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Chapter 9 – Building a Campfire

If you grew up in the country and split your own logs you can skip this. In this chapter we’ll talk about the four types of wood. Going from smallest to largest, the first is tinder, then kindling, then wet wood, and finally dry wood.

Tinder.

Tinder is lightweight and burns fairly hot for a short period of time. You use it to light larger pieces of dry wood. That’s really the concept of a fire—you start with small stuff that’s thin and ignites easily and at a hot temperature, so that you can then light something a little bigger and then a little bigger, then even bigger. Tinder is the easy-to-light fibrous stuff. It’s not going to burn long. Usually if it’s easy to light and puts out a lot of temperature it’s going to burn pretty quickly.

Tinder is basically a fire starter and comes in a variety of forms. One form is off a log from a long-ago-dead tree. You strip back the bark and you’ll find a fibrous and lightweight layer between the bark and the tree. That layer is easy to light.

Another form is newspaper or fire starters you can buy from the store. You can make your own fire starter with a combination of sawdust and wax, put the mixture in a paper egg crate. There are other ways to make fire starters, just check the Internet. There’s a lot of ways to start a fire.

I will warn you to stay away from leaves as they usually put off a lot of smoke and not a lot of heat, instead you want to look for soft, dry material.

Fat wood kindling is a great firestarter

Kindling.

Kindling is broken or dead branches and other forest litter whose diameter starts from the size of your thumb on up. Unfortunately, not all branches around a forest are dry.

If a branch is dead, (i.e., no leaves, no green growth) that tree is no longer able to provide nutrients and water to the limb, so it’s going to be dry. If it’s appropriate where you’re camping, you can snap off a dead branch and use the tips to start your fire.

Squaw wood is where you have dead wood that is up off the ground. For example a fallen limb stuck between two branches, or maybe it’s still attached to the tree and it’s about to break off, or it’s lying across a couple limbs and has broken off. Since it isn’t on the soil, it’ll be drier than branches sitting on grass or dirt. That’s the kindling you are looking for because moisture from the terrain hasn’t been saturating the timber, especially if it hasn’t rained lately. It will tend to be drier than the wood lying directly on the ground. Dry wood makes it easier to build fire.

If you’re out in the western part of the country, humidity is extremely low and it’s not really a big issue. If you’re on the eastern part of the country, or say you’re in the Appalachian Mountains, humidity can make starting a fire tougher because that wood can absorb moisture from the air. A bigger problem is when wood absorbs moisture from the ground. Damp wood is hard to light.

Dry wood versus green wood.

The drier the wood the quicker and the hotter it’s going to burn. Wet timber is harder to ignite and you’ll find it burns longer at a lower temperature. Our tinder lights our kindling, then as the fire builds you’ll use bigger pieces of wood. That kindling may be the squaw wood or branches you know are good and dry.

Check local ordinances.

In some areas you aren’t allowed to pick up dead wood. It depends on the status of the forest you’re in. So collect small pieces of kindling from your backyard before you leave home and bring them with you, maybe in a bucket with a lid to keep it dry. Break them up into a bunch of small pieces and you’ve always got that available.

Make sure there isn’t a fire prohibition in the area.

Sometimes it gets dry in the summer and there will be a prohibition against campfires. When the park, or county, decides there is a chance for forest fires, they may ban campfires. Always check before you leave to go camping.

How to build a fire.

When you start your fire, tinder is going to be underneath very small pieces of wood. One way to think about this is how a tree grows. You have a trunk and branches, and the branches branch into twigs, and eventually you get out to the tip where the buds are. This smallest wood tends to be less than an eighth of an inch in diameter.

If you have a fire starter and you put it underneath an eight inch diameter log, that combination is not going to catch the log on fire. Building this fire is a matter of starting and working through these stages: easy to ignite; very small diameter tinder-type stuff; up to kindling; up to what we’ll call firewood.

Alternative to building a fire – White gas stove cooking breakfast

Build a fire with tinder at the bottom, then twigs about an eighth of an inch in diameter, then sticks about a quarter of an inch in diameter. The tinder lights the twigs, the twigs light the sticks. As the fire grows you add bigger and bigger fuel, but take it slow or else you’ll snuff the fire out. When you get to where the kindling is the size of your thumb, then you start looking for small pieces of dry wood about two times your thumb.

My point is to slowly build up your fire by increasing the size of the timber. At some point you’ll notice burnt pieces of ember dropping down and creating a bed of coals. This is the stage where if you’ve gone ahead and split some logs into pieces about an inch by an inch square, by whatever the length of the wood was, maybe 16 inches, then you can start putting those dry logs on. This wood is more substantial than the twigs, so they’re going to burn hotter as they catch on fire. At this point you can add bigger logs.

You may also want to consider building a square chimney out of your smaller split wood. Then you can start your fire down in this hollow chimney. This will trap the heat from the tinder and progressively larger pieces of wood and help to protect your incipient stage fire from wind. This approach also warms up the split wood and eventually ignites the larger pieces.

Later in the evening you may want to throw on a big log as a backstop. It will sit there and start to catch on fire. It’s going take a long time to ignite, but when it does, it’s going to burn for a long time, which is awfully nice while enjoying the campfire.

Once you have a bed of coals, you can start introducing some green timber because it burns slowly. The advantage is you’re not going to have to add wood as often. Though your fire will not get as hot, it’ll burn longer. That’s the point in the evening where you’re looking to sit around the campfire. If you’re going to cook something for a long period, sometimes small pieces of green logs will help stabilize the cooking temperature. Keep in mind, if wood is very green, then it won’t burn well and you will have problems keeping your fire burning. Avoid that frustration and enjoy the fire by using dry timber.

Scraps of wood.

Once, when we were camping in Bear Den Campground in North Carolina, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, I met a cabinetmaker who saved his sawdust and wood scraps in a bucket with a lid. Over time, the bucket full of kindling became bone dry. He used that to build a fire which worked really well. So, if you’re a wood worker, save your scraps. Break them down into small pieces, and use that to start your fire.

Buckets for kindling.

You can obtain free buckets at Walmart or any grocery store from the bakery department. They may have a bucket full of icing they’re working from. A lot of times they’ll give you those buckets and they’ll have lids. Are they waterproof? No. Are they water-resistant? Yeah, for the most part. So, you can probably keep your stuff dry.

Or you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and purchase three-gallon buckets in the paint department for about three dollars. They also sell lids that snap onto the bucket. Home Depot has started carrying Omega Lids with an O-ring which makes it water resistant. Put your woodworking scraps or kindling in this bucket and screw on the lid, now you’ve got dry material to build your fire. Though it will take room up in your vehicle, if you’re planning to build several fires it sure makes life easier. Depending on where you’re camping, you may need to bring in all your wood.

Warnings.

Do not go to bed or walk away from a fire until it’s out. Out means you can put your hand over where the coals were and the area is cool. Fires can re-catch and you can start a forest fire.

Once you start a campfire, you have to tend it. You can’t go away for thirty minutes because something could go wrong. The fire could spread and you start a forest fire. Always watch a fire. Be careful. It’s a great tool. Like any tool, fires deserves respect and a little practice.

Using an accelerant.

Keeping a source of tinder and kindling with you is awfully handy. Another thing you can do is use an accelerant. So, let’s say you have lighter fluid and you want to build a charcoal fire. You can soak your wood in it for maybe ten or fifteen minutes before you light it. If you don’t give it time to soak in, the lighter fluid will sit on the surface and when you ignite it, there’ll be this giant poof of a flame and then it’ll be done and not a lot will catch on fire. Optionally, kerosene or diesel work well.

The challenge is whenever you use an accelerant, you introduce risk. When you light this thing, it’s going to ignite quickly and burn hot. Be careful, you don’t want to burn yourself or start a forest fire. Let’s say you’ve got a bundle of wood about a foot by a foot by a foot and you pour a gallon of white gas on it and you let it soak for an hour. When you light it, it’s going to give you this little mini fireball. That wood is going to burn for hours, you’ll have a hard time putting the fire out. And so, as a result, you want to avoid using an accelerant.

I will admit I’ve had times where I’ve been forced to use an accelerant. Either it was pouring rain or for some reason I was having a hard time keeping the fire started. I’ve used kerosene or white gas, but I will say I’ve had some negative experiences. So, I recommend staying away from an accelerant for camp fires.

For example, if you were to hold the white gas container in one hand while you light the fire, when the lid fell off the white gas container, you would understand the unpleasant experience. Alright, I was seventeen at the time and stupid. Learn from my mistakes and stay away from accelerants. Thankfully it was a small bottle of white gas, one of the ones we used for a backpacking stove. We got in a hurry, wanted the fire to light; threw some white gas on the wood, picked up the lighter, unbeknownst to me gas was on my hands, and there was this little bit of a boom, and it scared me! I dropped the gas container and the next thing I knew fire was everywhere because the white gas ignited. It was bad idea. I learned a valuable lesson.

If you choose to use an accelerant, go easy. Ninety-nine percent of the time you can build a fire successfully with what you have. If you’re in the Appalachian Mountains and it’s been raining for two weeks and the fog is rolling in and everything you have is soaking wet, then you’re going to have to make your own decision. I would encourage you not to use an accelerant, just because of the risk. You know, lighter fluid works fine on charcoal because charcoal absorbs the fluid readily. The wood may or may not absorb the accelerant as readily and so you can have a situation where it’s on the surface of the wood and not absorbed. Be careful.

Exceptions.

With a rocket stove, you’re going to stay with fairly small sticks the whole time, and you won’t need a stick bigger than three-eighths of an inch. That’s the advantage of those; they’re very efficient. If you use a Kelly Kettle, you’re going to use small twigs the whole time. You want to have a big stack of small twigs and just slowly feed the fire. The difference with the rocket stove and the Kelly Kettle is that you get hot water quickly. The downside is they need constant feeding of fuel. The very good thing is that you really don’t need much fuel to heat your water. A small box of small twigs can get you through several pots of coffee or bowls of oatmeal.

With a campfire you get up and add some fuel or branches or a log, every five or ten minutes when you get it going; maybe longer if it’s really going well. But with a rocket stove or a Kelly Kettle , you’re going to feed it constantly. If you walk away, it’ll just go out, because there’s just not a lot of fuel there and not a lot of thermal mass.

More complex fire arrangements.

A Dakota Hole or some rocket stoves rely on the fact that the heat is hottest at the tip of the flame or slightly above the flame, and so you build a fire in a teepee style. There’s a bunch of styles you can use— square or teepee to name a few. You could even use the Swedish fire log approach, which is really cool. You could even use a Swedish fire log approach, which is a little different and unique. Some people out west use Dakota holes. I’ve never built one that way, though it seems kind of cool. We’ve built a half Kiva before on a windy trip. There are a lot of specialized ways, but most of the time you’re sitting around a campfire, and you build a fire inside a little ring of rocks.

Wrap up.

