Camping solo, as a group, or with family — these are all fun things to do but camping as a family is probably one of the more trickier things to accomplish, especially if you don’t have the right items yet. So we compiled a few tips, a checklist of family camping gears to have on hand and some not-so-essential but definitely helpful items that families need to have on hand. A wicker picnic basket would be a great addition to your camping essentials, it can be a great storage for your food supply.
First things First
Before you start buying everything, make sure you have the dates settled, and that you know the weather conditions of your camping destination. If it’s extremely cold, warm, or drizzly, camping is mostly about adapting to your surroundings so take that into mind before buying everything.
Essentials
Tent, stakes, cookware, trashbags, utensils, food, fire source (for cooking), first aid kit (including repellant, etc), clothes, sleeping bags, and a source of entertainment or two (cards and a board game) are essentially the main items you need for camping. If you have special comforting items (like a child’s teddy bear), don’t forget to bring that. But don’t make it too important that you then start to hate camping because of the tedious planning involved.
Try to downsize as much as you can even if it means that you’ll have to make do without your comfortable pillow or your fancy water bottle. Try to list down the most important things you need to bring and if you’re only going on a 2 day camping trip, do you really need to bring all the pots and pans? Or perhaps you can just bring ready-to-eat food that just requires hot water? Weigh the pros and cons and adjust your checklist accordingly.
Minimalist Camping
It’s tempting to bring the whole house with you but is that really going to make the trip a happier one? With the Marie Kondo phenomenon in full force, a lot of people are taking the minimalist approach even when it comes to camping gears, bringing only the most essential things they need to have with them. If you feel overwhelmed about the things you have to buy, remember that at the end of the day, it’s not the aeropress or the microfiber pillowcase that will make the trip worth it: it’s the memories you create with the ones you love.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.
