Caping is a very fun way to take family vacations all over the United States. In 2010, people took 515 million camping trips. A reported 40 million people went on these vacations that year. In 2013, at least 40.1 million Americans took camping trips, according to the 2014 American Camper Report. That was a full 14% of the country’s population. There are ways to make the most of your trip to one of the wooded campgrounds around the country.
- Bring more water than you will need. If you are like most of the country, when you go on family camping trips, you like to engage in a number of outdoor activities. At least 87% of people who spend time in wooded campgrounds say they do this. The thing about taking part in all of these fun activities is you need more water when you are doing them. This is especially true if you are doing your camping in a dry climate or the mountains. Experts say that by the time you sense that you are thirsty, you have already become dehydrated.
- You need more than just water to drink. Unless you are sure that you are going to one of the wooded campgrounds that has plenty of water for you to use, you may get there and find that there is not any water for cooking, maybe bathing and for your first aid needs. At the end of the day, you are better taking much more water than you think you will need.
- Bring a lot of food. Hungry campers are not happy campers. Plan your meals but also for snacks. You will be using more calories than you use when you are not out in the woods camping. Bring foods that you can easily get in bulk. It is easy to travel with rice and pasta. Cereal is another good option. Also, when you are planning your meals before you leave for your trip, you can partially prepare some of your foods before you go. You can partially cook potatoes, cut up vegetables and make up other food items that you bring with you. Bringing trail mix is also a good idea for people who are on the go.
- Give your first aid supplies a facelift. If you have ever been on a camping trip, you probably know that you need to bring a first aid kit for the small bites, cuts and scrapes that people will get along the way. Do an inventory and check the expiration dates of any medications. Make sure you have enough bandages, band aids and that none of your pain killers, such as Advil or Tylenol have gone bad.
- Protect your skin. No matter if you are going to wooded campgrounds or sunny ones, you should bring a hat and plenty of sunscreen. Many great family camping vacations have been ruined by a bad sunburn. By the same token, you should stock up on aloe vera, lip balm and insect repellent. Tea tree oil is a great natural oil that bugs absolutely hate.
- Never use your gas to light a fire. Many people assume that when they have problems lighting their cam fire, they can just use gas for the car to help get the camp fire going. This is a terrible idea. You risk too much. If you are not able to get your fire started and are considering using gas from the car, you should just pack everything up and head home.
- Pack your clothes to dress in layers. No matter what the time of year, and you should check on the weather, you may experience many different temperatures and changes to the climate. If you pack clothes so you can dress in layers, you will be more comfortable.
- Plan activities for rain. You can plan your trip as carefully as possible but you still might have rain. Bring games and ask the staff at the campground if they have indoor things that can be done or sights you can see if you have a rainy day.
People who get to love camping as children tend to love it for life. These trips give your group a chance to unwind and reconnect.
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