The best way is to use a fire starter. Use tinder. Use kindling. Start small with your fire. Make it bigger. You definitely want to keep in mind that the heat is going to be the hottest above the flame, or at the top of the flame. Successful fires push hot air across the wood.

YouTube has videos on how to build a fire. There’s tons of stuff written about how to build a fire. And so, it’s something you want to figure out, what fire building approach works best for you.

Check out my books on camping

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Chapter 8 – Clothing for Camping

On your first trip, I’m sure you’d like to avoid going out and spending a lot of money on expensive gear, but keep a couple of things in mind. If you’re in a commercial site where there are many other campers around and you’re ten minutes from a bustling town and you have no plans to venture anywhere else, then you don’t need to purchase a lot of camping clothes. On the other hand, if you’ll be in a remote area far from others, then you have to be prepared for anything.

Keep in mind the high and low temperatures.

When we are home, we are used to a seventy-three degree house during the day and sixty-eight at night. When you’re outside camping, you can easily see a ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty degree swing over the course of the day. I will say it depends on where you are. Usually the largest fluctuations occur where it’s dry, because there’s less moisture to trap the heat, as well as at higher elevations where you find a bigger temperature swing at night. Say it’s seventy during the day, and forty at night. That’d be a thirty degree difference. We have seen swings from 85 to 30 many times in the mountains, especially in the high desert.

Stay warm. Stay dry.

The way to remain alive is to stay warm and dry. It’s very important to keep yourself in a situation where you can stay alive, because the number one killer of outdoor activities is hypothermia.

You can get hypothermia at seventy degrees. If you are wet at seventy, you’re not going to be able to maintain your body heat. If you are wet at seventy in the shade and the sun is about to set, you will also struggle. Keep in mind that very young children or older people can’t sustain their body heat at some of these temperatures if they don’t have the appropriate clothing. In those cases, hypothermia is a real threat.

Rules of three.

You can survive three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food. There’s a little bit of a variable in that equation, but it’s pretty accurate. In three days you’re going to be suffering from massive dehydration and your body’s going to start shutting down. In three minutes you’re going to suffer from oxygen deprivation and brain damage can begin.

How a 9-1-1 search can start.

Generally, if you are lost you’re going to be rescued within two or three days. And if people know where you are, you’re probably going to be found in twenty-four hours. But, let’s say it’s three-thirty in the afternoon, and your kid goes for a walk and gets lost. You don’t realize your child is missing until five-thirty when Mom’s calling everyone to the campsite for dinner. It may take awhile to discover a child is missing. There may be calling and searching before you realize your child is lost and you call 9-1-1.

By the time rescue personnel arrive and gather the facts, it may be dusk. Depending on weather conditions, they might wait until morning to search. One of the dangers rescue teams have is the risk of walking over uneven terrain at night. It turns into the rescuer needing rescuing. Many times when someone is lost, they won’t be found until the following day because of darkness, so the more prepared they are, the better chance they’ll survive.

Stay dry. I mean it.

If you are conscious and dry and warm, then you’ll be fine. You can live without food and water overnight. You may feel cold, but you’ll survive. The key is to remain dry.

What if it rains? Either huddle under the canopy of a large tree or gauge what direction the wind and rain is landing and put yourself in a situation where you can remain as dry as possible.

If you get wet in a rainstorm, use the rays of the sun when it reappears to

allow your clothing to dry.

Example of wet clothing in cooler temperatures.

When your clothing is wet, your body loses heat very quickly. The cotton T-shirt or hoodie you are wearing is useless, because the water conducts the heat away from your body, and cools you off. So now all of a sudden, its say seventy degrees, but your body can’t maintain that temperature because of the heat being lost.

Your body maintains a temperature of about ninety-eight degree. Let’s say the air’s seventy, and your body’s producing energy so maybe it’s seventy. But, once you are wet you’re not okay. It is now dark and you have to spend the night in a place where you don’t have a way to dry off. When wet you lose more energy than you’re creating; this is when hypothermia could begin to kick in. People think that would never happen to me, but unfortunately hypothermia is one of the big outdoor killers.

Hypothermia defined.

Your body needs to keep organs at your normal body temperature. If your body is losing heat, the first thing to happen is your extremities cool off. Your fingers and toes get cold; as long as you don’t develop frostbite or the digits don’t freeze, then not a huge deal. It’s not uncommon for your skin to reach fifty degrees.

But, eventually you lose so much heat that your body starts to get cold inside. Your organs are not comfortable with being at those temperatures. So, in protection mode, your body begins to reduce the amount of blood flow to the skin. One way your body saves heat is to tighten your capillaries. But, your internal organs—liver, lungs, heart, they are all starting to get colder and eventually shut down. Next, your mental capacity goes down as well which is why people may start hallucinating. In advanced stages of hypothermia, they may stop talking or may not be able to communicate any more. At that point you have a serious medical condition. The only way to fix it is to warm the person up.

How quickly does hypothermia set in?

If you are lost and wet and can’t maintain your body temperature; hypothermia will set in. If you are a young child or an older person, it is more critical. The colder the air is the quicker hypothermia starts.

For example, say you fall into the Bering Sea which is about thirty-two degrees; you have about two minutes before hypothermia sets in. Or say you tumble into a seventy degree lake, you have about three hours. The basic concept is if you don’t warm up, you’re going to die.

Let’s say you aren’t wet. Or you are wet but the temperatures aren’t extreme, you are in for a long night. Hypothermia might not set in, but it will be a miserable night. It would also be a reason for someone never to go camping again. So, it’s more than just keeping track of your kids; its preparing them because things can happen. But, there’s hope. Read on for tips to prevent hypothermia and getting lost.

Simple things we can do for safety.

Help the people in your group understand where they are and how to return to the camp site. Also, train them in what to do if they become lost. If they don’t have equipment or proper waterproof clothing, there are still a number of things they can do.

Remind them to stay dry and warm, and make sure they know why this is important. Another thing is don’t move around after nightfall without illumination as it is easy to fall and injure yourself. Next thing you know you’ll be lost and hurt. It’s best to sit down after dark sets in.

You can also teach the people in your group about the terrain. If you’re camping halfway up a mountain, give them a landmark they can go to, that way you’ll know where to find them if they are lost. For example our place in the mountains has two peaks; one is on our property and the other on the neighbors. Everyone knows if they are lost to walk uphill until they can’t go anymore, that is where we can easily find them if darkness sets in and they don’t return to camp. Think about whether there are terrain features you can give simple directions around, so even a child can understand how to get to a place where it’s easy to find them.

Example: not lost, just hurt.

Let’s say you are out hiking alone, and you fall. You’ve broken something and you can’t make it back to camp. No one can hear you yelling and darkness is settling in. If you’ve left camp prepared, then you can rough it for a night with the pack I’m about to tell you about.

Equipment everyone needs.

Knowledge is power, but when camping, proper equipment can rule the day. If everyone is prepared with a pack when they leave the camp, that one simple thing can help prevent bad situations.

One item everyone should have is a waterproof jacket. The best kind is one with breathable fabric, for example Gore-Tex, but there are other good ones. If it is warm and you don’t need a jacket, tie it around your waist or stick it in your pack so you are prepared.

Of course, you should have water with you and some type of food, perhaps a Cliff bar or trail mix. It’s also smart to have a flashlight. If it’s going to be less than eighty overnight, bring a hoodie with you.

It’s really nice if you have a piece of plastic you can use to make a shelter. It’s also wise to have a way to create or build a fire. Both those aren’t necessarily essential.

Those are the basic things to put in your pack. Now you’ve filled up a small backpack. But, keep in mind many backpacking backpacks have a removable top section where you can store these items, so when you go for a side hike, you drop your bag and take these other things with you and you’re good to go.

Don’t panic.

If someone does get lost, the first thing they should do is sit down, take a deep breath and think about where they are and where they’ve been. It may be that if you can keep from panicking, there is a simple solution to return to camp without a lot of difficulty. If you’re panicked, you might be fifty feet from where you need to be; but you head off in the wrong direction and two miles later you’re farther away from where you need to be. Things like roads and rivers and unique trees or bushes are all solid landmarks to help people find their way back to camp.

Don’t rely on electronics.

Any electronics or something with batteries eventually dies. If you give someone a handheld GPS receiver or a compass and a map, they can probably find their way back, assuming they have the skills. A GPS is handy, but the batteries on a map and compass never die. Knowledge weighs nothing. Being able to find your way with a topological map and compass is a guaranteed way to know your way home. You can receive basic orienteering skills in an afternoon, time well spent.

With a GPS, you can set up a waypoint and use the GPS on your phone. Then you can compare the point where you’re camping to what your phone says, or the handheld GPS receiver, and make your way back to camp.

You still need to have the ability to survive on your own without technology, because batteries can die, or maybe you lose your signal. GPS signals can be hard to find in the mountains with trees or in a heavily forested area, even. So, it’s important to keep in mind that the phone is a wonderful thing, but there are a lot of places where it might not work.

A non-cellular GPS can have issues because of trees and terrain as well. GPS can fail for a lot of reasons. That’s why it’s so important to have self-reliant skills in case the batteries die or there is no signal. Your kids may look at you funny when you ask them to take a handheld GPS receiver, but it might save their life if they have to spend the night somewhere.

How prepared do you need to be?

Now this goes back to where are you in your camping experience. If you have a one-year-old and you’re not going to leave the campsite, then you probably don’t need to spend two hundred dollars on a waterproof jacket for everybody.

I’m a big believer in preparedness, so I’m probably a little more prepared than most. But if this is your first trip, with people and help nearby, then keep it inexpensive. Take some sweatshirts, take whatever gear you’ve got, maybe an umbrella, and keep it simple and economical. Don’t have a thousand dollar credit card bill. And don’t go in debt to go camping. Just have what you need if you get lost.

On the other hand, if you’re going to the middle of Wyoming and you’ll be a hundred miles away from the nearest help, that’s a totally different trip and you need to be prepared.

Many lost individuals are found very close to camp. Some have died from hypothermia, as close as ¼ mile from safety. So always be aware of your surroundings and how to find your way home. Do use proximity to others and safety as an excuse for not being prepared.

In general, what to wear.

Because it gets cool in the evenings, carry a hoodie for everyone. Depending on weather, bring a rain coat or umbrella. Also, since you’ll be outside all day, wear sunscreen or a hat, your skin isn’t used to having sun beating on it all day.

Now I don’t have any hair so I have to wear a hat. On the other hand, my wife has a lot of hair but she normally wears a hat. Another item to think about is sunglasses; they can keep the sun out of your eyes.

Wear comfortable clothing, shorts during warmer weather. Consider whether you might come across poison ivy. If you are allergic to poison ivy, bring an EpiPen. Bring anti-itch cream. Depending on where you are, you may want to add bug repellent as well. These are basic things to make you more comfortable.

You need to have rugged footwear, unless the plan is to exit the car and set up camp and not leave, then you don’t need to invest in expensive boots.

