Are you open to adventures while being perfectly safe and comfortable? Keep reading – the easy camping road trip checklist is for you. Camping is not for everyone. Is it for you? Check out the questionnaire below.
Why camping? Check the list:
| The questionnaire: how many YES do you collect? | Yes | No |
| Spending warm nights under the stars? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Felling asleep with a quire of cicadas? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Waking up with the bird songs? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Hitting the road without a definite travel plan? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Bounding with your significant other? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Exploring the nature with children? Grandchildren perhaps? | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Sleeping without air conditioner? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Making significant savings? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Can you tolerate mosquitos, ants, flys and bugs? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
| Are you ok with communal facilities? YES/NO | 🔲 | 🔲 |
Camping is not as challenging as you might think and it’s never too late to start. Pick the country/state with the sunny climate to begin with. I have spent quite a few nights camping as a child and on canoe trips with my children. The camping alone was my first experience recently. I picked Tuscany as the most beautiful destination pure based on epic pictures and some stereotypes. Take a look at my Tuscany road trip. Needless to say that you don’t have to worry about the rain too much in Tuscany as seeking a shade will be your biggest challenge:)
Anafi 1.5.6
This article is for active people moving around to explore beautiful spots. By no means I am able to cover extreme hikes or camping on a glacier. Campervan equipment or accessories required to settle in one campsite for the whole summer is not part of the article either. Ready for the important stuff?
Before you hit the road
- Establish the vision for your dream vacation: beach, mountains, cities, relaxed, active….
- Pick the location: read the travel guides, research internet ….
- Open google maps and search for the campsites around your points of interests. Read the comments that people left, it will give you the feel if it’s right for you. Browse the pictures and categorise the campsites, objects, places to visit with labels.
Good preparation is essential to give you flexibility to adopt to the local circumstances. It is much easier to make the travel itinerary later if you have plenty of collected information handy.
Road trip checklist for bare minimum camping
The most important item is tent. The tent must be comfortable and reliable. You will get the money back by staying in the campsites instead of hotels. Waterproof quality is the must. Also ventilation plays important role to avoid the dripping condensate right on your face in the mornings.
Below you can see the major variations of tents available on the Amazon. You can buy a cheap tent in supermarkets as well that will last for couple nights if you are not sure if camping is your “thing “. However, I would recommend a tent that is easy to put up and is full heightstand-up height. The most practical solution is inflatable tent with ample storage place.
OFF-GROUND TENT: The tent is far away from the ground and makes the stay more pleasant, so that you no longer feel the rain and the cold on the floor. Down side – you cannot stand up there. The tentsile tent is also called a stingray or tree tent.
Large family tent will accommodate 6-8 people, always buy a size bigger to count for the extra storage space . The plus side – you can afford the inflatable or foldable bed in the full size tent.
Travelling light – the pop-up tent is four you. The tent unfolds automatically, folding back takes some practice.
You don’t have to sleep on the ground unless you want to. Kingsize inflatable bed is at your disposal. Or single foldable bed if you prefer.