Do you love to camp? Sell me on the idea

[LucyStoner]

That's why I think people starting out should borrow equipment to start. I think my thermorest pads were as expensive as my tent. We did air mattresses a few times and they get leaks. Plus you can get more pads in a smaller space. We have three XL thermarest pads which take up less room than two air mattresses. We slept well on those pads.

 

The main reason we started camping again is cost. For that reason I've acquired equipment slowly. If you buy everything you want new, that first trip could cost the equivalent of a luxury resort.

 

If you like camping it might be good to join a rewards program at a place like REI. Once you decide to camp regularly, you'll find yourself adding and trading up equipment. That's true if you are a backpacker or a car camper.

Also there are sometimes gear libraries on local BuyNothing groups. We have one through our trails association membership. You borrow what you need for a refundable deposit from them.

[mommyoffive]

Also there are sometimes gear libraries on local BuyNothing groups. We have one through our trails association membership. You borrow what you need for a refundable deposit from them.

 

What are buynothing groups?

[mommyoffive]

For me, camping is mostly a means to an end. I like being able to travel a lot, but don't have much money. Camping makes traveling possible. It doesn't help that I am almost always solo-parenting on any trips we take, so if I camp, I'm camping alone with 4 kids, including a baby. But that doesn't stop us. This year we camped 3 nights in Yellowstone and 2 nights at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Once you have the gear, it can be a really cost effective way to experience nature.

 

When we camp, I try to keep meal prep to a minimum. I even try to avoid the need for coolers. We may or may not have a fire for fun, depending on what else we do that day. It does take a huge amount of work for me as my kids are mostly too young to help, and I have to take care of everyone. I'm usually exhausted when we get home, but I always go back. The trip to GSM was last week. I was sitting there doing school with the girls that morning and I thought to myself, "It would be really awesome to go see it. In the mountains, I bet it wouldn't even be that hot. And it is only like 3 hours away! So it shouldn't even cost that much to get there. Dd7 has a national parks access pass so we can camp at them for half off, making it incredibly cost efficient." So I texted dh to make sure he was cool with it, packed up the girls and our gear in about an hour and after a quick trip to the grocery store, we were on our way. We had a blast earning Jr. Ranger badges, chasing fireflies, and playing in the mountain streams for 2 days. All for under $100, including gas. Without camping, I couldn't have afforded to do that on a whim. I couldn't have done Yellowstone either, at $200/night or more for a cheap hotel, but for $10/night, it was completely doable.

 

Growing up, we had a pop-up trailer that we towed everywhere. I could count on one hand the number of times that my large family stayed in hotels. It was an obvious part of road trips for me, and doesn't scare me. It isn't my favorite and most of the time, I'd prefer a hotel, but still, it certainly has its place. I'll probably take the girls on one more trip this summer. Maybe to the beach. :)

 

 

Ok wow, you are my hero.

 

I remember you posting about doing the Yellowstone trip.  You did it?  Amazing.   Any more tips? 

 

OH and wow, the free park pass also covers camping?  That free pass they get gives them 50% off camping at all national parks?  I didn't know that.

[LucyStoner]

What are buynothing groups?

It's a series of local groups on FB which allow neighbors to pass on unneeded items to people who will use and enjoy them or share items people use rarely. No buying or selling or trading.

 

An example:

 

Gift: here's a bike my son has outgrown (insert a description and picture).

 

Then people reply if interested and you pick someone (anyone) to pick it up.

 

People also post asks.

 

Many BN groups form informal libraries. One person has a garage shelf full of themed cake pans and people who don't want to keep their pans donate them and then people looking for a pan can check there before buying. Some groups do similar for camping gear.

 

You can find if there's a group in your area here:

 

https://buynothingproject.org

Edited July 26, 2016 by LucyStoner

[SparklyUnicorn]

like Freecycle?  I have not yet heard of buynothing

 

 

[MeaganS]

Ok wow, you are my hero.

 

I remember you posting about doing the Yellowstone trip.  You did it?  Amazing.   Any more tips? 

