Camping Trip Planning Tips
Camping is an outdoor activity that is supposed to be fun, spontaneous and relaxing. However, in order to experience those, careful planning is in order. It may sound oxymoronic — how can something be spontaneous and fun if you have to plan ahead for it?
For more than a century, people have been camping. In the past, camping wasn’t just living out in the wilderness for a short while. For many people, camping became a way of life. In the 1940s, camping became a popular form of vacation. The next two decades saw the growth of camping, when the post-WWII economy began to improve and the highway system started to develop.
Today, camping no longer means sleeping in tents; camping can be done in many ways now, including camping in RVs and sleeping in motels. Two decades ago, there aren’t any GPS devices or cell phones to take along on a camping trip. And a few decades ago, camping simply meant setting up a tent somewhere in the wilderness; today, there are camping grounds, with campers vying for a spot at certain weeks of the year in popular campsites.
In order to satisfy the camping fever, so to speak, commercial campsites sprang up. However, there are still constraints. Only very few commercial campsites are ever profitable. In addition, there is a limited number of desirable camping spots outside of the National and State Parks.
So if you’re planning to go camping, the first thing you need to do is decide on your camping location and when you want to go there. When you’ve decided the when and where, the next step is to book a reservation to the campground. You can do this online on sites such as ReserveUSA.com and the National Park Service Reservation Center at reservations.nps.gov.
Booking your campsite is much like booking a cruise; you will need to book ahead, at least three months, if you want to get the best spots. If you’re going to a popular campsite, you may need to book a year in advance, maybe more. For instance, rooms at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite typically requires you to book at least two years in advance. You can tell it’s a popular camping destination, considering that the hotel’s cheapest room costs $350 a night!
Reservation booked and confirmed, your next step is to start preparing your packing list. Sure, you can just throw anything and everything you think you’ll need for your camping trip in your SUV and drive off, but you’ll likely forget something essential. This is where a packing list proves to be invaluable.
So what things need to be in your packing list? First, you have to have a first aid kit. Do some research on the plants found in your camping destination and create a list of the most common toxic plants. Find out if there are any wildlife warnings there too.
Other items in your packing list should include a tent (or tents, if you’re camping with a group of people), clothing, sleeping bags, basic tools (this is where that Swiss Army knife comes in handy), flashlight, stove, and anything that’s appropriate for the time of the year you’re camping.
Next, find out if there are any road closures in and around the camping area. This is important if you’re going camping in the winter. You will need to be prepared for events such as rock slides, floods, ice, snow avalanches and other problems.
As your camping trip gets closer and closer, make sure to check the weather in your camping destination. Since most camping areas are located in or near mountains and away from urban areas, they tend to have weather that are less predictable. They typically experience sudden thunderstorms and rain squalls. However, if you have an idea of the sort of weather that the camping area may have during your camping trip, you will be able to pack accordingly. When you plan ahead and plan carefully, you can be sure your camping trip is going to be one that is fun, spontaneous and memorable.