Have fun.

The goal is to keep everybody warm and dry sitting around the campfire. That makes for happy campers and you’ll have those wonderful moments. Keep track of everyone in your group and help them understand what to do if they do get lost so they’re crystal clear of what to do. Train your campers!

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Chapter 7 – Forget Sleeping Bags, Think Sleep System

Even the best sleeping bag will have fairly limited usefulness without support. Given that, let’s talk about the broader topic which is your sleeping system.

Your sleeping system.

A sleeping system is made up of four elements. The first is the tent, which prevents rain and snow off of you. But, it also keeps wind away. When you’re outside and the wind is blowing, you feel colder. So, a tent keeps cold air at bay and traps static air in the tent. The ventilation a tent provides is also important in hot, humid weather. We’ll talk about types of tents in a later chapter. Hammock tents, commonly referred to as Enos, are another popular option. However they are nice for solo trips and require trees the right distance apart. Hammock tents are best for more advanced campers, not a family trip.

Your sleeping bag.

The second element in the sleeping system is either a sleeping bag or sheets and blankets. A sleeping bag keeps you warm by creating tens of thousands of small pockets of air. There are a variety technologies for doing that—down, Hollofil, Quallofil, or a simple polyester fill. Keep in mind these options come in different price points.

Sleeping Bag Temperature Ratings

The temperature rating on a sleeping bag is the lowest outside temperature where you are still comfortable. The rating assumes you have an insulated pad under the sleeping bag and are sleeping in long underwear. This also won’t account for the cooling effects of wind chill , but your tent protects you from the wind. It is very important to keep in mind that some people sleep warmer than others and the temperature ratings of sleeping bags vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

A ten degree bag will be very warm in the summer, while a fifty degree bag will be very cold on a thirty-five degree night. One way to extend the temperature range of your bag is to use a sleeping bag liner. A liner is good for approximately ten additional degrees of warmth. You can also use the liner by itself when it is really warm out.

However, for your first trip you may want to consider sheets and blankets on an air bed instead of buying sleeping bags. Another option is to borrow sleeping bags from friends or family. You may also be able to find used camping equipment. You can wash a used sleeping bag before you take it camping.

The down option.

You pay for quality and technology in a sleeping bag. The technology used is often designed to keep you somewhat warm, even if the sleeping bag gets wet. For example, a down bag is compact, lightweight, and tends to be warm. That makes it the perfect option for backpacking; but when wet, a down bag is pretty close to useless. The key is to keep it dry while it is in your pack and when it is spread out in the tent. The need to keep a down bag dry and the additional cost are reasons to avoid a down bag for your first trip. If you’re embarking on your first trip and you plan to car camp, it may be wise to start with blankets and comforters that you have at home. That way you’ve lowered your initial investment. Once you enjoy your first camping trip, you can consider purchasing additional pieces for future endeavors.

The Quallofil, Hollofil filled bags.

Bags that are designed to keep you warm even if they get wet are Quallofil or Hollofil filled. They are made up of a variety of fibers that have different ways of maintaining a space of trapped air. Sometimes those fibers are hollow and there may be other strategies; but the idea here is even if that sleeping bag gets somewhat wet, you’re going to keep some of the warmth, which could be a lifesaver in a difficult situation. Also, either of these bags will dry quicker than down.

The polyester option.

When we think about family camping, the least expensive option, polyester filled bag, comes to mind. These bags are inexpensive but have a limited temperature range. You’ll want to make sure your bag is rated to a temperature at least 10 degrees below the lowest temperature you expect to see at that location. Polyester filled bags don’t stay warm if they get wet but their low cost can make them an attractive option for your first car camping trip. Instead of an inexpensive sleeping bag, consider saving more money and bring sheets and blankets from home.

Two-person sleeping bag.

Another option is a two-person sleeping bag. You can purchase them at Bass Pro shops or other sporting goods stores. Often the two-person bags are very warm and comfortable. There are rectangular one-person bags that can be zipped together to form a two-person sleeping bag. We’ve got a couple of those. And those are awesome. You know, they’re covered with duck cloth on one side and flannel cotton lining on the inside. They’ve got a lot of fill material. And they’re really warm. I think we spent eighty bucks each at Bass Pro Shops. Though, I would never take that backpacking because it’s monstrous and heavy. But, for car camping where I really don’t have a weight and space constraint, it’s really comfortable because you get in that sleeping bag and it’s soft and warm. That sleeping bag is keeping you warm by trapping small pockets of air around your body. Those pockets of air act as insulators.

Add a pad under the sleeping bag.

The third part of your sleeping system is an insulated pad. The pad underneath your sleeping bag is a necessity. Keep in mind you don’t have to go out and buy everyone a three hundred dollar bag just to go camping for the weekend. Don’t think of the sleeping bag as a completed product, think about the system you’re using to sleep with. For example, a simple system for backpacking would be a sleeping bag, a tent, and a pad underneath you. The pad is used for thermal insulation, comfort, and keeps you from getting cold. Your body weight compresses your sleeping bag, which loses the effectiveness of the insulation. So, if you don’t have a pad underneath the sleeping bag, you’re going to be very cold. The concept is that air will be trapped above you but not below, therefore precious heat is lost into the ground.

Pads available.

There are several different pads available at various price points. You can choose either foam, self-inflating, or an inflatable pad. A self-inflating pad actually inflates on its own when you roll it out whereas you have to blow up an inflatable pad. I’ve used the inflatable and foam, and they both work great. The difference with both types of inflatable is that when not in use they flatten down and are small and lightweight.

The inflatable pads and beds are really awesome as long as there’s no leak. The risk with a leak is then you are sleeping on the ground. You may be able to temporarily patch an inflatable pad, if you can find the puncture. If the leak is occurring in the area where the pump attaches, then it may not be possible to repair the inflatable pad or bed. It’s difficult to patch an inflatable pad in the best of circumstances. If the patch mostly holds then you may get part of a night of sleep before the pad or bed deflates and you are sleeping directly on the ground. Foam pads, as opposed to inflatable, don’t fail, are fairly inexpensive, and last a long time. Though they take the most space of all three, they can get wet and still get the job done. Don’t forget that with car camping you can use heavier and more bulky items that tend to cost less and last longer because you only need to lug them from the car to your campsite. On the flip side, if you are hiking several miles into the woods, you would want to go with one of the inflating pads as they are significantly lighter and much less bulky.

If the weather is warm, perhaps fifty degrees or higher, you probably won’t need a pad under your air mattress. However, the foam pad is a great backup in case your air mattress leaks or for some reason you aren’t able to pump it up.

Possibly add an air-mattress under your sleeping bag.

The fourth and final part of your sleep system is to add an air mattress between the pad and the sleeping bag. You will still need a pad if it is cold to retain heat. If you are backpacking, you wouldn’t take an air mattress. If you are car camping, the air mattress makes your sleeping experience in the tent much more comfortable.

Another neat thing about an air mattress is that it can do double duty. If you invest in one for camping, you can still use it in your home for company. When camping without electricity, you’ll need to invest in a D-cell battery pump, or a pump that runs off the cigarette lighter in your car, to inflate up the mattress. You can also use a hand pump, which is less expensive, it just takes longer to inflate. I will say check your air mattress before you leave home because if it has a leak, you have a problem. And usually you’ll have to pump them up every day and a half or so while camping. Keep in mind that the older you get, the more you might appreciate the feel of an air-mattress. It will keep you a foot off the ground and allow you to get up and down easier. So we age, an air-mattress may be a way to extend your ability to camp longer throughout your life.

The air mattress, or inflatable bed, is inexpensive and come in sizes as large as queen. Since you are car camping for your first trip, the size of the bed when it’s packed up isn’t usually a big issue. Make sure that your an inflatable bed actually fits in your tent before you get to the campsite. I know I keep mentioning this, but setting up your tent and air mattress at home, before you leave to go camping, is always a great idea.

One caution I have for you is to carefully explain to everyone to not plop down on an air-mattress. If that air mattress fails it’s going to be a long night sleeping on the ground which is pretty hard.

How an air-mattress can feel like home.

We have a queen-size air-mattress, a single rectangular sleeping bag, and two single bags that are very large. Given those tools, my wife will lay a bedspread or a blanket on top of the blown-up air-mattress and then a fitted sheet over that. Then, Connie will put a regular sheet over that and lay the single rectangular sleeping bag on top. Finally, she’ll zip the two single bags onto the square one on the bottom—creating a roomy homemade double sleeping bag. This setup is very comfy and warm and feels more like the bed at home than a slick sleeping bag on a backpacking pad. This homey feeling makes the sleeping part of camping more comfortable and more like the bed at home. This is a win for everyone because a good night’s sleep helps make for a good next day.

For your first camping trip, you can make it simple and place a double sleeping bag on top of the air-mattress and call it a day. Of course, you can also do this with a blanket or a comforter, and then there is no need for a sleeping bag. Be cautious with using comforters from the home because many times they are dry-clean only or too large to fit in your in-home washing machine when they get muddy or dirty. On the other hand, sleeping bags and blankets can go through the wash with no worry. Note that down bags require a special soap and drying method to keep their loft. It’s not hard, you just need to follow the instructions. You also want to minimize the number of times you wash your sleeping bag.

Still use a pad if you have an air mattress.

The air mattress has you up off the ground and provides some insulation, but it’s this giant pocket of air, so it’s not as effective as a pad, which contains lot of small pockets. That big air mattress has limited insulation and can allow you to feel the cold ground below. So, when the weather is cold, make sure to include an insulated pad between the mattress and the ground. This will help keep you warm. Depending on the size of the air mattress you may need to put two insulated pads side by side.

Recap of sleeping system.

So that gives you a system, possibly for a low cost. Your linen closet contained the blankets, comforters, and sheets, if you choose not to purchase sleeping bags. You may have already owned an air mattress or can borrow one from a friend or neighbor. Now, at minimal cost, you’re prepared to go camping. And you’re extremely comfortable. By doing this, you can get an idea if your family enjoys camping. If they do, then you can begin to invest in more products to keep yourself warm and comfortable.

Planning can make all the difference in attitude.

If you follow my steps and plan for a quality tent that won’t leak, a pad to keep the cold and wet from your bedding, an air-mattress for comfort, and warm coverings to snuggle under—whether it be a sleeping bag or blankets and comforters—everyone at the campsite will be warm and comfortable. The system will feel much like their bed at home. Everyone will get a good night’s sleep because you’ve created this amazingly satisfying environment to sleep in that is similar to their bed at home.

The first night.

For me, a lot of times I don’t sleep well the first night because I’m out of my normal element. But there’s a big difference in levels of not sleeping well. For example, if I’m laying on the ground on a pad in a mummy bag, I’m probably going to, that first night, sleep less than if I’m snuggled up to my wife on an air mattress, all warm and everything’s wonderful. It’s a lot easier on that big, thick air mattress to get a better night’s sleep that first night.

Subsequent nights.