 

OH and wow, the free park pass also covers camping?  That free pass they get gives them 50% off camping at all national parks?  I didn't know that.

 

The pass thing depends on which pass. I'm not sure about the one for 4th graders, but for the Access pass (that my dd qualifies for because of her autism), it does. They say it may not apply at all national parks for camping, but I've never run into one yet that didn't give you the discount.

 

As for tips, probably my biggest is food simplicity. Simple meals requiring little or no cooking and refrigeration. Bagels, banana, and juice boxes for breakfast every morning. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches with fruit and chips or other snacky food for lunch. For dinner, we had hot dogs the first night (while they were still cold) and then oatmeal (pre-measured, just cook in boiling water) and breakfast burritoes (eggs-don't require refrigeration, jar of salsa, can of black beans, and some tortillas). Glow sticks also play an important role, just in finding the girls in the dark, making the night special, and as a battery-free nightlight. And although many would disagree, a well-charged iPad with some movies and audio books on it can be very helpful in those early mornings when they are all awake and you need to keep the volume down so as not to wake up the neighbors. Or if it rains and you have to sit in the tent for an hour. 

 

As for Yellowstone, yeah, we totally went. I was exhausted by the end of it all, but that was more because it was part of a larger 5000 mile, 2.5 week trip. Yellowstone was beautiful and we all loved it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I just wish that dh could have come too, but as a 3rd year resident, there was just no way for him to get the time off. I decided a long time ago, though, that we wouldn't let dh's crazy work schedule hold us back from adventures and I often take multi-day roadtrips around the country for various reasons with the girls. They are experienced road trippers and it doesn't really scare us anymore. The camping on my own element was new, but now that I've done it, it doesn't scare me anymore either!

 

This is one of the only pictures with me in it with all the girls because I had to ask a stranger to take it for us. Yellowstone Lake and a hot spring!

 

Edited July 26, 2016 by Meagan S

[rocassie]

Our family enjoys camping.

 

1. We love the great outdoors.  Even at home we are outside a lot.

2. We sleep altogether in one tent.  For us it promotes a closeness for the whole day and night, we don't get at home.

3. Inexpensive way to do some vacations.  Many times when we camp, we head out for day trips to area attractions. Maybe only spending one whole day at the actual camp ground.  We've only started to do this now that the kids are physically able to help us put up tent, start a fire, etc.

4. We will do some night time activities that are conducive to the living in the city with so much light pollution.  Star gazing, witnessing animal night life, allowing our eyes to adjust in the night.

 

 

Some things that I don't enjoy about camping

1. Preparing and cleaning up after meals.  

2. Sleeping on the hard ground.

 

Both of these things can be solved in various ways therefore it doesn't deter me from camping.  Also, the kids are much more able to help with much of it or more easily able to occupy themselves without needing constant supervision.

[slackermom]

camping on the beach in Hawaii!

[creekland]

Nature lovers here, so yes, we love camping - as long as the campground isn't like a trailer park with oodles of amenities and crowded.

 

We like great views and fewer amenities.  (Fewer amenities is very correlated with quieter.)

 

We love our thermarest pads and wouldn't go (now) without them.

 

The fact that it's far, far cheaper is a bonus.  We can do far more travel with camping.

 

And we're another family that has the men doing the cooking/cleaning, etc, so it's a nice extra bonus for me (the sole female in our family).

 

Whether it's for you or not will depend upon you.  I've loved camping since I was introduced to it and we've been through all sorts of conditions now.  No regrets. 

 

I also like hotels on the beach or similar so the two aren't related.  There's very little in travel that I don't like.  Interstate highways, large cities, & crowded events are on my "try to avoid" list, but not much else.  Even those can happen when circumstances merit it.  We just returned from a July weekend in Niagara Falls... used highways, had crowds there, etc.  We still enjoyed it.  We just noted that we enjoy it MORE during the week in early Sept!

[BlsdMama]

Ready set go

 

Sell me on the idea of camping.

