Reluctant first time camper - help 🙈

[JustAMum31]

So DH has a dream of us being a proper camping outdoorsy family 🫠 personally - I think it sounds like hell but he’s got our (pre-school aged) kid all excited at the thought so I’m taking one for the team and going along in the hope that I’m proved wrong and actually love it 😅

DH hasn’t camped since he was a child so we’re complete beginners! We’re borrowing all the gear from a friend for our first try and then will invest in our own set up if we like it.

Campsite booked an hour from home - great reviews. Site has proper toilets/showers etc and is 10 mins walk from a small town with decent shop and farm shop. We’ve booked a pitch with electric.

Any tips and tricks for beginners would be very much appreciated. Any “must have” items to make it comfortable? Any top tips to make a more successful trip?

We’re borrowing - Air tent with carpets, extension for the electric, camping tables and chairs & air beds.
We’ve got - decent sleeping bags, portable gas stove, electric cool box

Air beds can wick the cold from the ground so put a blanket under your sleeping bag.

I make something like a spaghetti bolognaise before we go then freeze it and take it frozen. It will help keep everything in your cool box chilled and once it’s defrosted you have a quick meal.

Air tents need more air than you think, so don’t be worried if your air pump carries on when they look inflated.

Don’t let the kids blow bubbles around your tent as it can de-waterproof them. Simple toys like a ball or frizbie will get a lot of use.

A lot of people use wind breaks to give you a defined area, which can be useful to indicate boundaries for the kids. They also give you a little privacy.

Work out what exactly you are cooking and then what equipment you'll need. Remember things like cooking oil and washing up liquid!

Take a potty for the preschooler

Showers... take shorts or a dress for afterwards. It can be really hard getting dressed in the cubicles with the wet floors. I take post shower clothes then dress properly in the tent.

Oodies are brilliant. But not around camp fires

Death by list, write a list of what you need, it’s a bugger if you leave something at home. Agree with the importance of an insulating layer under your bed, enjoyable camping is based on a comfortable night’s sleep. A picnic rug or similar under the beds is great, torches, take frozen milk since as another poster said it will gradually defrost however will keep your stuff cold in the meantime. We have a ‘fridge bag’ because you will want some things at a separate temperature, e.g. butter, salad, bread.

My favourite piece of camping equipment is our camping toilet! Only got it last year and it's been a game changer in my view of camping. I always need to wee in the night when camping - sometimes several times (I think it's psychological because I'm thinking 'I hope I don't need to wee' and then I do!). Now we have the toilet in the main area of the tent at night (separate from the bedroom) I don't have that worry and actually seem to need to wee less. We only use it for night time wees.

Camping fridge and water container also very useful.

Battery powered lights that you can hang up in the tent (we have one for main area and one for bedroom), and headtorches.

A dust pan and brush is useful for keeping tent clean especially if near sand.

Keep bags etc away from walls of tent so they are not pressing on it.

Pillows
Washing up bowl
Sealed boxes to store food and plates, cups etc (we find clear plastic ones helpful).
Tin opener/bottle opener
First aid kit

Overall, agree with PP - write a really detailed list. Or pick up a prepared list (go outdoors have them, I'm sure you can also find many online) and go though it carefully.

For enjoyable camping you need to be warm and comfortable. It can get very cold at night, even in summer. Make sure you have blankets to go over your sleeping bags as well as underneath. We always preferred duvets and real pillows.
Comfortable chairs also a must, we liked moon chairs best.
We also took a kampa khazi. Same as PP above, if I had one in the tent I didn't lay awake all night worrying about having to trek to the toilet.
Obviously all the above is only possible with a big car or roofbox.

We didn't take lots of extraneous stuff though. We found simplicity more relaxing than trying to go for home from home with rugs, fairy lights, fire pits etc.
I hate having to move stuff around to do anything so we kept the tent uncluttered. We only cooked very simple meals and took cereal and pastries for breakfast. Making full English every morning means it takes so long to get out and about every day.

How long are you going for?
Practise putting up and taking down the tent before you go. Check how much blackouting it provides so you can take a sleeping mask if necessary.
Take earplugs if you don’t want to be awoken by birds or other campers.
Take paper plates and bowls to save on washing up. Don’t forget a washing up bowl or bucket, and scourer.
We take instant porridge pots (we try all the fancy flavours!) for breakfast. It saves washing up because they’re disposable and they’re so quick and easy. I add some dried fruit and chopped nuts, and find that after a hot chocolate or latte it’s enough.
Take things to occupy he dc in the tent if it’s raining or if they’re up early and you want to lie in or you don’t want them to disturb other campers.

If you find you’re short of space in the car, the best hack for space saving is to use vacuum bags. They’re fine to use for clothes, towels, tea towels, polyester sleeping bags, polyester pillows etc.. Very often there’s no need to vacuum pack on the return journey because we gain the extra room that the food, drinks and ice took up. You can make the most of the empty cool box by packing all your pots, pans, fuel canisters, tableware etc… in it.

1. Practise putting up the tent at home
2. Make a list A of all the kit you've borrowed
3. Make a list B of other stuff you need to take
4. Have a great camp!
5. When you get home, check that you still have everything on list A + B
6. Cross stuff off list A and B that you didn't use or can do without
7. What's left on A is the stuff you need for next time
8. You now have a List B ready for next time

Always good to be organised when camping!

