The year 2020 is one of the hardest and most challenging years in modern human history. We all get used to living in comfort and travelling on our own terms, but this epidemic situation forces us to be creative with our trips.
However, one of the best kinds of vacations, where you can relax, take in some breathtaking scenery and get along with your family, is a camping trip!
In this article, we want to present you with our tips on how to plan a fantastic trip for either yourself, or as a group during these hard quarantine times.
So, what is your first step?
In our opinion, you need to ask yourself these four essential questions whilst you are planning a camping trip.
Here they are:
This question will have an impact on every other thing during the trip.
You can totally spend a few days or even weeks in a campsite if you and your family do not have Covid-19 symptoms.
However, you should proceed cautiously if you want to take your closest relatives with you, since they have higher chances of developing complications from the disease, should the worst happen.
Maybe plan a very isolated or even backyard camping if you have diabetes, heart conditions, asthma, or you are a 65+-year-old citizen.
You can have a very raw and close to nature trip in the forest, without any modern amenities for days, or you can spend your time in the fashionable glamping.
Choose what you are ready to give up and what is necessary for you to have a great trip.
A good RV is like a home you can take everywhere. So, if you want to have a little bit of luxury, you can rent an RV and have a trip of your lifetime inside this fantastic vehicle.
There are many fabulous places you can go to during your camping trip. You will see many interesting sites, meet new people (with all precautions taken), and get in some quality downtime if you choose one of these options.
Let us tell you a little bit about all of them to help you make the right choice.
The American national parks system allows all the people to enjoy the beautiful wilderness and make great memories. You can learn about all the parks near you and find out if they allow camping, BBQ, and campfires.
On a slightly different note, it is one of the most romantic ways to spend your camping trip and, undoubtedly, you will have a lot of fond memories should you wish to go down this direction!
Spending your day on the Rocky Mountains and sleeping under the sky with stars is one of the best things humans can experience in life. There are many comfortable and fabulous campsites where you can go near the mountains.
What about spending some quality time near a river, a pond, or a lake?
It is an excellent choice for a camping trip if you are doing it during the hot months of spring or summer because you can be refreshed by cool water any time you want.
Most keen survivalists agree that spending nights near water is something to die for!
It is a relatively new but very desirable way to spend your camping trip with all the modern comfort you can imagine.
Little wooden pods offering a full convenience package can absolutely turn everything you knew about camping upside down!
Glamping resorts are usually situated near interesting natural scenery and sites, so you there are definitely some exciting ventures available, should you choose this option.
Oh, the classic! Going to the forest campsite is the obvious choice when you speak about camping.
But it still is one of the best ones. Camping in the woods can be an incredible opportunity for you and your kids to learn more about the trees, plants, and animals that live there.
You can play fun games and teach your children the essential skills of survival in the wilderness.
As an additional plus, it is a perfect place for maximum social distancing, so camping in the woods must be one of the safest ways to spend your vacation in 2020.
Yes, it is also an option! You can easily place your tent in the backyard, make a campfire, sit around it, and eat some snacks!
Maybe you can spend only a weekend on your vacation, so it is a perfect plan for your family. Just make this experience as authentic as you can, and you will see how fun and awesome it can be.
You don’t have to choose only one place to stay! You can plan your camping trip around a couple of places: visit two or three parks, a lakeside, and spend one night near a mountain.
The choice is yours!
Now you’ve decided on the place where you want to spend your lovely vacation, let’s start packing.
Firstly, you should absolutely pack all the things essential for today’s world situation: stock up on hand sanitizers, disinfecting solutions for all the surfaces you may have to clean during your journey, paper towels, toilet paper, and wet wipes with alcohol.
Please, stockpile all these things beforehand, and you will not be obliged to buy something in the middle of nowhere.
Do not forget that you need to have all the things for your personal safety to keep you healthy on a campsite. Also, take along with you a lot of disposable masks and vinyl or latex gloves.
You can take some reusable masks, but we must warn you that wearing dirty masks is very dangerous for your health, and you may not have an option to clean your masks properly during the trip.
Now, let’s talk about the emergency kit in case of unexpected accidents and traumas.