 

 

I haven't ever taken the kids camping.  I feel as if I should.  I should embrace it sometimes, because it would save us a lot of money on trips.

 

What do you love about camping?

How do you make it easier? 

 

 

I don't love camping anymore.  But I love that my kids love camping and that's enough to sell me on it. ;)

[skimomma]

Meal prep and cleanup is about the only thing I don't like about camping.  Dh is hopeless in the kitchen and even worse when we don't have a real kitchen.  And his idea of "taking care of the dishes" is waiting until every single camp dish has been dirtied which means we run out of stuff and insects/animals get into the pile of dirty dishes.  I waved the white flag years ago.

 

Now, unless we can cook it on a stick or wrapped in foil, everything I bring is no-cook.  This cuts WAY down on dishes and my actual input. People can make a sandwich anytime without me.  And they get extra points if they prepare and eat it out of a cloth napkin so the washing machine can take care of it after we are home, rather than me washing a plate.  It turns out you can cook just about anything in foil on a fire grate.  Burritos, potatoes, lasagna, roasted veggies, etc.....  I make those things at home and we just roll in foil and reheat.  Again, extra points if you eat it in the foil and DON'T USE A PLATE.  I still have to do dishes every day to keep the pests away but I can usually do them all in ten minutes and go back to my hammock.

[mommyoffive]

The pass thing depends on which pass. I'm not sure about the one for 4th graders, but for the Access pass (that my dd qualifies for because of her autism), it does. They say it may not apply at all national parks for camping, but I've never run into one yet that didn't give you the discount.

 

As for tips, probably my biggest is food simplicity. Simple meals requiring little or no cooking and refrigeration. Bagels, banana, and juice boxes for breakfast every morning. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches with fruit and chips or other snacky food for lunch. For dinner, we had hot dogs the first night (while they were still cold) and then oatmeal (pre-measured, just cook in boiling water) and breakfast burritoes (eggs-don't require refrigeration, jar of salsa, can of black beans, and some tortillas). Glow sticks also play an important role, just in finding the girls in the dark, making the night special, and as a battery-free nightlight. And although many would disagree, a well-charged iPad with some movies and audio books on it can be very helpful in those early mornings when they are all awake and you need to keep the volume down so as not to wake up the neighbors. Or if it rains and you have to sit in the tent for an hour. 

 

As for Yellowstone, yeah, we totally went. I was exhausted by the end of it all, but that was more because it was part of a larger 5000 mile, 2.5 week trip. Yellowstone was beautiful and we all loved it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I just wish that dh could have come too, but as a 3rd year resident, there was just no way for him to get the time off. I decided a long time ago, though, that we wouldn't let dh's crazy work schedule hold us back from adventures and I often take multi-day roadtrips around the country for various reasons with the girls. They are experienced road trippers and it doesn't really scare us anymore. The camping on my own element was new, but now that I've done it, it doesn't scare me anymore either!

 

This is one of the only pictures with me in it with all the girls because I had to ask a stranger to take it for us. Yellowstone Lake and a hot spring!

 

 

 

Ok you are totally amazing.  Seriously.  Just in case nobody has told you.  You inspire me to try it.  I would have my dh there.   I give you props for doing it all on your own.  I am not brave enough.  I worry about what would happen if something happened to me or the car.  I don't know how to fix any of that. 

And I would be so scared to camp on my own.   Just the wildlife and the people too.  

I am so impressed with your confidence.  I need to push myself more.  I want to be like you when I grow up.   :)

 

 

5000 mile road trip?  Wow!  Where did you guys go?  My little one is not a fan of the car at all. 

 

You were tent camping?  

What were the temps at night?  I am trying to figure out if we could do it on our upcoming trip.  I am worried about the temps they think will be 40s or 38 at night.

One thing that always stresses me out about thinking about it, is the bathrooms.   With the 4 older ones they are up going to the bathroom a bunch at night.  I am just thinking we would be up and out all the time.  How did you handle that?  Am I stressing myself out about nothing?

 

What gear did you bring for the baby?