Wear all your clothes as soon as you start to feel cold in the evening.
Don't expect to get a great night's sleep, enjoy being woken by the birds.
Do expect that everything will take ages to do and you will spend a lot of time looking for things.
I love it 😁

I always took quilts not sleeping bags and loads of pillows. I also bought an electric cool box that could be plugged into the car, like a mini frdige. It was a game changer. Take a bucket so you don’t need to trudge across the field in the middle of the night for a wee. Take frozen curry, chilli, bolognaise, etc. so all you have to do is heat it up and make the rice or pasta. Take hand sanitiser, loo roll and wipes. Go to bed early! Because you’ll be woken up every morning by the noise around you.

Kids love camping. It’s hard work for the parents but all I could afford as a single parent for years. I did it for 5 years, and then I threw in the towel. I want a roof over my head, a proper bed and a lie in when I go on holiday!

Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

The worst:

It will rain.

It will be really cold at night.

The man in the nearest tent will snore like a train and his wife will have a ukulele.

Your child will wander off when you take your eye off them for a split second.

The best:

The sun shines and you all love it 🙂

Toilet bucket or potty for the little one.

Insect repellent

Flip flops for the showers

Wipes, loads of wipes.

Eye mask, ear plugs

Snacks

Wine

Nice food. You do not have to eat pot noodles and beans with sausages in the tin. Treats. Steak on BBQ. decent coffee, my cafitiere / stove top espresso maker comes with me.

Fire pit. My approach is to make the best of the camping experience rather than trying to make camping like a house. Don’t sit in the zipped up tent, sit out and look at the stars, Take or hire a fire pit if the site allows (I don’t go to sites that don’t)

Don’t take bubbles, or use aerosols inside the tent. Neither are good for tent fabric.

Flip flops or crocs for the shower and general campsite wandering.
We've all got a tunic towel dry robe for showers and get dressed back at the tent.
Is there WiFi?
We have bought a portable booster because it is always patchy but strangely not near the bar or cafe.

Wine. Definitely wine.

Some fun stuff for your child... have a fire pit if allowed, and toast some marshmallows. Sparklers are a necessity, and glow sticks. Hot chocolate if it's cold at night. Bring torches and go for night time walks to spot animals.
I love all those fun camping memories with my kids.

Oh! And depending on how long you're there , be aware of the times they clean the facilities. Its worth checking how many sanitary blocks they have so you know where to head if they are cleaning another one.

Take a star chart or swot up on the night sky you’ll see throughout the evenings/nights.

Amaze your family with your knowledge of celestial bodies, while enjoying your Chardonnay.

Head torch, especially with little ones, crocs or wellies, ideal for nighttime trips to the loo. Full waterproofs if weather is at all unpredictable(including waterproof trousers). Warmer clothes than you would expect, it’s cold camping. I also take ear plugs and a sleep mask because of noisy kids nearby (mine are grown)

Book a table at a nearby pub/restaurant, ideally for your last night, so it will be easier to pack up.

I also prefer to go with friends - kids all play together, we share the tasks, all good.

Washing up bowl to cart your washing up to the sinks. Tea towels, sponges, oil, salt and pepper. Bin bags to bring back any wet stuff. Old blankets that you don't mind getting smoky/grassy.

Get to the site asap on arrival day to nab the best pitch.

I was like you - very reluctant! Camped for the first time in my mid-30s with an 18 month-old, after dh persuaded me. To my astonishment, I really enjoyed it and we went many times after that, including one 3-weeker .

Posters have already given most of the important advice. Being warm is key. Take more warm clothes than you think you need, even if the weather forecast is good. In the evening, put warm stuff on BEFORE you get cold. It's easier to stay warm than warm up.

My main piece of advice (and something I hadn't really understood before I camped) is that to enjoy camping you have to look at it as an end in itself, not just as cheap accommodation. Camping is an activity, and if you don't embrace the practical challenges as part of the fun, you're not going to enjoy it! And if you do, the kids will too, which helps!

Microfibre towels dry much more quickly than normal towels. Use a plastic bag-for-life for taking things to the showers, it can be hung up and protect clothes/towels from getting wet in small shower cubicles. A overdoor hanger can be useful.
Take a (elastic) clothes line and clothes pegs, or one of the ‘soctopus’ clothes hanging devices. Clothes pegs are very useful for other things apart from just hanging up clothes.
The ‘Outdoor’ rugs sold in garden shops/aldi/lidl etc can give you a ‘clean area’ if it dusty or muddy outside, and can be hosed clean.
A good pair of binoculars to watch birds and look at the stars, and a Bat detector can be fun for the children in the evenings.

Wooly hats and fleece jumpers to keep you warm no matter what time of year it is. It can get cold in the evenings even if warm during the day.

Check where nearest pub is.

Ear plugs.
Dustpan and brush.

Washing up tips: wipe everything first with disposable wipes so your washing up water will last longer; use a flexi bucket instead of washing up bowl - if it's not too full you can carry it to the sinks in one hand and also you can fill it with shoes, toys etc when you're packing the car.