclosed vehicle back to my home to my trash can. This campground has vault toilets. They do smell by the end of the trip, but I don’t have to worry about stepping in someone's poop hidden behind a tree. And that's it. My minimum requirements mean $10 a night.
My biggest luxury is an extra car battery and a 12 volt power inverter. This started for one reason: my son. The Boy has chronic asthma. He requires a nebulizer and daily treatments and if he has asthma attack, emergency breathing medications while driving to the nearest heliport. Yes, I have the locations of nearby heliports committed to memory. However, now that I have an inverter, I will never go back. I am spoiled and it has evolved into awesomeness, which brings me to our final important thing.
Food. Wait, that's not dramatic enough. FFFOOOOOOD! We do camping food right! I precook a lot. Precooked chili, stored in a half gallon mason jar and frozen solid in the deep freeze, will act as a block of ice in the ice chest and thaw in time for dinner on the third night. Precooked pork and beans, no not the canned kind, stored like the chili is also a camp dinner staple. Precooked seasoned meat, stored the same way, will thaw for second night's dinner. It also requires less propane to heat up than it would to cook from raw. I bring my electric griddle, plug it into the power inverter, and make pancakes in the morning. No judging allowed until YOU cook breakfast for 15 people in the forest. Prebake your potatoes, wrap them in foil and all you have to do is heat them up. Here in the Southwest, we have issues with things like droughts and forest fires. Occasionally, (read: all the time) there is some sort of fire restriction in place. So we throw a can of sterno in the...wait for it....CAMPING BOX! That way we can always do smores, even if we can't have a camp fire.
Good luck out there!