Edited July 27, 2016 by mommyoffive

[Guest]

Ok you are totally amazing. Seriously. Just in case nobody has told you. You inspire me to try it. I would have my dh there. I give you props for doing it all on your own. I am not brave enough. I worry about what would happen if something happened to me or the car. I don't know how to fix any of that.

And I would be so scared to camp on my own. Just the wildlife and the people too.

I am so impressed with your confidence. I need to push myself more. I want to be like you when I grow up. :)

 

 

5000 mile road trip? Wow! Where did you guys go? My little one is not a fan of the car at all.

 

You were tent camping?

What were the temps at night? I am trying to figure out if we could do it on our upcoming trip. I am worried about the temps they think will be 40s or 38 at night.

One thing that always stresses me out about thinking about it, is the bathrooms. With the 4 older ones they are up going to the bathroom a bunch at night. I am just thinking we would be up and out all the time. How did you handle that? Am I stressing myself out about nothing?

 

What gear did you bring for the baby?

We solved that up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-to-go-potty problem by keeping a camping toilet in the tent with us. Before you get grossed out, know that they flush, they have a holding tank, and they use the same chemicals as the RV toilets. Same exact thing as an RV, just smaller. At the end of your camping trip, take it to the RV dump station and dump it, just like you would with an RV. Ours is like this:

 

Palm Springs 5 Gallon Plastic Portable Flushing Toilet - Camping & Outdoor Potty

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Palm-Springs-5-Gallon-Plastic-Portable-Flushing-Toilet-Camping-Outdoor-Potty/44664783

Edited July 27, 2016 by Kinsa

[Carrie12345]

I haven't been camping since my oldest was a toddler, and I feel terrible about it b/c I was raised camping. We've never prioritized budgeting for camping gear.  We started talking about it earlier this summer, but we have 10,000 other things on the list.

 

Growing up camping is most definitely the thing I cherish most about my childhood.  Fortunately, my kids get quite a few of the same experiences right where they live.  Still, it isn't the same.

[Sk8ermaiden]

I know you weren't asking me, but the only gear we would bring for the baby was a good, comfortable carrier and a pack and play. Our tent is HUGE and he was used to sleeping and napping in the p&p. 

 

We usually bring a little, tiny IKEA potty for middle of the night pees. The kind of campgrounds we stay in are generally a close walk to the bathrooms, and I'm starting to give my new 7 the independence to bike to the bathroom and back. She's the only one who wakes up at night to pee, so the tiny potty works fine. 

 

Thanks to this thread, I've been looking through all my camping albums. And it makes me so happy that we do this as a family. Annnnd now, thanks to this thread and the Amtrak one, I'm planning a train trip across Texas to do Big Bend National Park.  :lol:  

Maybe next fall if my husband's health will hold.

Edited July 27, 2016 by Sk8ermaiden

[mommyoffive]

Thanks for posting.  Yay anyone give me advice.

 

 

[MeaganS]

Ok you are totally amazing.  Seriously.  Just in case nobody has told you.  You inspire me to try it.  I would have my dh there.   I give you props for doing it all on your own.  I am not brave enough.  I worry about what would happen if something happened to me or the car.  I don't know how to fix any of that. 

And I would be so scared to camp on my own.   Just the wildlife and the people too.  

I am so impressed with your confidence.  I need to push myself more.  I want to be like you when I grow up.   :)

 

 

5000 mile road trip?  Wow!  Where did you guys go?  My little one is not a fan of the car at all. 

 

You were tent camping?  

What were the temps at night?  I am trying to figure out if we could do it on our upcoming trip.  I am worried about the temps they think will be 40s or 38 at night.

One thing that always stresses me out about thinking about it, is the bathrooms.   With the 4 older ones they are up going to the bathroom a bunch at night.  I am just thinking we would be up and out all the time.  How did you handle that?  Am I stressing myself out about nothing?

 

What gear did you bring for the baby?

