Camping is a good get away from the city life, where you can get stressed quickly and its a way of getting relief amongst nature.
Camping is an ideal getaway to connect back with nature even going hiking as it allows you to almost find yourself and clear your mind, so when you are camping you would want to make sure that you can set up a campsite where you can go for a hike and enjoy what nature offers and come back to a campsite that is still intact and feels like a home away from home.
So the question arises how can you create a campsite where it feels like a home away from home, well there are many ways of doing this you just have to be alot more creative with what you have with at the time.
Being creative while camping with the equipment that you do have can be challenging but the whole idea is to make you think outside of the box, You want to set up your campsite so you can feel at home, from storing your food to setting up the kitchen area, and pitching your tent and setting all of it up, so here are 10 great camping setups that can get your creative juices thinking and inspire you.
1. Selecting A Campsite
When your first going camping the most important is to find a place to camp, there are campsites that you can prebook yourself into, and visit the sites the landscape has to offer.
There are national parks that offer campsites, where facilities are offered aswell, or just simple camping among nature.
- To start out select a campsite that is close to your home, just to begin to get a taste of camping among nature, and just incase of an emergency you can head back to your house.
- When you’re picking your campsite sometimes you can just walk in, without reserving but if you do then you will need to check out the campsite area as the last thing you want to do is have people camping around you that are quite noisy, understand and know what the campsite requires of you such as etiquettes, and keep the ground clean from any litter and respect other campers.
- Make sure when you do a camp that you don’t set up camp in the direction of the wind the only reason is that you don’t want to have other campers fire smoke to blow your way while you’re enjoying the camping experience.
- It would be a great idea to pitch your tent where the sun rises as it will certainly help you wake up at the crack of dawn, and you can watch the sunset if the tent is pitched in the right place while still staying warm and dry.
2. Organise Your Camping Gear Before You Set Off
- I would highly recommend to write up a checklist of the gear that you will need while your out camping, so before you set off to the campsite I would suggest to write down everything that you will need.
- If you have had your camping gear stored away in the garage or attic, you will need to examine the equipment, make sure there are no tears, rips, or equipment that have rusted away. You will need to make sure that there are no missing pieces either like tent poles or if they have been accidentally bent
- You will need to make sure that you have all the necessary lanterns, night lights, flashlamps
- While camping you can get mosquito bites, especially during the late evening, make sure that you do pack the necessary insect repellents, just make sure you don’t pack them to deep in your gear incase you might need them quickly or incase the explode for some reason.
- A first aid kit is something you would need to pack as part of your camping experience, for any emergencies that might occur as your health and safety is your number one priority.
- Make sure that you have a first aid checklist and that you are bringing all the necessary items such as band aid, medical adhesive tape, antibacterial ointment etc.
- Packing your tent is vital, as it’s your only shelter but double check that it’s not torn or nothing is missing such as some poles to hold the tent up, and when you are packing the tent make sure that it is securely packed.
- If you are going camping using the car, then i suggest to organise your car so that everything is packed neatly and easy to get to and n order, such as making sure that plates etc are organised and packed into storage boxes, your tent is packed in a way in the car so it does not get ripped while you bring it out to pitch at the campsite.
- When you do pack always make sure it is done strategically only because, when you need access to them you should be able to get to them with ease and not with alot of problems.
3. Kitchen and Assembly Area
When you get to your campsite once you have located the area where you will camp for the night or the amount of time your there, and once your tent is up your kitchen area will need to be set up.
- The first thing I would do is set up a tarp that sits overhead of the kitchen area, this is so just incased it rains your food or utensils won’t get wet. The other reason for the tarp being there is so that any wind or gusts of dust can prevent utensils or food getting ruined, plus make it a more enjoyable place to chill out.
- The food would normally be cooked over a campfire outside of the way of the tarp.
- Any food should either be stored a plastic box if your camping with a car if your just a few individuals then they should be stored in a cooler bag to keep the food fresh or edible.
- Any pots and pan would be placed out of the way of wind and gust and if you do have a spear clothing just cover them up.
- If your using a stove then place the stove outside of the tarp so you can cook the food and try and keep it at a bit of a distance if possible.
- Ideally keep them packed In the bag and just bring them out when needed would be ideal as much as possible.
4.Establishing The Campsite
- Unpacking Using Logic: Make sure that you do unpack your backpack in a systematically order, the first thing would be a tent, so that you can pitch it up as soon as possible.
- Access to Essentials Quickly: Make sure that you have access to essentials straight away once you arrive at camp, such as insect repellent just incase you need it, or a flashlight.
- Know where everything is placed: Give items a place to be so you don’t have to be searching around for them, place it once in one place and keep it there for the duration of your camping trip.
- Know where the location of your campsite is: Train your camping friends on where your campsite location is, either have a ribbon colour up so you can see it or a pole with a number on there so they know where to come back to.
- Key-keeper: If you have come camping using a car, make sure that only one adult holds the keys to the car so that you don’t lose them.
- Keep food out of reach: Because you are camping amongst nature, make sure that you do keep food out of the reach of bears and racoons, to do this keep food stored in an airtight container.
- Lights are the main source: during the dark, you will need lights, its best if you have a flashlight to carry around, and ideally, one that you can strap to your head would be a good alternative aswell.