Usually, the second night I sleep pretty good, it’s the first night that gets me. I think that means I’m mentally and emotionally in a better position the next day to be friendly and loving and kind, and not grumpy because I didn’t get enough sleep. Given this, don’t feel like that there’s anything wrong with bringing the comforts of home with you.

Encouragement.

The big thing is that I want to encourage y’all to get out and enjoy the outdoors. By all means, if you’ve got to do a little more “glamping”, or glamorous camping, than just playing camping that’s just fine. It’s all a process. Each trip puts you one step closer to having the skills you need for the next level. It also puts you one step closer to say a backpacking trip, or some more adventurous type camping. Or maybe you stay in the glamping stage forever, that’s fine as well.

After the Camping Trip

I only wash a sleeping bag when I have to. If it’s muddy or dirty or smells, it needs to be washed. I ALWAYS air out sleeping bags well after a trip. I have a rail above the stairs that allows me to leave the sleeping bag open while hanging over the rail. You can also just leave them open on the floor or on your bed. Make sure your sleeping bags are dry and clean before storing. If you let it mildew, it is very difficult to get that odor out. Don’t roll up your sleeping bag tightly for storage, or put it in a compression sack, instead store in a dust free environment or loosely in a bag. That will help prevent the sleeping bag from losing its loft, and the warmth the loft helps create.

Can I say…

You are on your way to developing a love of the outdoors, along with the skills and sense of freedom necessary for camping. If you want to push yourself with each trip, go for it! Otherwise, enjoy the outdoors in whatever set-up works for you and your family.

These tips on the sleeping system are great ways to keep everyone comfortable and give them a good night’s sleep. I think that helps the overall camping experience. So, get on out there and enjoy the outdoors while camping.

Check out my books on camping

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Chapter 6 – What to Do When You are Camping

Let’s tackle where to go camping and what to do when you get there.

Red Rock Park in Nevada

Picking a campsite.

If you choose a campsite at ten thousand feet overlooking half the state, well, that’s awesome. But there’s probably not a lot to do up there unless you’re into epic hiking or rock climbing or bouldering. If your family’s not, or you have young kids, you will not meet with success. If you want views and relaxation, then this is the place for you. But, if you want to be near water you’re probably going to be closer to the valley.

One of the advantages of a campground is that other people are around and they may have amenities. There might be a game room with a pool table or a foosball table or air hockey table. There might be a lake with canoes and a place you can fish. Also, there are usually other people around so your kids may be able to find someone to play and have fun with. A place like Bear Den Campground, in Spruce Pine North Carolina, is a good example.

Another campground choice is to camp near where you want to explore. For example, Asheville has the Biltmore Estate and art galleries and loads of shopping. Perhaps that’s part of the camping experience. You camp where you can be close enough to Asheville. Say you have lunch in downtown Biltmore, then walk through a bunch of art galleries. That makes everybody in your family happy. In the afternoon, you go back and sit by the campfire. Another day you may have a totally different experience where you spend a day at Sliding Rock. And the next day you hike waterfalls on Mills River, or you hike up some mountain, or visit the Carl Sandberg home or Moses Cone estate. The list is endless. And all these activities are within a thirty-minute drive of the campsite you chose.

Now the downside to a campground is that you’ve got other people around, which means you’re not going to have that “I’m alone and there’s no one within fifty miles of me” experience. The flipside is the higher the concentration of people, the more there is to do. I recommend checking what’s available in that national forest or that campground or that state forest, and then check what there is to do in the neighboring towns. Usually if there is tourism, there are other things to do besides camping.

Hiking along cliffs of neuse

Check reviews. Make a plan.

I recommend choosing your campsite based on the activities you want to do and the places you want to go. Also, always check reviews and look for a variety of activities. Another idea is to get in the car and drive around. It all depends on whether you like to plan and schedule ahead of time or figure it out as you go.

Some historical sites can be fun for even young children. For example, Moses Cones Manor, off the Blue Ridge Parkway, has several thousand acres with gorgeous views, a lake, and paths. That’s a nice choice for young and old!

Everywhere you go is different. Some hikes that have spectacular views may be hard to get to, so you have to ask yourself is it worth it. There are many shorter and moderate hikes that have equally amazing views, so investigate and ask around.

Taking time to enjoy fishing

Need a fishing license?

When you think about fishing, you need to check on the fishing license in that state. In North Carolina you must have a license to fish anywhere other than private property. So, if you plan on fishing, check out the license issue ahead of time.

Non-active pursuits while camping.

A non-active experience is when you’re sitting around the campfire, reading a book, napping, or spending time on your smart phone. It could also be where you’ve camped on the top of the ridge at six thousand feet, and the sun is rising across the mountains, and it is the most gorgeous sunrise or sunset you’ve ever seen in your entire lifetime. This is something you can experience without leaving the comfort of your camping chair. Maybe even your tent, depending on which way your tent faces. Passive experiences aren’t bad, they are just different. There are times when non-active is the way to go.

Early morning on the Neuse River

Active options.

Hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding are options. Water options include: canoeing, paddle boating, fishing, rafting, or kayaking. Consider taking a lesson in rock climbing, horseback riding, kayaking, or rafting class. If you’re in Western North Carolina, slide down Sliding Rock—trust me it is so much fun! Another fun spot is The Historic Orchard at Altapass, which allows you to go apple picking, shop, eat ice cream, and sometimes they even have live music.

Depending on who is in your camping group, you may decide to go out to lunch, shop in the next town over, walk through an art gallery, a zoo, or museum. Consider your audience. The point of each trip is to have fun and have everyone want to go on another camping trip.

You might want to do a ropes course, where you’re fifty foot up in a tree, climbing. Keep in mind that it’s safe because that’s the only way these companies will be in business tomorrow. For example, the Nantahala Outdoor Center will teach you a short course on how to raft. And then they’ll put you on the river, and you can enjoy a more family-oriented day of rafting. If you want to go big water, go to the Gauley; it’s not for young kids but it’s awesome for adults.

Celebrating a birthday on top of the mountain

Passive vs. active, own it!

I want to give you an example of my lovely wife. We can be in the most amazing spot and Connie is completely content sitting by the campfire in the afternoon, reading a book. And I’ll say, do you want to go for a hike? And she’ll look at me and say, no go ahead without me. She is completely content. We’ve been doing this camping thing awhile, so Connie knows what she likes. I’m not going to force her into something she doesn’t like. She enjoys the somewhat passive experience a lot of times when we go camping. So during our down-time when we could be hiking or biking or canoeing, she’d rather read. But when it comes to meals, we work as a team.

What is your stance on a smart phone while camping?

When your kids get to be teenagers, they may be tethered to their phone. Now, this is your fight to fight. But, camping is a great opportunity to set some new house rules. Use your judgment because if you completely take something away that they’re used to having, maybe they respond well to that, maybe they don’t. You don’t want anger and frustration to be the imprint of your camping weekend. You need to figure out what works for your family. It may be tough for someone to give up unless they really, really want to. I think that’s important to keep in mind. There are different ways to approach that. You could leave the phones at home. You could have them an hour a day. You could have a morning and evening time where phones can be used, but otherwise not at all. I really think it depends on the situation and how busy you’re going to be and where you are and what personalities you are dealing with.

Music venues on the cheap.

If you are near Marshall, North Carolina, every Friday night at the train depot they have music. Everybody’s doing covers for the most part, think Johnny Cash tunes. Mostly local people attend this community gathering and everybody has a great time singin’ and pickin’ and grinnin’. There is a small donation to get in. Kids will possibly hear music they don’t hear otherwise, and see a different culture that is totally different than what they’re used to.

Another good example of musical venues is Shindig on The Green in Asheville, every Saturday night. That’s you and a couple thousand of your closest friends on the grass at City County Plaza enjoying bluegrass music sitting in your camping chair. Many of these events are family-oriented, but do your research first. Check the venue, the type of music, use good judgment. A lot of these gatherings happen regularly and they are really cool. They are a great way to break up your camping experience.

Other “civilized” activities.

Maybe go listen to a few hours of music, or go to an arts and crafts festival. Get away from the campsite. Give everybody a little touch of home, so they feel “civilized” again. I think that’s important because you don’t want camping to become this horrendously intimidating epic-or-nothing type adventure. Instead ease into it so everyone has a positive experience. Make sure to only push the comfort zone so far, and that way everybody wants a return camping trip. Maybe the next time you push a little further.

Campfire rules.

Think about setting what I call “truck rules.” Guidelines that may not be acceptable in the home, but in a truck or camping, they are for your family. One example we have is that in a truck you can make bodily noises that wouldn’t be socially acceptable otherwise. It’s about letting go of some finer points of decorum so your kids don’t feel like their sitting in the dining room surrounded by china. This is the time to let everybody unwind a little bit.

You’ve got to figure out what’s appropriate for your family. I’m not suggesting that all of a sudden you allow your kids to call you by your first name. I’m saying, if a kid farts you laugh about it; you don’t fuss at him. If they spill beans on their lap, you laugh. And you don’t quit laughing. Because you’re making a precious moment; relish these times.

I’d also like to remind you not to overindulge in alcohol. First, you’re out in the woods and if someone gets hurt and no one can legally drive, there’s no way to get to the emergency room. Second is that you’re out in the woods and you need to keep your wits about you. If you’re going to drink, drink lightly and be smart.

Let kids be kids.

Camping is the perfect time to encourage kids to enjoy outdoor activities, not just organized ones, but impromptu fun. If they want to play in a creek, let them! Assuming they know how to swim and are aware of the dangers, keep an eye on them from a distance and allow them to be kids. This is a great opportunity to give them clear guidelines and begin to let go. If you’re on this gigantic place of open woodland, forest, desert, whatever, tell your kids the extent of where they can go, keep track of them. But let them go be kids. Sometimes they need that unstructured play.

Now, obviously, if you have a three-year-old and they want to play by the lake, you need to be there. You must keep an eye on young children, but if a ten-year-old wants some latitude, now’s the time to give it to them. Always use your judgment as a parent, but keep in mind they’ve probably never had the kind of freedom they are looking at during this camping trip. They will not get these opportunities in the city and maybe even in a lot of suburbs.

So, ask yourself what unstructured activities you can encourage your kids to partake in. Near water, or no? Climbing trees with thick, low branches? Fishing is always fun, but you can keep it simple by using a cane pole with natural bait. You don’t have to be a well-equipped fisherman to have a good time. Sometimes the simplest things are the better.

I have found that when you get equipment in the way, the equipment occupies your attention, not your kid. Be attention heavy to your kids, because when you get that brand-new five-hundred-dollar fly reel and you’re in four hundred-dollar waders, you’re worried about that stuff, not helping your kid cast that rod and reel.

Red Rock Park near Las Vegas

Keep things in perspective.

I think perspective is important. Part of the reason I’m throwing these parenting ideas out there is because there are areas I’ve messed up. Sometimes I wonder if I should have given my little kids more freedom and less structure playing when we camped. I feel they would have enjoyed the experiences more. I hope you can learn from some of my missteps so that your camping trips are chock-filled with priceless moments.