 

Aw, you're making me blush. :)

 

We drove from NC to UT for a family reunion and to visit friends to Yellowstone to Mt. Rushmore and back. That meant we drove through 17 unique states. It was quite the adventure and I planned for months to try to make it go as smoothly as possible. I viewed it as my magnum opus! My kids really enjoy road trips. I just pop in movie after movie for them and have plenty of audio books for me. My 5yo could reach the baby to help give her bottles and toys and things, which made a huge difference. Mix all that with plenty of special snacks and we're good. I don't know how I was blessed with kids who enjoy long stretches in the car, but I was! 

 

I only camped at Yellowstone. The rest of the time was hotels or family/friends houses. I'm not amazing enough for that. And Dh flew out to stay with us for the family reunion part for a few days, so I did get a little help there in the middle. :)

 

The temperature was my biggest worry of all. It did get down in the 40s while we were there every night. One night was in the 30s I think. I didn't want us to be cold, especially the baby. To that end, I used our smaller tent (with a bonus of being much easier to set up by myself). I used an old memory foam mattress topper that we were going to throw away anyway, and cut it to fit the entire bottom of the tent. We don't have sleeping bags so I also brought plenty of quilts. I probably put 4 or 5 large ones on top of us and we shared them. That kept us plenty warm. I was actually surprised at how warm we stayed. I bought tons of those hand warmer things to help if I thought we'd need them and we never did. The memory foam mattress made all the difference, I think. It was totally worth the huge amount of space it took up. (We threw it away after the trip). If I were going to do it again, I'd make sure to have a good, warm pad of some sort under us and then not stress about it as much.

 

As for the bathroom, none of them ended up using it in the night. I was surprised because it seems like they go a lot at night at home. I had them use it right before sleep and then they all went in the morning. So I don't know? I got lucky? I was prepared to walk them to the bathroom if need be, though.

 

For the whole trip I tried to be very minimal with the baby. I had my Lillebaby carrier and a nice umbrella stroller. She wasn't crawling yet so I didn't bother with a pack and play or anything. She just slept next to me in the tent and on the floor on a blanket anywhere else. I had a winter hat for her little head and I used one of those car seat blanket bundler things like this that someone gave me a long time ago (but I never used). It was warm and basically functioned as her sleeping bag. She was also under the community quilts.

 

And as for car trouble, I've been stranded before both by myself and with my parents growing up before. The possibility doesn't really bother me. I have roadside assistance and figured the worst that could happen is that we would get behind schedule and maybe spend some extra money. And we stayed mostly on interstates or highways with lots of traffic. I also had the van checked out before we left.

 

So yeah, I say do it! You only live once. For me, I decided early on that the success of the whole trip would depend a lot on my attitude. If I could see the world through positive eyes, be silly with my kids rather than frustrated, and go with the flow, everyone would have fun. And for the most part, that's what happened. 

[mommyoffive]

Aw, you're making me blush. :)

 

We drove from NC to UT for a family reunion and to visit friends to Yellowstone to Mt. Rushmore and back. That meant we drove through 17 unique states. It was quite the adventure and I planned for months to try to make it go as smoothly as possible. I viewed it as my magnum opus! My kids really enjoy road trips. I just pop in movie after movie for them and have plenty of audio books for me. My 5yo could reach the baby to help give her bottles and toys and things, which made a huge difference. Mix all that with plenty of special snacks and we're good. I don't know how I was blessed with kids who enjoy long stretches in the car, but I was! 

 

I only camped at Yellowstone. The rest of the time was hotels or family/friends houses. I'm not amazing enough for that. And Dh flew out to stay with us for the family reunion part for a few days, so I did get a little help there in the middle. :)

 

The temperature was my biggest worry of all. It did get down in the 40s while we were there every night. One night was in the 30s I think. I didn't want us to be cold, especially the baby. To that end, I used our smaller tent (with a bonus of being much easier to set up by myself). I used an old memory foam mattress topper that we were going to throw away anyway, and cut it to fit the entire bottom of the tent. We don't have sleeping bags so I also brought plenty of quilts. I probably put 4 or 5 large ones on top of us and we shared them. That kept us plenty warm. I was actually surprised at how warm we stayed. I bought tons of those hand warmer things to help if I thought we'd need them and we never did. The memory foam mattress made all the difference, I think. It was totally worth the huge amount of space it took up. (We threw it away after the trip). If I were going to do it again, I'd make sure to have a good, warm pad of some sort under us and then not stress about it as much.

