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Family Camping for beginners – Preparation

Posted on April 11, 2019June 7, 2022 by Henry Elliss

Having written recently about the idea of focusing this blog on a few more niche topics, I’ve decided to begin what will hopefully be a regular series of posts about camping – or more specifically, camping with your family.

It’s something we do quite a bit, and a topic on which I’ve got a lot of tips to share – and with ‘staycationing’ on the rise these days, something which a lot of you have probably considered. So, hopefully a helpful topic!

I want to try to cover topics which will be particularly helpful to families with young children like mine, but hopefully there will be some tips and advice that even the most seasoned camper. So without further delay, let’s start at the beginning… preparation.

So you’ve decided to take the family camping?

While camping can be a great spur-of-the-moment idea, and you can get by on the most basic of equipment, having a successful family camping trip can benefit from a bit of preparation. Sure, you could just stuff all your stuff into the car and head off on an adventure. But you could also do a few small bits of research and preparation before you go, to ensure the trip is a success! Here are a few of the tips I’ve learned along the way:

Check out the facilities before you go

It might seem unimportant now, but knowing what sort of facilities your campsite has can be a real boon when packing, particularly for the kids. If you’re staying for longer than a weekend for instance, you’ll probably want showers onsite. How many toilets are there, and how far away are they? You’ll definitely care more about this when the urge for a 2am wee strikes. Is there a shop onsite, and do they sell things like gas/fuel? Does the campsite allow open fires, or barbecues? Are pets allowed? You might not have a pet yourself, and may not want a fire – but if all your neighbours are taking advantage of these facilities, it may affect your stay too.

Make sure the campsite has running water – or at least child bucket-carriers!

If you’re driving there, prep the car

I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve had to push our car out of a wet, muddy field after the weather took a change for the worst. Making sure you’ve got pumped-up tyres with good grip can be a massive help in that situation. While you’re at it, make sure that you can still access all the emergency equipment once you’ve packed the boot – if you break down on the side of the motorway, you don’t want to have to unpack the entire car in order to access the warning triangle.

He might look a little young the drive, but it’s better than letting him do the navigating

Find out what there is to do nearby

Obviously one of the big advantages of a camping holiday is how relaxing it can be just to mill around the tent – or explore the nearby surroundings. But even the most hardened camper will need to find something to do at times – and what about if the weather turns bad, and you don’t want to spend the entire time hiding in the tent? Do a bit of research on what else there is to do nearby – especially things you could do in bad weather. You’ll thank me later!

Nearby National Trust properties are always a safe-bet for a family friendly day out

Make sure your first meal is simple

By the time you’ve got to where you’re going, you’ve unpacked and erected your tent and figured everything out, you’re not going to want to spend hours cooking a fiddly and convoluted meal. And you’re bound to have worked up a hunger, too. So make life easier on yourselves and plan a simple first meal – either something you can make in advance like a pasta sauce, or something which doesn’t take too much prep. It’ll be a massive relief after a long day.

I should never be trusted with a barbecue after a few drinks on the campsite

Shed some light on the situation

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you can never have too many lights when you’re camping. You might want to ‘get back to nature’ and appreciate the stars in the night sky, but you’ll want a good torch ready when you need to make a midnight trip to the loo block. And with kids in the tent, having a few lights around will make life a heck of a lot easier – we usually take an entire box of lights on our trips, with everything from head-torches to solar lights – and the odd glow-stick for good measure.

The magic of glowsticks, as demonstrated beautifully by my brother and my niece.

Take plenty for the kids to do

Unless you happen to have raised the most angelic children in the world, your kids – like all kids – will get bored easily. So ensuring they have plenty of things to do while you’re away could be the key to getting some peace and quiet of your own. Even more importantly, make sure some of it is in easy reach before you’ve unpacked – because having a child moaning that they’re bored while you struggle to put up the tent can be a very frustrating experience, let me tell you!

We always pack the football last, to ensure it’s ready to be played with while we relax

Invest wisely in a few particular items

I’m going to write another post about the items you can’t live without, but for now I’ll tell you this: never buy cheap camping chairs, as you will only regret it later. Invest in something which you’re going to be comfortable sitting in for a good stretch of time – and while you’re at it, consider buying a fold-out bed rather than an air mattress. Sure, it’s not so good if you’ve got to pack light, but if you’re camping for more than a weekend it’ll be a blessing.

Good camping chairs can make the difference between failure and success… and comfort

So there you – those are my tips to get you started. I’m sure there are plenty more – feel free to share you own in the comments below. I’ll be back soon to share some more tips for camping families.

[Finally, a big ‘thank you’ to our mysterious benefactors, who keep the blog going and who asked me to say the following: bonus bez depozytu 2022]

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  • 9 thoughts on “Family Camping for beginners – Preparation”

    1. Jessica Evershed says:
      April 11, 2019 at 1:43 pm

      For me having a fire is a deal breaker. If we can’t have a camp fire I won’t go. I’m very fond of sitting by the fire in the dusk drinking wine and hoping the children will go to sleep one day soon. I’d freeze to death otherwise.

      Also – SO middle class sorrynotsorry – we have bought everyone a £15 recycled wool blanket (National Trust shops) and everyone has their own to sit by fire with, sit on in sun, sleep under (in addition to arm sleeping bags) and to make dens; as appropriate

    2. Henry Elliss says:
      April 11, 2019 at 1:59 pm

      You can’t beat a good blanket, Jess! And I’m coming to the same conclusion on the camp fire front – though it’s less of an issue for me in the height of summer.

    3. Lucy EB says:
      April 11, 2019 at 5:44 pm

      * Take loads of solar-power lights with you – and remember to charge them up beforehand
      * Freeze pints of milk to keep your coolbox cold
      * Make a meal in advance and freeze it, it’ll keep your coolbox cold and also be an easy re-heat meal on day 2 or 3

    4. henweb says:
      April 12, 2019 at 8:13 am

      Excellent suggestions, sis! We always do the frozen meal one, and we definitely have the solar lights situation under control too.

    5. Pingback: Fatherhood on Friday: Using Adversity Right | Dad 2.0 Summit
    6. pottyadventures says:
      April 13, 2019 at 9:39 am

      Good advice. We love a family camp (both on campsites and wild camps) so I’ll look forward to more of your camping posts.

    7. Pingback: Henry's 40th Birthday Campout - Everything you need to know! | The Mediocre Dad
    8. Terrie says:
      May 23, 2019 at 7:25 pm

      I think a tent in a hotel room is a good option

    9. Pingback: Family Camping for Beginners - The Ultimate Guide for first time campers | The Mediocre Dad

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    henweb

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