Amazing view in Red Rock park

What will everyone remember?

Will it be the hike, or the view, or the campfire, or the messy S’mores? Perhaps it’ll be the game room or snack shop at the campground. Who knows, for twenty years they may talk about that game room and snack shop with their sister and the amazing ice cream they got their every year.

Everybody has a different take away from all these things and sometimes it’s tough to put yourself in other people’s shoes and understand what they will remember. Who knows, they might remember the time they saw a bear, and that might lead to them to study bears in college so they can be a forest ranger. Or it may just be a story they fondly talk about.

My recommendation is to try different things over the years. Personally I don’t like being cooped up in a car so I think the more time you can spend out of the car is probably good. If it takes two days to drive somewhere and you’re there for one day, and it takes two days to drive back, I don’t think you have a winning plan. If you really want to go to that location, consider flying. But you need to ask yourself what your comfort zone is.

Wonderful moments can be unscripted.

Some of the memories my kids have about camping are surprising. Some of them have been totally unscripted and wonderful moments that I didn’t even see coming, but, you know, the kids said let’s do this. So, we went and did whatever on a lark, and then, you know, an hour later, it’s like Wow!

A great example of a wow moment is a last minute hike. My daughter and I took a last minute hike and the view across this mountain top field with the fog rolling in was totally amazing. Words could never do the view justice so I won’t try. If we hadn’t gone, based on her suggestion, we would have missed out on an amazing moment. Other times I planned things well in advance that turned out great. It’s kind of tough to predict that ahead of time.

The trick is planning the trip and getting to the campsite. That’s where the winning occurs. You may have camping trips that are difficult. If it rains all weekend, consider playing cards in the tent, or go to the nearest town and go bowling or play laser tag.

Don’t feel like your plan is set in stone, roll with the punches. The point is to be together, have fun, and make memories. The tent could fall down and you think it’s a total disaster, but because you laugh about it and handle the situation with patience and calm, that is the good memory your kids take away from the trip. Who knows, they may talk about it for years to come! So remember, your attitude can make or break those precious moments.

Unscripted decisions can lead to fun!

On a funny note we were camping one time, and a thunderstorm started rolling in. We’d been hiking all day on Mount Mitchell, when we returned about three quarters of the people at our campground had already left. The people who were still there were packing furiously. Since we had been off-line all day, I asked why everyone was leaving and discovered the weathermen were predicting a thunderstorm worse than any they’ve had for a hundred years was going to hit in about four hours. We had already planned to be away that weekend, so we decided to stay and ride it out. Guess what, my daughters and I had a lot of good memories riding out Tropical Storm Bob in a tent. To this day we laugh about that weekend and carry sweet memories around it. We kept ourselves safe, we had a solid backup plan so there was no real danger. Bottom line, I think roll with the punches, enjoy it, plan out the activities and let’s go camping!

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Bees Have Arrived

Every year we have guest bees on the property. The bees stay for approximately 6 weeks during the sourwood bloom. The flowers that are available to the bees on the mountain give our honey a distinctive taste. The bees are far enough from the campsite that you can see them but they aren’t an issue for anyone camping on the property. Many people have never seen a bee hive, so hopefully it can be an educational experience as well.

You can purchase honey from the bees from the SimplyUsFarm online store.

The honey from Troublesome Gap usuallly comes out very light in color. Two years ago it had a basswood taste. Just click on the picture below to order yours.

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What to Do When You are Camping

Check out my books on camping

Let’s tackle where to go camping and what to do when you get there.

Picking a campsite.

If you choose a campsite at ten thousand feet overlooking half the state, well, that’s awesome. But there’s probably not a lot to do up there unless you’re into epic hiking or rock climbing or bouldering. If your family’s not, or you have young kids, you will not meet with success. If you want views and relaxation, then this is the place for you. But, if you want to be near water you’re probably going to be closer to the valley.

One of the advantages of a campground is that other people are around and they may have amenities. There might be a game room with a pool table or a foosball table or air hockey table. There might be a lake with canoes and a place you can fish. Also, there are usually other people around so your kids may be able to find someone to play and have fun with. A place like Bear Den Campground, in Spruce Pine North Carolina, is a good example.

Another campground choice is to camp near where you want to explore. For example, Asheville has the Biltmore Estate and art galleries and loads of shopping. Perhaps that’s part of the camping experience. You camp where you can be close enough to Asheville. Say you have lunch in downtown Biltmore, then walk through a bunch of art galleries. That makes everybody in your family happy. In the afternoon, you go back and sit by the campfire. Another day you may have a totally different experience where you spend a day at Sliding Rock. And the next day you hike waterfalls on Mills River, or you hike up some mountain, or visit the Carl Sandberg home or Moses Cone estate. The list is endless. And all these activities are within a thirty-minute drive of the campsite you chose.

Now the downside to a campground is that you’ve got other people around, which means you’re not going to have that “I’m alone and there’s no one within fifty miles of me” experience. The flipside is the higher the concentration of people, the more there is to do. I recommend checking what’s available in that national forest or that campground or that state forest, and then check what there is to do in the neighboring towns. Usually if there is tourism, there are other things to do besides camping.

Check reviews. Make a plan.

I recommend choosing your campsite based on the activities you want to do and the places you want to go. Also, always check reviews and look for a variety of activities. Another idea is to get in the car and drive around. It all depends on whether you like to plan and schedule ahead of time or figure it out as you go.

Some historical sites can be fun for even young children. For example, Moses Cones Manor, off the Blue Ridge Parkway, has several thousand acres with gorgeous views, a lake, and paths. That’s a nice choice for young and old!

Everywhere you go is different. Some hikes that have spectacular views may be hard to get to, so you have to ask yourself is it worth it. There are many shorter and moderate hikes that have equally amazing views, so investigate and ask around.

Need a fishing license?

When you think about fishing, you need to check on the fishing license in that state. In North Carolina you must have a license to fish anywhere other than private property. So, if you plan on fishing, check out the license issue ahead of time.

Non-active pursuits while camping.

A non-active experience is when you’re sitting around the campfire, reading a book, napping, or spending time on your smart phone. It could also be where you’ve camped on the top of the ridge at six thousand feet, and the sun is rising across the mountains, and it is the most gorgeous sunrise or sunset you’ve ever seen in your entire lifetime. This is something you can experience without leaving the comfort of your camping chair. Maybe even your tent, depending on which way your tent faces. Passive experiences aren’t bad, they are just different. There are times when non-active is the way to go.

Active options.

Hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding are options. Water options include: canoeing, paddle boating, fishing, rafting, or kayaking. Consider taking a lesson in rock climbing, horseback riding, kayaking, or rafting class. If you’re in Western North Carolina, slide down Sliding Rock—trust me it is so much fun! Another fun spot is The Historic Orchard at Altapass, which allows you to go apple picking, shop, eat ice cream, and sometimes they even have live music.

Depending on who is in your camping group, you may decide to go out to lunch, shop in the next town over, walk through an art gallery, a zoo, or museum. Consider your audience. The point of each trip is to have fun and have everyone want to go on another camping trip.

You might want to do a ropes course, where you’re fifty foot up in a tree, climbing. Keep in mind that it’s safe because that’s the only way these companies will be in business tomorrow. For example, the Nantahala Outdoor Center will teach you a short course on how to raft. And then they’ll put you on the river, and you can enjoy a more family-oriented day of rafting. If you want to go big water, go to the Gauley; it’s not for young kids but it’s awesome for adults.

Passive vs. active, own it!

I want to give you an example of my lovely wife. We can be in the most amazing spot and Connie is completely content sitting by the campfire in the afternoon, reading a book. And I’ll say, do you want to go for a hike? And she’ll look at me and say, no go ahead without me. She is completely content. We’ve been doing this camping thing awhile, so Connie knows what she likes. I’m not going to force her into something she doesn’t like. She enjoys the somewhat passive experience a lot of times when we go camping. So during our down-time when we could be hiking or biking or canoeing, she’d rather read. But when it comes to meals, we work as a team.

What is your stance on a smart phone while camping?

When your kids get to be teenagers, they may be tethered to their phone. Now, this is your fight to fight. But, camping is a great opportunity to set some new house rules. Use your judgment because if you completely take something away that they’re used to having, maybe they respond well to that, maybe they don’t. You don’t want anger and frustration to be the imprint of your camping weekend. You need to figure out what works for your family. It may be tough for someone to give up unless they really, really want to. I think that’s important to keep in mind. There are different ways to approach that. You could leave the phones at home. You could have them an hour a day. You could have a morning and evening time where phones can be used, but otherwise not at all. I really think it depends on the situation and how busy you’re going to be and where you are and what personalities you are dealing with.

Music venues on the cheap.

If you are near Marshall, North Carolina, every Friday night at the train depot they have music. Everybody’s doing covers for the most part, think Johnny Cash tunes. Mostly local people attend this community gathering and everybody has a great time singin’ and pickin’ and grinnin’. There is a small donation to get in. Kids will possibly hear music they don’t hear otherwise, and see a different culture that is totally different than what they’re used to.

Another good example of musical venues is Shindig on The Green in Asheville, every Saturday night. That’s you and a couple thousand of your closest friends on the grass at City County Plaza enjoying bluegrass music sitting in your camping chair. Many of these events are family-oriented, but do your research first. Check the venue, the type of music, use good judgment. A lot of these gatherings happen regularly and they are really cool. They are a great way to break up your camping experience.

Other “civilized” activities.

Maybe go listen to a few hours of music, or go to an arts and crafts festival. Get away from the campsite. Give everybody a little touch of home, so they feel “civilized” again. I think that’s important because you don’t want camping to become this horrendously intimidating epic-or-nothing type adventure. Instead ease into it so everyone has a positive experience. Make sure to only push the comfort zone so far, and that way everybody wants a return camping trip. Maybe the next time you push a little further.

Campfire rules.

Think about setting what I call “truck rules.” Guidelines that may not be acceptable in the home, but in a truck or camping, they are for your family. One example we have is that in a truck you can make bodily noises that wouldn’t be socially acceptable otherwise. It’s about letting go of some finer points of decorum so your kids don’t feel like their sitting in the dining room surrounded by china. This is the time to let everybody unwind a little bit.

You’ve got to figure out what’s appropriate for your family. I’m not suggesting that all of a sudden you allow your kids to call you by your first name. I’m saying, if a kid farts you laugh about it; you don’t fuss at him. If they spill beans on their lap, you laugh. And you don’t quit laughing. Because you’re making a precious moment; relish these times.

I’d also like to remind you not to overindulge in alcohol. First, you’re out in the woods and if someone gets hurt and no one can legally drive, there’s no way to get to the emergency room. Second is that you’re out in the woods and you need to keep your wits about you. If you’re going to drink, drink lightly and be smart.