 

As for the bathroom, none of them ended up using it in the night. I was surprised because it seems like they go a lot at night at home. I had them use it right before sleep and then they all went in the morning. So I don't know? I got lucky? I was prepared to walk them to the bathroom if need be, though.

 

For the whole trip I tried to be very minimal with the baby. I had my Lillebaby carrier and a nice umbrella stroller. She wasn't crawling yet so I didn't bother with a pack and play or anything. She just slept next to me in the tent and on the floor on a blanket anywhere else. I had a winter hat for her little head and I used one of those car seat blanket bundler things like this that someone gave me a long time ago (but I never used). It was warm and basically functioned as her sleeping bag. She was also under the community quilts.

 

And as for car trouble, I've been stranded before both by myself and with my parents growing up before. The possibility doesn't really bother me. I have roadside assistance and figured the worst that could happen is that we would get behind schedule and maybe spend some extra money. And we stayed mostly on interstates or highways with lots of traffic. I also had the van checked out before we left.

 

So yeah, I say do it! You only live once. For me, I decided early on that the success of the whole trip would depend a lot on my attitude. If I could see the world through positive eyes, be silly with my kids rather than frustrated, and go with the flow, everyone would have fun. And for the most part, that's what happened. 

 

Ahh

 

So much great advice in there.  The car seat bundle me for a sleeping bag for the baby.  So smart!

 

Wow you give me confidence for camping at those temps.  That is what it says it will be at night when we are in Canada.  

 

Did you have any worries about wildlife? 

 

You are seriously awesome!

[MeaganS]

Ahh

 

So much great advice in there.  The car seat bundle me for a sleeping bag for the baby.  So smart!

 

Wow you give me confidence for camping at those temps.  That is what it says it will be at night when we are in Canada.  

 

Did you have any worries about wildlife? 

 

You are seriously awesome!

 

Nah, I figured statistics were on our side. Unprovoked animal attacks are rare and I knew we'd be hiking and camping in high-traffic, populated areas. I also planned to leave any animal we saw alone and at a distance. No selfies with bison for us. We did have some elk wander through our campsite, but they were peaceful enough. And we saw 6 bears, but that was all while in the car and only one was really close (wandered into the road right as I drove past early in the morning. I almost hit it, but we were both ok). So no, I wasn't too worried. I did contemplate getting some bear spray but didn't end up bothering for the reasons I listed. 

[skimomma]

We camp a lot at 30-40 degree nights.  If you have not already purchased a tent, I suggest getting the smallest you can all comfortably fit in.  This helps with keeping everyone warm.  Our family of three uses a 4-man backpacking tent which just barely fits us and we can never tell how cold it is outside.  We have never done this but we have friends that will run a small electric space heater to warm the tent up (NOT while sleeping and someone is watching it the whole time).  The mom has even gotten up and run it for a few minutes in the middle of the night when it got too cold.  They have a VERY large tent so their body heat does not heat the tent up very well.  Winter hats for sleeping also helps.  We rarely wear them to bed but will put them on if we wake up in the middle of the night if we are cold.

 

If you don't want to invest the time and space into a portable toilet, you can also use wide-mouth mason jars for number one.  We keep them in our camper and each of us has a labeled one.  It sounds gross but we have used them when it is pouring rain or very cold in the middle of the night.  Just wash them in the morning and don't think too hard about it.  For sure have lids for them so one does not spill!

 

Animals should be no problem if you keep your food in the car and cook far away from your tent.  Obviously, no food IN the tent:)  We had a bear raid our cooler a few years ago when we forgot to put it in the car.  It was a very exciting evening.  Almost as exciting as the time we had a bat in the pop-up.......