Who doesn’t love a vacation, right? Getting away from the day to day grind and work, leaving responsibilities behind and experiencing the big, beautiful countryside of our great nation. With the massive scenic areas we have and the low cost of camping, it’s surprising it isn’t more popular. It beats sitting on an intercontinental flight for most of a day and you can easily get away for a weekend a few times a year!
There are a few tips that will help you to have a happier camping trip and there are some specific ones for people with big families. We sometimes go camping with 6 or more people so I’ve experienced some of the mishaps that can happen. Luckily for you, I’m going to tell you what matters so that doesn’t happen to you.
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Get a Spacious Tent
We messed up with this by first taking an old tent, when only four of us went camping. All it took was a couple of small leaks to really mess up our holiday! The next time we went we had the kids with us and we skimped with a 5 man tent, because the kids shouldn’t need much room, right? Wrong! The best camping holiday we had was actually when we went with 8 people and decided to get 2 of the best six man tents we could find, so everybody had EXTRA room. It was SO worth it!
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Prep Your Food
Time on vacation is precious, so you don’t want to waste it doing chores or preparing food. The best thing to do is prep ALL of your food (or as much as you can) and take it with you. This way you can relax and enjoy yourself more.
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Kids Need Toys
If you have children with you, then it’s important to have entertainment available for them. Without it they’ll eventually get bored, and that spells trouble for you. Outdoor toys are a good choice but don’t neglect the indoor options in case the weather isn’t great.
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Take Some Tarps & Windbreakers
Speaking of the weather, you should be prepared for it to turn at any time – storms don’t always give much warning. Take some windbreak shelters in case it gets gusty and some large tarps as some extra waterproofing in case of a downpour. This tip is more relevant in some regions than others.
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Pack Spare Clothing
Spare clothes are important so make sure you have some – especially the essentials like socks and underwear. Always take at least one or two sets more than you think you’ll need.
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Create an Emergency Pack
An emergency pack can be the difference between a disaster vacation and looking like mr. outdoors. Pack some multi-tools and a couple of good knives. First-aid kits, torches, batteries and glowsticks are also a great idea. Some spare food and water should come next, followed by a couple of spare sets of clothes, some extra underwear, and a few sets of hygiene products. Not only are you prepared for an emergency, you’re probably going to get some popularity points anyway from people who’ve forgotten a couple of essentials.
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Hand Sanitizer!
Our final tip is one of the most helpful – pack hand sanitizer! Kids are notorious for getting messy and germy but being outdoors means everybody is going to be a little more dirty. It can be tough to keep washing your hands especially if you’re out for a picnic, but hand sanitizer is easy to carry with you and does a good job in a pinch.
These are good tips. I’ve envied those big tents when we’ve gone camping, but don’t need them for our gang. It does look like fun to have a tent big enough esp for rainy days/nights!
Good to think about what to bring before the stay, thoughtful items
Prepping food is a great tip! I often waste a lot of time doing this during my trip.
Thank you for the information.