Let kids be kids.

Camping is the perfect time to encourage kids to enjoy outdoor activities, not just organized ones, but impromptu fun. If they want to play in a creek, let them! Assuming they know how to swim and are aware of the dangers, keep an eye on them from a distance and allow them to be kids. This is a great opportunity to give them clear guidelines and begin to let go. If you’re on this gigantic place of open woodland, forest, desert, whatever, tell your kids the extent of where they can go, keep track of them. But let them go be kids. Sometimes they need that unstructured play.

Now, obviously, if you have a three-year-old and they want to play by the lake, you need to be there. You must keep an eye on young children, but if a ten-year-old wants some latitude, now’s the time to give it to them. Always use your judgment as a parent, but keep in mind they’ve probably never had the kind of freedom they are looking at during this camping trip. They will not get these opportunities in the city and maybe even in a lot of suburbs.

So, ask yourself what unstructured activities you can encourage your kids to partake in. Near water, or no? Climbing trees with thick, low branches? Fishing is always fun, but you can keep it simple by using a cane pole with natural bait. You don’t have to be a well-equipped fisherman to have a good time. Sometimes the simplest things are the better.

I have found that when you get equipment in the way, the equipment occupies your attention, not your kid. Be attention heavy to your kids, because when you get that brand-new five-hundred-dollar fly reel and you’re in four hundred-dollar waders, you’re worried about that stuff, not helping your kid cast that rod and reel.

Keep things in perspective.

I think perspective is important. Part of the reason I’m throwing these parenting ideas out there is because there are areas I’ve messed up. Sometimes I wonder if I should have given my little kids more freedom and less structure playing when we camped. I feel they would have enjoyed the experiences more. I hope you can learn from some of my missteps so that your camping trips are chock-filled with priceless moments.

What will everyone remember?

Will it be the hike, or the view, or the campfire, or the messy S’mores? Perhaps it’ll be the game room or snack shop at the campground. Who knows, for twenty years they may talk about that game room and snack shop with their sister and the amazing ice cream they got their every year.

Everybody has a different take away from all these things and sometimes it’s tough to put yourself in other people’s shoes and understand what they will remember. Who knows, they might remember the time they saw a bear, and that might lead to them to study bears in college so they can be a forest ranger. Or it may just be a story they fondly talk about.

My recommendation is to try different things over the years. Personally I don’t like being cooped up in a car so I think the more time you can spend out of the car is probably good. If it takes two days to drive somewhere and you’re there for one day, and it takes two days to drive back, I don’t think you have a winning plan. If you really want to go to that location, consider flying. But you need to ask yourself what your comfort zone is.

Wonderful moments can be unscripted.

Some of the memories my kids have about camping are surprising. Some of them have been totally unscripted and wonderful moments that I didn’t even see coming, but, you know, the kids said let’s do this. So, we went and did whatever on a lark, and then, you know, an hour later, it’s like Wow!

A great example of a wow moment is a last minute hike. My daughter and I took a last minute hike and the view across this mountain top field with the fog rolling in was totally amazing. Words could never do the view justice so I won’t try. If we hadn’t gone, based on her suggestion, we would have missed out on an amazing moment. Other times I planned things well in advance that turned out great. It’s kind of tough to predict that ahead of time.

The trick is planning the trip and getting to the campsite. That’s where the winning occurs. You may have camping trips that are difficult. If it rains all weekend, consider playing cards in the tent, or go to the nearest town and go bowling or play laser tag.

Don’t feel like your plan is set in stone, roll with the punches. The point is to be together, have fun, and make memories. The tent could fall down and you think it’s a total disaster, but because you laugh about it and handle the situation with patience and calm, that is the good memory your kids take away from the trip. Who knows, they may talk about it for years to come! So remember, your attitude can make or break those precious moments.

Unscripted decisions can lead to fun!

On a funny note we were camping one time, and a thunderstorm started rolling in. We’d been hiking all day on Mount Mitchell, when we returned about three quarters of the people at our campground had already left. The people who were still there were packing furiously. Since we had been off-line all day, I asked why everyone was leaving and discovered the weathermen were predicting a thunderstorm worse than any they’ve had for a hundred years was going to hit in about four hours. We had already planned to be away that weekend, so we decided to stay and ride it out. Guess what, my daughters and I had a lot of good memories riding out Tropical Storm Bob in a tent. To this day we laugh about that weekend and carry sweet memories around it. We kept ourselves safe, we had a solid backup plan so there was no real danger. Bottom line, I think roll with the punches, enjoy it, plan out the activities and let’s go camping!

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Chapter 4 – Importance of Traditions

While camping, one thing you’ll end up developing are traditions. Some are big, some are gigantic, some are small, but all are valuable.

How to build traditions.

Over time, enjoyable repeated activities can grow into traditions. Or, traditions can happen by accident. Something may work well once, so you repeat it. By the tenth time you realize you have a tradition. Keep in mind that when you do something that is comfortable and enjoyable, you’ll keep doing it. You may find that it is important to your family to go camping on a certain date or a particular place because it brings back special memories and there is an expectation that you’re going to make more good memories—that’s a tradition.

Four wheeling, camping and smiling

Repetition builds traditions.

I’ll give you an easy example. There’s a restaurant in Winston-Salem, TJ’s Deli, that Connie and I tend to stop at when we’re headed for the mountains because it’s on our way. They have awesome, homemade sandwiches and to-die-for fried mushrooms. Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a fancy place, more like a hole-in-the-wall, but the draw is the food and the tradition. We order the same meal every time, a gigantic sandwich and fried mushrooms on the side—I always save some of the mushrooms for the remaining drive. Even when we travel with friends, we stop there. Every time.

Is having a meal partway to your destination part of camping? No, but it can be part of the entire camping experience. When we head west to camp, we usually work our departure around stopping at TJ’s Deli for a meal, which we both look forward to. The detour helps break up the trip and I think the tradition is nifty.

Another tradition we have is camping at Troublesome Gap every Memorial Day weekend. We are so predictable that friends call to ask if we are going this year. Those calls made me realize traditions can even spark a camping interest with friends.

Tradition looks different to different people.

You may never go to the same restaurant twice, but you may have a tradition of stopping at some restaurant on your way to the camping site. You may never camp at the same location, but you may set your supplies up in the same order every time. Or you’ll always be sure to have a campfire. Or roast marshmallows.

You could lean towards more open spaces because you like to throw your daughter up in the air in the middle of a grassy field. Or perhaps you like to take a morning walk right as the sun is beginning to rise and dew still licks the grass blades. Maybe one of your kids is an early riser who likes to get up with you and help build the morning fire, which is a teachable moment by the way.

Priceless moments.

You guessed it, when a tradition is created, most likely a priceless moment will as well. Look for those traditions, spur them along, and allow them to happen. Some occur organically. Some we purposefully build. You can’t force them, but you can encourage and grow and build them.

Keep up with traditions.

When camping with others, they’re watching. So if you always have a ham sandwich with onions the second day for lunch or you always have s’mores the first night over a roaring campfire, then your family may be disappointed when the activity doesn’t happen. Usually these traditions are special camping experiences, not something you normally do at home. Some traditions are hard and fast, and some of them aren’t. You’ll just have to work that out depending on your family.

Bonding over food cooked at the campsite

Anyone can start a tradition.

Sometimes you’ll do the most obscure activity with your kids, maybe throwing knives into an old stump or forging your own path in the woods. It may not make an impact on you, but your child doesn’t forget and wants to do the same activity the next time you go camping. It’s usually the simplest things.

Perhaps you take your family on a spectacular hike and see breathtaking scenery, but the thing your kids remember from their day is the mound of soil behind the apple tree they created dirt castles from. Whenever you get the chance to interact with your children, do so. Even if it’s making dirt castles under a canopy of low-lying tree limbs. Those are the moments to grab and revel in.

If you are single and reading this book, then you can still build great traditions while camping with friends or family, or going on a solo trip. If you are divorced or widowed, a camping trip could be just the thing you need to get out of your day-to-day rut and create wonderful new experiences. While I’m spending a lot of time talking about family camping, there are still many ways to enjoy a trip while single, divorced, or widowed.

Be flexible.

If you’re into schedules, that’s great. But keep in mind, if someone in the family is enjoying an activity, put that hike off for an hour. If there’s rain in the forecast, consider doing an activity closer to the campsite. Agendas don’t matter, the memories and time together does.

Memories that last a lifetime

Stories grow over time.

Kids remember events. Some of those stories grow like fish that you caught. You know the story of an angler who catches a twelve inch fish and by the time he tells the story about six times, its two feet long. Well, sometimes memories are that way too. Sometimes they’re precise; other timess they’re not even close. But, what matters is the memory.

I’ll give you an example that’s not camping related. When one of my daughters was in elementary school, I began going to school and having lunch with her once a week. Kids won’t be young forever, in fact there may come a time when they don’t want to spend much time with you. Anticipating this, I made a point of making that weekly meal a priority. A number of years into this tradition, my daughter noted I’d been coming to have lunch with her every week since whatever grade. She enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and so it remained a tradition, a thing between just the two of us. She valued the time I carved out for us. Over the years when she’d tell the story, she’d share we’d been lunching together longer than we actually had. Should I correct her? No. Am I trying to encourage her to be inaccurate? No. I guess the thing is it pleased her that we had lunch together once a week. And so, it was a big deal that became a bigger and bigger part of her life. And her nailing down exactly when we started doing it really didn’t matter. What mattered was how appreciative she was because we were making lifelong memories.

Interests change.

Your kid’s interests will change over the years. Be flexible. Something that is important to him this year may be boring four years from now. This means your camping trips may change. The important thing is to give your kids attention, relate to them, and listen to what they want.

At some point you or your kids will look back and be thankful you hiked every waterfall trail in North Carolina, or made s’mores every night around the camp fire, or took the time to find a thick enough branch to make a walking stick the first night of each trip. Those were traditions and you enjoyed yourselves and made memories. But, there may come a day when your kids decide they’d rather spend time with their friends and that’s okay. You need to roll with it. You’ve spent years developing a set of experiences and memories that you can share and remember forever.

Continually ask questions and listen to see what the people in your family want to do this year and next. If we can be flexible and go with the flow as interests and needs change, then we have the chance of keeping the tradition of camping alive and the opportunity for creating more memories. In fact, a lifetime of them.

Also keep in mind that your interests and capabilities change. Maybe you used to be able to hike ten miles a day when you were younger, but now perhaps four is your max. Or maybe you used to hike only difficult trails, but you’ve learned that moderate means success. On the other hand, if you want to push yourself then take a long hike. Maybe you used to hike moderate trails, but after hiking a challenging trail you realized you have the capability to hike longer and more difficult trails, so push yourself and revel in that accomplishment. If you are camping solo, then this may be a good time to enjoy the fruits of your physical fitness efforts with a long challenging hike. Alternatively, taking your athletic, teenage kids, on a difficult hike may be something they really enjoy. Just keep your capabilities and stamina in mind so everyone, including you, can enjoy the physical challenge.