- The right tools get the job done: Make sure that you bring the right tools to camp outside, from having the right tent to sleeping bags, the right clothing and flashlights even water bottles.
- Water Containers: Make sure that you have a water container large enough to carry fresh water, and stored away so you can have access to freshwater.
5. A Good Tent Setup To Have A Good Night Sleep
The first thing you will need to do is pitch your tent so you have somewhere to sleep for the night, it might take some time to set up so once you arrive at your campsite I would recommend you to pitch your tent as soon as possible.
- Firstly make sure that you have a tent that is more suitable to yourself if your camping as a couple or family again make sure the tent is good enough for your needs, but not too large where it takes alot to pull down when packing up.
- If your tent is alot smaller, it makes it alot more flexible to move around and setup.
- When your pitching your tent make sure that you place it where the wind will go downside so that incase the campfire is cooking the smoke won’t go into the tent.
- If your tent has vestibules this can work well for you in the respect of storage and space.
- When pitching the tents make sure that your tent is out of the ray of the sun if possible.
- If you can place a tarp over the tent, to prevent the rain to come into the tent so you are kept dry.
6.Create a fire without much effort
You’re going to need to keep warm, and you will also need to cook your food so a campfire would be a good idea to set up and start.
- Avoid using large logs as it will take alot to for the log to burn
- Build a smaller campfire, using tinder and twigs, well controlled and well burning and burn only what you need.
- If the area your camping in is dangerous to catch fire is dry and surrounded by grass etc, just create a small fire in a fire pan.
- Make sure the campfire is not downwind otherwise any other camps or tents will get your smoke.
7.Plan A Good Camping Menu
When your out camping its a good idea to have some pre-prepped menu set up, that way you don’t waste any time trying t work out what to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
- make sure any poultry is prepared in advanced, and sealed in a container or bag, but stored away so that the smell does not attract any animals.
- Tinned food would be good to eat, such as beans, soups as all you will have to do is warm it up so alot less cooking.
- Pre-made sandwiches would be good for lunch and even dinner, boil your eggs at home so you can carry them in a tin or container if there is a group of you camping together.
- Making mash potatoes before going camping is a good source of protein and won’t take long to warm up if you wish or you could eat it cold.
- Breakfast is an important part of the day and having food in the morning is much better and important. You could have french toast or a simple cereal.
8. Prepare Meals At Home
Your camping experience can be really enjoyed alot more if you prepare your meals at home, that way you won’t need to cook alot of the food. The most you will cook is the raw poultry, you can cook the simple stuff aswell such as soups and beans.
- Prepare as much of your food at home, that way you won’t need to cook much food while your camping so it leaves you with a good time to enjoy hiking or other activities.
- Any Chicken oven cook before, that way you can still eat it cold. If you do have a grill with you if you’re a group and wish to cook it there and then, just marinate it before and keep it stored in a sealed bag and stored in a container with some ice.
- Use Jam jars, to place food meals in them, such as breakfast, oats mixed with yoghurt, and fruits would be ideal, this would work well for a healthy camping breakfast meal prep.
- Eggs can be used for camping and it is a great source of protein, it would be better to mix them up before going camping that way, you can just pour your eggs in and make scrambled eggs quickly. You can place them into freezer bags, or small jam jars that way you won’t need to worry about the eggs being broken.
- There are foods that you can eat without having to worry about keeping it cool or refrigerated, food such as Gronala bars, Muffins, Trail mix bars,
- Sandwiches are a great source of food, preparing sandwiches is a great way that will solve space saving, and with a good amount of food such as meat, vegetables, bread for some starch would be good.
- Tinned foil food would be good for cooking at camps, Foods such as baked potato with cheese, I would have them chopped up and sprinkled with cheese, and just simply cook the potato in the foil to keep it warm and juicy.
9. Select Good Cookware
When it comes to cookware make sure that you pack cutlery and pots and pans that will suit your needs if your a group or family or an individual going. The cookware would need to be more durable, strong and the most important part is it would need to make sure its lightweight.
- If your camping alone a compact cookware would be ideal or cooksets, a collection of pots and pans and lids designed to nest together. This way everything is compact and a great way for packing light.
- Cookware materials are important, aluminium is affordable but less durable then stainless steel it is easier to dent or even scratch.
- When your camping you will need to take into account the number of pots and pans that you will need, depending on the number of people that are camping with you.
- When it comes to handling the pots and pans look out for equipment where you can attach a handle to the pots so it’s easier to lift.
10. Camp Storage
When it comes to camping storing your food is vital, it would make sense to carry clear containers so you can see what you have packed especially for food.
- A clear plastic container would be best suited for food so you can see clearly what is in the containers, and you can stack them on top of one another in your rucksack. These containers will keep insects and bugs out and keep it fresh and clean.
- When it comes to kitchen equipment a simple see-through container is ideal aswell, pots and pans can be placed inside a duffle bag if need be.
- A shoe organizer can be turned into a kitchen holder for all your utensils, most people might not recommend it, but the truth is it can be used for that, as when it comes to drying the shoe rack it can just be hung and let it dry over time.
- Jam jars can be used to store food, as in prepared food, or even little snacks during your camping trip.