As I sit here waiting for my first born to arrive, I started thinking about my family’s yearly camping trip. I can’t wait to take my child camping as it provides so many benefits for children. Every year we travel from New Jersey to Bar Harbor, Maine for a nice relaxing and scenic camping trip. I look forward to this trip every year and book my campsite a year in advance. Now, that’s not really a tip because most campgrounds do not fill up that quickly; however, depended on where, when and how you want to camp it would be wise to book your reservations a few months in advance if you are staying at a campground.
For this article, I wanted to help new and veteran campers have a great tenting experience. You may think that all you have to do is put up the tent (which can be challenge at times) but there is much more to getting the campsite ready. Here are some tips that I have learned through my years of camping. There are obviously a lot of tips for using a tent, but these are some I have found to be really helpful especially for beginners!
5 Basic Tips for Camping with a Tent
Buy the Right Size Tent
Growing up, my family was a “tenting” family. We had a huge tent that gave each of us plenty of room and had many windows for good air circulation at night. When purchasing a tent, be sure it is big enough to accommodate your family size. It may also be a good idea to round up when looking at how many people the box says the tent will fit. In my opinion, some 2-4 person tents are quite small and you will be living on top of one another.
Use a Ground Cover
Be sure to purchase a ground cover so your tent is not sitting directly on the ground. This helps immensely when it rains; though don’t be surprised if you still find some puddles in the corners after a good rain storm. Also, make sure the cover fits because if it sticks out of the tent all the rain will come in anyway.
Treat the Seams
After you find your tent you have to be sure to treat the seams with scotch guard. Yes, tents are water resistant, but don’t let that fool you. The seams have tiny little holes that will let in water if you don’t seal them up. In fact, even if it doesn’t rain at night, the condensation inside the tent is enough to leave you feeling damp at best, and anything touching the walls of the tent will be wet in the morning. For this reason, I always left my bag of clothes in the car so I didn’t have to worry about it.
Keep Food (and Toothpaste) Out of the Tent
Obviously, you don’t want to keep any kind of food in your tent, but you also shouldn’t keep things like toothpaste in there either. Bears, raccoons, and other critters are fairly good with zippers and wouldn’t mind snacking on whatever you have in the tent. Also, please lock you cars because the wildlife can open a door handle with ease to get the contents out of that cooler you packed in the trunk.
Air Out the Tent When You Get Home
Now this may not help with your current camping trip, but it will definitely help with the next one. Opening the tent when you get home will help keep it from growing mold from the condensation. That could definitely put a damper on your next trip!
Now after reading all that you may think, why the heck would I even want to go camping? The fact is, tenting isn’t for everyone. It’s not even for me anymore so don’t feel bad. My family purchased a travel trailer a few years ago and it’s one of the best investments we have ever made. Just having our own shower is a huge perk for me.
You might be thinking, well that’s not camping. I have to admit, I was one of these people. I would look at the people in RVs and cabins and think, “you’re not really camping.” But you know what? It doesn’t really matter where you sleep at night to consider yourself a camper. Camping has to do with having fun, enjoying time with friends and family, and being a part of nature!
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It is smart to have all your food and scented things outside of your tent so that you don’t have any unwanted visitors come to your tent. I think it is also important to have things to do while you are there. I was reading on http://ponderosapinescampground.com and I read about some camping locations that had all sorts of activities near them. It is fun to have more than one activity to do especially if there is a lake nearby.
Bring stuffs that family needs the most, especially medicinal kit. It is impossible to look for nearer clinic or hospital inside the forest.
That is a great idea! Thank you so much. You never what can happen when you are in the great outdoors!
Hey Jessica,
I think Investing in the right camping gear is very important. Because we don’t know which gear we need when or which purpose.
Thanks for sharing your useful tips!
Bring important things with you when you go camping like first aid kit, cell phone charger or any communication tools -this is just for emergency uses. Also just to add a few things, safety measures should be reiterated especially if you have children with you. It is better to be safe than sorry. With respect to your post, I find it very informative, I will keep that in mind whenever I am dealing with my tent. Thanks!
Hi Jessica,
I always let my kids spend time on blending into nature. It does help enhance their body physically and emotionally. It doesn’t matter what outdoor activity you are passionate about or your skill level, nature is always a part of us.
Thanks for the useful tips, dear & keep up the good work.
Thanks so much! going on our first camping trip with the family soon this is very useful.
We are planning on taking our family camping in a few weeks and want to make sure we got our basics down. Thank you for talking about the importance of keeping food out of your tent. It really helps to know this since we want to avoid critters and accidents while we are sleeping under the starts or while we enjoy nature.
All great tips that will help make your next camping trip more enjoyable and hassle free. The only one I don’t agree with is to leave the dog at home. After watching how excited she gets when she watches us getting ready for the next trip that would just be to cruel.
That’s a good tip to make sure a ground cover fits. Like you said, the rain will still get in if it doesn’t. It’s fun to leave modern comforts behind sometimes, and it’s good for you to; The air in the woods has more oxygen because of the trees.
Thanks for sharing these basic tips. I remember last year I forgot to keep ground cover with me and I had to manage with my bed sheets 😀 .
You’ll never know what things can happen. So be sure while packing your outdoor tent camping trip.
Such a beautiful article i found here it has all important information about the camping tents. Its big thank to all of you guys for sharing such a great blog.
I love camping and I love your nice tips. Thank you for sharing the information with us.
I always love camping, especially with my friends. So always try to get more information on my mind about camping. Many many thanks for sharing your thought with us.
Thank you for your valuable information
Great ideas! So excited for our upcoming camping trip
Very much appreciated for sharing this.