Quality time.

Whether it is a yearly guy’s trip, or a monthly trip with young kids, or maybe a romantic getaway with your wife, the important thing is to be free from distractions and spend quality time with loved ones. If you have more than one child, each parent should try to spend concentrated time with individual kids. You may find your children consider this quality time a tradition. Now, note that tradition for traditions sake is worthless, unless you are accomplishing something important.

Traditions are usually simple.

Many times traditions aren’t bound up in spending some ridiculous amount of money, but are instead simple. It may be somewhere you ate, and spent the majority of the meal laughing. It may be playing in the mud behind the apple tree. It may be hiking a specific trail that you’ve hiked every year for twenty years.

For example, if your wife or child is asking to go on a particular hike again, you need to figure out if they want to go on a general hike or a specific trail and for what reason. What do they really want? What’s important to them? Ask questions and dig. Because they may be looking for the smiles, laughter, and love they felt on a past hike. Maybe it was just you and them on that trail. Perhaps Mom wasn’t there, or maybe Dad wasn’t there, and was just the two of y’all. That’s the moment you’ll realize there is a new tradition of going on this hike, perhaps just the two of you. And it’ll be a special time. Then you make your plans based on this information and how you can make it work.

Don’t try to please everyone.

Depending on the age of your children and how many you have, satisfying only one for the next ten minutes might be your only option. Sometimes everybody’s in tune and sometimes they’re not. In those challenging moments, you may want to break up your group. If you have two children with two totally different interests at the moment, maybe Mom goes with one child and Dad with the other. Breaking that up gives you the opportunity to pursue those varied interests. And there again, build those great memories. But, maybe you have a situation where everybody wants to do something together. You can figure it out even if it’s not always easy.

Plan, but don’t plan.

One tip I suggest is make a list of activities available for your location. If you don’t plan, but instead wait until the last second, generally whatever you wanted to do won’t happen. Say there’s a national forest right down the road; maybe you pack into the car and go there to experience the wonder of it all. Perhaps there’s a body of water close by so you get into a canoe or a row boat or a paddle boat. That can be fun as well. Keep in mind though, you may have camping trips where what everybody wants to do is sit by the fire and relax. And all of a sudden, it may explode into a hiking trip, and then they go back to sitting by the fire. So, planning is great, but also be flexible and see what happens. But, don’t forget the simple things like running around in the woods to just explore. You can also make a game of the mundane activities that it takes to put together a campsite—like, accumulating stones to edge the fire or gathering kindling and firewood. My point is to make time for organized hikes or rafting trips, but leave gaps available for exploration and inspired play time. Sometimes the simplest and least expensive things are what we remember.

Always keep budget in mind.

I have found it’s not the amount of money you spend; it’s the fun, fellowship, and relationship building. Keep in mind, if you spend money on something and it stresses you out, everyone will pick up on the stress and fun diminishes. Perhaps you can do something that costs close to nothing and still enjoy yourselves. I have found the best trips right-size your activities with your budget, your physical capabilities, and everyone’s expectations.

In the process of talking with folks about this book, I’m not surprised to hear they have such fond memories of camping as a child. I hope you can find your own traditions, and develop those priceless moments everybody will cherish for a lifetime.

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Chapter 3 – Finding Priceless Moments

Remember the Meme on Pinterest that I talked about in the first chapter? It showed a Prius at the top of the image, and at the bottom a Jeep in the desert sitting on the crest of a hill, in front of a sunset. A guy and his kids are in the Jeep enjoying the sun setting in this majestic place. The closing message of the meme said, “Your kids will never, ever remember you getting fifty-five miles per gallon. However, they will remember the night you watched the sun set over the mountains.” Let’s talk about some camping basics today.

Check out my books on camping

Why go camping today?

Because there will never be another today. In the Prius Meme, the point is that things don’t matter, experiences matter. Perhaps you can make a daily drive fun with some singing or frivolity. Or perhaps ride to the top of a mountain to watch a sunset. Those are the priceless moments to chase after. I encourage you to get out and enjoy life. Not everything has to be constrained, and I think in many ways that’s what camping is all about.

Don’t allow challenges to get in the way.

When you consider camping, there can be challenges: you might get rained on, it could be extremely hot or cold, the bugs might be extra annoying, dry kindling may be hard to find, etc. But, at the end of the day, the goal is to build memories. There are only so many opportunities to go camping with your children or your spouse or even take a solo trip. Right now it seems as though you have all the time in the world, but you really don’t. Your kids will be in college or active in other things before you know it. So grab those moments while you can.

The experience matters, not the stuff.

Someone who had a very nice late-model sedan asked about my Jeep. He indicated that if only he had an off-road vehicle, he would try camping. Why go camping if you can’t go trail-riding, he said. That’s the wrong attitude. True, driving on thirty-five inch tires with a four inch lift and a bunch of modified stuff is great. It’s nice when you’re riding around on a spring day with no top and you’ve got no doors. But you can still create those priceless memories by rolling down your windows and opening your moon roof.

Persevere.

The trick with camping is that you can find yourself in a rugged situation, for example it might rain the whole weekend leaving you nothing to do but play cards in the tent, or after rain from the first night all the kindling is wet and you can’t start a fire, maybe an animal got into your food supply and now you have nothing to eat. It doesn’t matter what happens, the secret is in how you handle the situation.

Don’t give up, persevere. Sometimes camping makes no apologies. Your skills might be tested, but I am going to promise you that you will still have opportunities, even on those off weekends, of making solid memories. You might be sitting around the campfire or hiking or hearing the coyotes howl or watching the sun set or building a fire with your child—those priceless moments can’t be bought so grab a hold of them.

Keep a look-out for memories of a lifetime.

Keep your outlook fun and positive because you can’t predict when memories will be created. But trust me, your kids will remember and they’ll tell their children about these special times one day. Just put yourself in a good situation to have those moments. They may occur in your Prius getting forty-five miles per gallon because of the song you sang. Or perhaps when you’re sitting on top of the mountain and out of your element as you watch in fear as a bear ambles by. Be available and put yourself in situations to achieve those priceless moments.

Coming up, we’re going to look at convenient, low-cost, low-pain, and low-suffering ways to be in a good situation to discover joy. By attaining that joy, you get those memories that will live on because you taught the next generation skills. And one day, your kids will not only pass along the skills to their children but will share their childhood priceless moments around a roaring campfire.

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Chapter 2 – Types of Camping

Check out my books on camping

There are many different levels of engagement when you’re camping. Anywhere between an epic adventure like Man vs. Wild or perhaps one where more creature comforts are brought from home. Either is fine as long as you can physically pull it off and afford it. The goal is to have a good time and enjoy your time. For me, I like to camp with a tent, I’m not an RV guy. I don’t mind taking a shower on the side of the mountain or backpacking in. Sometimes the best way to really see and experience a location is to backpack to the camping site. But, say my wife joins me, she prefers a larger tent, more organization, more creature comforts. If Connie’s coming, then what we bring changes and where we stay may change. For both of us to have an enjoyable time, compromises need to happen. Let’s talk about some different options.

Live off the land for a weekend.

One option would be to head out into the woods with a knife, some tinder, flint and steel, a waterproof jacket, and a wool blanket. The idea is to live off the land for a weekend. If you’ve got the skills to do it and you enjoy that level of difficulty, go and have fun! There are certainly people that thrive on this primitive I’m-gonna-figure-out-as-I-go-build-me-a-lean-to-in-the-woods-and-feel-close-to-nature type of thing. However, keep in mind your skills and your traveling companions. For example, if you are taking your five-year-old daughter and wife who have never been camping, it would be wise to rethink the details otherwise the trip will end quickly. And, the ride home will be the squirmy kind of uncomfortable.

Purchase an expensive RV for camping.

Another option is to head to your local RV store and buy a half-million dollar motor-home, don’t forget your checkbook. Now, you’re probably laughing and about to fall off the couch right now as most people don’t have that kind of money to invest in a hobby. Or perhaps you have the type of disposable income to make this dream come true. With an RV, you could spend a year driving around the United States. If so, enjoy yourselves and send me a postcard.

But honestly, most of us don’t have the means to pay for a million dollar motor home. So as we look at other forms of camping, be aware of what you can afford. If you want to participate in the RV lifestyle but don’t want to buy one, then consider renting one for your trip.

Camping shouldn’t involve stress over money.

Because stressing over money doesn’t equal fun, keep the scope of your camping trip and equipment in-line with your income. If you have to save for a hundred-dollar tent, instead buy the fifty-dollar option and choose the contingency of camping close to home in case a catastrophe happens so you can head home easily. People can enjoy different levels of camping, regardless of their financial ability. Also, consider borrowing supplies from family, friends, or neighbors. Once you decide you want to invest in pieces, you’ll know better what works for you.

Survivor Man versus backpacking.

These are two extremes. One is to hike the Appalachian Trail maybe something similar to doing the Survivor Man thing for five to seven months. For that epic trip, you’ll need to delve into other books to succeed. For this book, let’s talk about backpacking. That means you have what you need on your back, and you’re going some distance. It may be the whole length of the Appalachian Trail; but more likely it’s something like four miles through your local woods.

With backpacking, everyone will bring what they need for the jaunt in their pack. The goal is to have a lightweight and comfortable backpack and equipment that doesn’t weigh much. Consider eating dehydrated food as it is light. If you don’t take these suggestions into consideration you’ll end up hauling a fifty-pound pack instead of a twenty pound one for miles and miles. Trust me, the weight on your back will make a difference with each step. Backpacking isn’t for everyone and may be difficult to pull off with your family in tow, especially if this is the first camping trip.

Car-camping.

This is pretty simple. All the things you need are in your car and you drive to the campsite. You unload a popup shelter or tent and a sleeping bag. You might have kitchen items to cook by the fire or you may choose to eat at local restaurants. Whether you build a fire or not, you’re experiencing the version of camping that works for you, so embrace it. I highly recommend this for your first outing, especially if you have a family.

Supplies for backpacking versus car camping.

Personally, I think there’s a good chance you will enjoy the outdoors. Which means that eventually you will end up with two setups—one for backpacking and the other for car camping. Backpacking provisions need to be ultra-light, whereas supplies for car camping can be bulky and perhaps less expensive.

Advancing further.

You’ve got to right-size your trip with what your family wants so that camping is a successful experience. You may need to take several simple car-camping trips before progressing further. Or, your group may be content with this simplest kind of adventure. But, maybe it grows into more. Perhaps add a campfire to the next trip, or cooking over the open flame, or a longer more involved hike. The trick is that if it’s a family thing, go slow and let everybody ask for more so they don’t feel forced. I have found the biggest objection about camping is that people don’t want to get out of their comfort zone.

Car glamping.