You should have a good supply of band-aids, bandages, painkillers, sanitizers, hemostatic agents, Tylenol, etc. Those things are very light, but they are essential for every trip.
Well, we are now good and safe, but you still need some essential things that would be required for almost every camping trip.
This should be good enough for sleeping and covering you from the bad weather. If you choose to live in a tent during your trip, make sure that it is suitable for the season.
There are tents on the market that can be used all year round which opens up the most possibilites for your trip.
Your tent should also be big enough to fit everybody in at night, but consider that if you go too big, this is going to be more weighty to carry around with you if you’re on the move.
Resting on the ground will be a lot more comfortable with good sleeping bags. Choose high-quality three-seasoned bags, and you will always be safe and warm at night.
Bring a couple of flashlights, at least two for every person, because there is no such thing as too many flashlights. Also, take a good supply of batteries, a couple of power banks to charge your phones, GPS, a lighter, etc.
Bring all the things you will need for a barbeque to the campsite because it is usually way cheaper to pick these things up in a local supermarket. It will save you a lot of money!
But, always check with your campsite’s supervisor to ensure these are allowed.
We have to be responsible regarding nature, so if you create some trash during your trip, you have a responsibility to clean it up. Always bring some bags with you for all the trash you will produce on a trip.
You cannot possibly guess the weather on your trip, so take a variation of clothing to be prepared for any weather situation that may occur.
It can be so cozy and nice to sit near a campfire covered in a warm blanket. Also, if it is very cold at night, you will use it to warm up.
When you are camping, you eat outside, cook outside and hopefully make some delicious food on the fire!
So, be sure to take pots, BBQ stuff, grills, knives, cups, plates, spoons, and forks with you. Also, do not forget to take pans, kettle, and utensils for cooking.
These are not necessary items, but it surely takes to the next level your camping experience. With a good folding table and chairs, your campfire dinners will be a very cozy and fun time.
If you are traveling by car and not by RV, a portable fridge will be a great investment for your adventure. You can keep your drinks and perishable food there and be sure that all of them are kept clean and fresh!
A camping trip is a great opportunity to eat delicious food right from the fire with a fresh BBQ every night.
However, if you are going somewhere where you will not have access to refrigeration of some sort, you might consider packing some other food for your trip.
Here are our ideas:
Although we’d advise not to eat canned foods for all your trip, you can surely have breakfast from the can and make some delicious canned soups and stews in the pot on fire!
Also, canned beans and corn can be a great garnish for your barbeque or other dishes!
Do not underestimate the importance of good snack items during long trips. These are great to fuel up during long walks or can be eaten inside a tent during very heavy rain.
Before you travel away, you should pick up various dried berries, protein bars, healthy chips, nuts for quick snacking in your grocery store. It is always better to have spare foods, so go for a variety of options.
Take as much water as you can on your trip – you will need a lot!
Drinking, making dishes, washing your hands or face — all these things requires water, and if you want to go camping for more than a couple of days, you will need a lot of water to cover all your needs.
Include some non-perishable veggies and fruits for a healthy snack or for preparing them on the grill.
Apples, pears, onions, mushrooms, celery, and carrots can stay fresh for a very long time, even without a fridge, so you can stock up on them and use them whenever you need.
If you don’t like the idea of cooking on vacation, you can grab some meal kits that were created specifically for campers.
You can store them without a fridge and eat both cold and warm (just put a package of food in a boiling water pot and wait a couple of minutes). Voila! Delicious dinner with no fuss and chores.
Marshmallow, chocolate, and cookies — the American classics that everybody loves. We cannot imagine a good camping trip without this delicious goodness, so it’s definitely worth taking!
In the times of the global pandemic, going on a road trip and camping is probably the best choice if you want to spend your vacation outside of your normal place and stay safe and healthy.
Going on a camping trip for the first time can be very scary, but with all the tips and information you now have with our article, you will be a hundred percent ready for any unpredictable events that may occur!
So, plan for your camping trip, pack your bag, take some food, and go for the best trip of your life, prepared as good as a professional would. Happy camping!
