Getting Ready to Camp

I’ve spent the majority of my life camping on the regular in one way or another. I won’t call myself an expert, but I think I can safely consider myself pretty experienced. This, however, does not make me anywhere near infallible when it comes to trip prep. There always seems to be at least one thing that falls in the “I thought for sure we had that” category. When you’re newer to exploring the outdoors, this is even more of an issue. This means it’s always good to look for ways to minimize packing stress so that you can more easily get out and do the fun part.

This is naturally easier said than done. So, how does a person of any experience level try to limit the amount of time and stress that packing adds to your next trip? I’ve been trying my best to improve this myself every year, and there are a few ideas that I’ve put into play that have certainly been helping.

Note: This post is geared toward a trip where you are driving to your location. Backpacking, canoeing, etc. require different prep and will need to be handled separately. Some things are universal, though, so they might help for any trip that might be on your schedule.

“Post-Game” Notes

For me this seems to be the most important. Write down a detailed list of what went right or wrong on your last trip. Focus on anything you should have brought, need to get, or just plain forgot about. Also, make sure to note what stayed in the car the whole trip. Most of us are guilty of overpacking as much as underpacking. This obviously doesn’t apply to emergency gear. That comes every time whether you use it or not. However, be honest, do you really need that full cooking set to come every trip when you’ve only used the same one pot out of it the last three times out?

Obviously, the number one thing here is to record anything that you went to use and didn’t have. Was it in a different bag? Did it break last year and didn’t get replaced? Make a searching/shopping list. Ideally, do this as it happens. I always have a notebook on me when I go out, but now, digital might be the better option for most cases. If you didn’t do it while on the trip, schedule this as part of your unpacking evening when you get back.

For those without much past camping to draw on use any type of trip of similar length. My family uses this same idea for road trips, hotel stays, any kind of travel. It’s a great way to try to make sure you get more and more prepared rather than making the same mistakes over and over. Instead, you get to make new ones😊.

Ready Packed Crate/Bag (or Two)

This is something I’ve been working on for quite a while. Gear that is camp specific, gets stored in something that can be moved right from the closet into the car. There are pitfalls here, which I’ll get to, but this is a huge time saver. We have one fairly heavy duty, plastic box that holds all of the camp kitchen and bonfire type items. Camp stove, pots, cups, fire starting materials, etc. all get stored here and put right in the back of the van for any car camping trips.

Ultimately, I’m working toward having everything loaded like this. The goal is to get to the point where there is essentially no extra thought needed when we decide to take a weekend trip. Our bags are already packed. Longer trips will always take more planning, but there’s no real reason you can’t always be ready for a couple nights in the woods.

The biggest problem here actually happened on our last trip. My wife and I both thought the campfire skewers were in the camp kitchen box. Why wouldn’t they be? We got to our location, got the fire going, got out the hotdogs, and…. not so much. Not the end of the world. It just meant we had some stick foraging and whitling to do, but it highlights the issue. Once you think you’re packed, you don’t necessarily double check things.

If you’re organized though, this can go a long way in streamlining your camp prep. Our new attempt is to actually list what’s in the box, so we can do a quick inventory check. This is still much faster than packing from scratch and gives that extra piece of mind.

Checklists

Ok, I happen to be lucky enough to have always had a good memory, at least when it comes to certain things. I have pretty good recall on facts, figures, past events, etc. However, I still manage to wander around the house trying to figure our where the heck I set down my phone. Maybe my head is just too full of useless minutia to find room for remembering the simple things in life.

In any case, when it comes to any kind of trip, checklists accumulate in my house, and I’ve come to see this as a necessity. For camping, you might even consider having a permanent checklist of the things that need to be packed for a specific type of trip. Going for a fishing weekend? This is the list of necessities. Going to a cabin to chill for a few days? Rely on this list.

These lists can be finetuned over the years, though this means keeping track of the list itself. Because of this, I’m starting to rely more and more on the digital versions of things. I’m old-fashioned in the fact that I really still like pencil and paper. I print things out so I can make notes on them. Unfortunately, I’ve also spent a lot of time looking for that list I made last month. Let alone last camping season.

Use whatever form works for you but make some kind of checklist of the things you absolutely can’t live without. Do this at least a week before a trip and live with the list for a while, adding things as they come to mind. It might not be foolproof, but I’ve found it relieves stress. There’s a certain level of piece of mind that comes with looking at a list with everything checked off right before hopping in the car and heading to your destination.

Camp Specific Clothes

This one, we’re still working on, but I like the idea. I’ve always had a few outfits for hiking that sit in the back of the dresser until the time comes. I recently moved these in with the camping gear since it’s really the only time they see use.

Now, I have no intention of putting together a full wardrobe that only gets used in the great outdoors. On the other hand, I also live in Michigan. A state notorious for chaotic weather changes. This means that even a weekend trip usually means packing for at least two different seasons. Add to this the necessity for packing backup clothes for the boys on any type of outing, and having a variety sack of clothes set aside can help with the unexpected.

This might seem excessive, but it minimizes the stress of packing for every possible scenario every time. The Salvation Army is a great stop for 5 clothing items for $5 that are more than adequate (at least in our area). Worst case scenario, we brought what we needed anyway, and the backup bag can stay in the car. Clothing is one of two items I don’t mind bringing a just in case supply. The other is food.

Backup Food Bag

I think food might be the number one thing that we have a tendency to overpack, at least it seems that way. We have three boys, so maybe I should clarify. It’s not that the food is more than we can eat, but it’s often far more than we need.

This is a very understandable thing, and most of the people I’ve camped with over the years have done the same. I mean, you don’t want to run out of food. So, our fear drives us to overcompensate a bit. My at least partial solution here comes in thanks to the fact that many camp foods have very good shelf lives. I got a case of backpacking meals over a year ago with more than a year still left to use them, and many options last even longer.

With this in mind, why not just have a bag of extra food that always comes with you, without the intention of using it? It might seem counterintuitive, but this has resulted in bringing less food overall. Having that little bit of extra just in case means we’re not over-buying new food to take along. Or at least not over-buying as much.

This also means that we have a larger variety than we would otherwise. Any leftover food that has more than a year on the expiration date gets moved to the backup bag. If one of the boys is happening to be extra picky for some reason, we can draw from this to give them other options. Just make sure you’re checking periodically on what’s in this bag. The last thing you want is to come to a point on a trip when the backup becomes a necessity and everything expired last August.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

I know, it’s a cliché statement, but it holds true. Yes, not stressing over things is easier said than done. Even with experience and preparation, it seems like every family trip I spend the first 15 minutes or more in the car just going through everything we might need in my head. Then mentally verifying that we brought each item. Not exactly healthy behavior, or a way to start a trip off in the right frame of mind.

My suggestion: focus on what’s truly important during the planning stage. What are you looking forward to doing and what is specifically needed for that? If you have that, the rest is details. Remember, as I’ve said in posts before, the important thing is who you’re with and making the most of the experience. Concentrate on whatever feeds into that and do your best to not let every little other thing bog you down. This is as true in the actual packing as it is in the planning of the trip to begin with (some tips on the planning stage here). If you start on a good foundation mentally, you might just find that the physical stuff is far less important than you thought, even if it is sitting on the counter at home.