Which means bringing every creature comfort from home. There are different levels of glamping. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I glamp when we go to our place in the mountains because of the luxury items we haul with us. The over-the-top items we could bring are a super-big tent, which we’ll talk about later, a flat screen, an Xbox, a generator, maybe some gilded throw pillows. I’m sure you’ve heard of the glamping sites where you can go live in a tent that’s a lot like your house. They can even have air-conditioning!

Economy glamping.

Connie and I go “economy glamping.” We bring a ten by twenty feet tent. My choice would be much smaller, but it’s all about compromise. I want her with me and happy, so we’ve figured out what each party needs to feel comfortable for a weekend. That includes an inflatable mattress. We don’t wear shoes in the tent, which keeps it much cleaner. There is a small area designated for shoes and dirty clothing. We also have a cozy spot to sit down. These are things we do to make the clean up easier and the space more comfortable. Given these conditions, Connie will gladly come camping with me.

With a big tent, you have room for an air-mattress. In fact, a big tent will usually allow everyone to sleep under the same roof, which goes a long way to a good night’s slumber for all. The more comfortable you can make camping for your loved ones, the better the chance that your kids will want to have epic, hard-core adventures in the future.

Camping without camping, is it possible?

What works for your family? You can always stay in a hotel or a bed-and-breakfast that’s close by to your activities and then do day trips. I’ll argue that you’re not camping per se, but those day hikes and discovering waterfalls, will still get you outdoors. It will allow you to spend quality time with loved ones and set yourself up for those priceless moments with your family. If staying in a hotel and having day time adventures works, then do it!

What will work for you?

As you can see, there is a vast range of options for camping. Are you an RV kind of guy where you plug in at a campsite with power and air-conditioning and running water? Perhaps it’s going to be something simple, where you have a tent and minimal equipment and eat at restaurants. Or maybe you’ll go for something in between. There’s no wrong answer as long as you’re getting everyone outdoors and create those family memories.

What are my goals and intentions?

As you can see, the camping experience can span quite a range from a tent and a sleeping bag, to many of the creature comforts of home. Ask yourself:

  • Where’s your comfort zone?
  • What do you want to accomplish?
  • How much effort do you want to exert?
  • How much do you want to spend?
  • How much time do you want to be at the site?

Getting everyone together to create memories.

The goal is you want to get your family outdoors and allow everybody to have a great time. Depending on if you choose an RV, a pop-up, or a tent, may or may not affect whether or not you have that priceless moment. I think with an RV you’re a little more separated from things. But people have different comfort zones. If the only way you can get your people to camp is to rent a pop-up or an RV for the weekend, then do what you need to do. You’re achieving some of your goal, everybody’s having a great time, and you’re creating family memories, which make it all worth it.

Don’t feel pressure if camping is new to you.

There’s no pressure to be Mr. Outdoors. Because if you’re the kind of person who has never been in the wilderness before, no one would expect you to build a fire with flint and steel and some cotton you pulled out of your pocket. Feel free to use matches. Keep it simple when you build your first fire, and maybe even your tenth. Later on we’ll talk about some of these other skills. But, my goal here is to give perspective on your different options.

Most of my camping experiences revolve around family trips or Boy Scouts. As a result this book really focuses on family camping. However, the same principles, skills, and knowledge apply to a single person or family. Maybe you are a single man or woman who wants to experience camping for the first time. You could be a widow or widower, or newly divorced. There are many people in lots of different situations that head out to enjoy camping. This book spends a lot of time talking about family interactions and considerations, but the skills and knowledge apply to a variety of life circumstances. If you don’t want to go by yourself, then consider joining an outing club. It’s a great way to go with a group and enjoy the camping experience.

Build up your skill set.

You may need new outdoors skills. Or perhaps it’s time to teach those techniques to your kids or spouse. You never know when you need to build a fire. Your car may break down in a place that has no cell service and the only thing to keep you alive overnight is to build a fire. Does this happen to everybody? No. But, the simple ability of building a fire could be a lifesaver. One reason to continue to camp regularly is to keep our skill set sharpened. This gives peace of mind and boosts confidence. Learning outdoor knowledge improves self-reliance that translates to other areas of life. These regular camping trips build a happier, well-adjusted, better-prepared-for-life family member who is more available to partake in those priceless moments.

It’s not a question of how rugged someone is. The question is what they want. Some people at different points in their lives simply don’t want to spend the weekend working hard outside doing camping stuff. Sometimes you want the fun component and not the work part. So instead of a tent and open flame cooking, they might choose an RV and restaurant food. Or perhaps they’d rather do something at home that weekend.

Compromise.

There are trips when Connie doesn’t come because I am hunting and I’m fine with that. Sometimes it’s nice to be on a solo trip, or a trip with the guys. It’s an opportunity to go with a smaller tent and do different activities. The point is to keep the perspective that there are a lot of ways to get a win out of camping—backpacking, economy glamping, hunting backpacking are just three. They all have their pluses.

First trip could be a solo one.

If you are unsure about camping for the first time with the entire family, then consider just going solo, or with your spouse. Then bring the kids on the next trip Camping can be enjoyed in lots of different scenarios from the whole family going, or individuals without children going solo (or with a group), or situations where only one parent takes the kids.

The key is to figure out what works for you, at this time in your life, with whoever is going camping with you. Don’t feel pressured to be Mr. REI, because that won’t make you happy and it isn’t what your loved ones are looking for. Kids are seeking quality time spent with Mom and Dad. Your spouse is looking for the same thing. Leave your pride and ego at home. Camping is about those priceless moments.

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Why Go Camping?

So, you’ve almost decided to go camping; but you’re wondering what you can expect. Will there be stress or relaxation? You may experience physical pain from usually unused muscles, or perhaps the benefits will outweigh the perceived negatives. This is a good thought process to have.

Properly planned camping trips can cause relaxation.

Planned properly, camping can be relaxing. But, beware of the potential physical exhaustion which can occur with ill-informed choices. Depending on decisions like where you go, how you camp, the length of your stay, and what you bring, relaxation may only be a longed-for dream. But there is hope, so keep on reading and I’ll help you design a successful camping trip.

Improve attitude.

Often times, getting out of your current environment and replacing your daily concerns with activities like building a fire, sleeping in a sleeping bag, or making s’mores over a campfire can help to push out your usual concerns and allow you to relax in the comfort of simplicity. You get a fresh perspective on life and family that you wouldn’t normally get in the day-to-day grind. The campsite is there waiting for you. You just have to take the hardest step of all and walk out your front door and get in the car to head out for an adventure you won’t regret.

Personally, I feel at home in the mountains. I love being there with the views and the hikes and the trees. The people and music are great. There are so many awesome things to see and do there. Find your passion by going out and experiencing the world. You can experience it slow, in a tent or on foot. You’ll see views from your campsite and on your hikes that you’ll totally miss through your car window or on your TV. Just go and enjoy the journey.

A new normal provides instant gratification.

When we get away and into a different context, our brain can back-out of the humdrum or stress of day-to-day life. While camping you are in a temporary new routine, which can be a nice health adjustment for your mind. Mentally we push out concerns from the old normal and replace them with immediate activities. This process allows instant gratification by being out of your ordinary circumstance.

Exercise benefit.

When you camp, you’re not performing your normal activities so your body adapts to what you ask of it. We fall into ruts by repetitively doing the same physical exercises. Conversely, there are times we do nothing. While camping, you’re throwing new actions at your body and those new endeavors keep you in motion much of the time, they also challenge your body and spirit. That is a good thing. You may be tired at the end of the day, but you’ve recharged your mind and body in a beneficial way that will positively impact you for days or weeks to come after you get back home.

In daily life, you may attempt to minimize your motion. We tend curtail the number of steps while cooking a meal or travel to our job with the shortest route, or in our office most of us sit around typing on a computer. While camping, we’re in a position where we can be constantly moving which forces our bodies to adjust. What that means is that we’re burning energy on creative work which I think is very enjoyable and rewarding.

No interruptions allow for deep conversations.

Possibly, the most wonderful thing about camping is the one-on-one time spent with loved ones without the normal of interruptions of daily life. When at home or at work, many things demand our attention. But, when camping, it’s a totally different situation. Diverse issues vie for our concentration. Cell coverage may be non-existent or limited. Because of this, there’s a good chance you’re going to have conversations at a level you probably didn’t otherwise. At home you can turn on the TV or pick up your phone or login to your computer to check email. When camping, you may not even have a cell signal. Sitting around the campfire with laughter filling the air and joy in your hearts, that’s the goal.

You will want to plan ahead for how to handle electronic usage at the campsite. Today’s kids are often addicted or borderline addicted to constant contact through a smart phone. If you totally take them away, that may create frustrations that will keep your children from enjoying the trip. It may be that no electronics use is too much to ask, that may seem like punishment. Look beyond the whining and moaning and complaining and figure out a win-win situation that works for your family. Your kids win because they are looking up from their phone long enough to enjoy the outdoors. So if completely taking away the phones is going to really be an impediment to them savoring the weekend, then allow your kids to use them a couple of hours a day. Another option is to not let them recharge electronics. When the battery dies, then your phone usage ends for the weekend. This is a great way to teach them how to budget a resource. Whatever you do, let your children know a set of clear rules. Camping is a new situation for everyone and if letting you kids have their phones for a few minutes makes them more receptive to camping, then maybe that is a good plan.

Seek out priceless moments.

One of the things I crave and look forward to when camping are priceless moments. You may be alone and look out across the valley to see the opposite mountain or you may take in a deep breath and enjoy the rare view. It may just be you because you’re the first one up in the morning and you’re enjoying the quiet and the beauty. Or perhaps someone you love laughs which makes you revel in joy. Possibly you’re the one laughing. Maybe everyone is laughing around the campfire.

Camping is one of the greatest ways to generate these special times. In later chapters we’ll talk about the ways you can set yourself up for success or failure. If you let them, you will find priceless moments camping. Then you will have memories and stories that you and your kids will cherish for years to come.

I saw a meme on Pinterest that had a Prius at the top of the image, and at the bottom a Jeep in the desert sitting on the crest of a hill, in front of a sunset. A guy and his kids are in the Jeep enjoying the sun setting in this majestic place. The closing message of the meme said, “Your kids will never, ever remember you getting fifty-five miles per gallon. However, they will remember the night you watched the sun set over the mountains.”

Be receptive to what will be beautiful memories.

One way to generate your own memories is through camping. My goal in this book is to lead you through how to discover them. When you are well prepared, have knowledge and training and proper equipment, then, you’ve put some of the adversity behind you and you’re in a good situation for those priceless moments to occur. The all you have to do is be receptive to catch them and revel in them.

Knowledge is power and weighs nothing. You can take this knowledge and couple it with a list of skills for your trip. It is that simple! As you’re camping, you’re not worried about a sleeping bag getting wet; you’re enjoying the memories created with your loved ones.

So, let’s get started! I’d be honored if you’d let me share what I’ve learned and some of my many camping experiences. My hope is this book will enrich your camping trips and help you find those priceless moments.