Packing & Planning for your Next Camping Trip

There’ve been so many times that we’ve headed out to the woods only to realize that we forgot something super important like our air mattress, trash bags, or even fire wood! Thereafter follows the walk of shame to the nearest Walmart. For a weekend planned for disconnecting and centering with nature, ending up in the local Walmart is probably the last thing we want to be doing! Since then, we’ve learned the value of creating a packing list before heading out to the woods. Of course there are the things we almost always keep packed and ready to go like our tent, sleeping bags, and lanterns. But having a ready made packing list stored away on your phone can make it easy to double check before leaving the house. To help you get started, check these tips to remember when planning your next camping trip: 

1. Make a Meal Plan:
   This is probably the one thing that most people forget to make when going camping and it makes all the difference! Not only does making a meal plan help save space in your cooler and stick to a budget when grocery shopping, it also ensures that you’ll have enough food for everyone in your group to make it through the whole trip. If you’re going to be camping for several days, we recommend that you plan your meals according to what will spoil quickest. For example, if you’re bringing raw meat to cook, we recommend you use that first night to grill up the meat and have it ready for the rest of your trip. However, if you want to prepare a meal for several days into your trip, you may consider bringing ingredients that will stay fresh longer in the cooler, such as fully cooked sausage. Also, consider what you’ll be cooking on when planning your meals. Is there a campfire available or will the site have an active burn ban while you’re camping? We prefer cast iron skillets for cooking but take into consideration what you will have available for cookware as well. Another great tip that we always practice is to meal prep as much as possible before you leave! Dicing and chopping anything that needs to be diced or chopped. Even pre-seasoning your ingredients so they’re even more flavorful by the time you cook. This can also be a great way of saving space and time since you won’t need to pack all the seasonings in your kitchen or spend any time crying as you chop that onion. Instead, you can use this extra time to sit back and relax. 
   

2. Check the Weather Before You Plan your Wardrobe:
   We pretty much always bring rain jackets with us by this point only because there have been so many times we’ve gotten caught in a spontaneous and unpredicted shower while camping. But for the most part, checking the weather beforehand will save you loads of space in avoiding bringing all the wrong gear. As we head into the winter months, getting one or two items that are considered Cold Gear could be helpful to make sure you’re warm enough all throughout the night. For our upcoming camping trip in California in November, we’re packing:

California November Clothing List:
-Warm hat / beanie 

-Gloves 

-Rain jacket

-Waterproof pants (Also used for layering over leggings if cold) 

-Cold gear leggings 

-Wool socks 

-Hiking Boots 

-Flip-Flops (for campground shower) 

-Tank top (for layering) 

-Warm sweater / hoodie (Also cold gear) 

-Warm jacket (for layering) 

-Underwear 

Toiletries:
-Travel or dry shampoo 

-Face wipes 

-Facewash 

-Toothpaste 

-Toothbrush 

-Feminine products 

-Medications (allergy medicine, Advil, birth control) 

-Sunscreen 

-Bug spray 

-Towel

-Hand sanitizer

3. Packing Essential Must Haves:
There are a few things that you’ll always bring with you when camping. These are often the things that we like to keep packed and ready to go. We like to store these items away in the actual boxes we use for transporting in our cars.
A few of these items include: 

-Tent w/ footprint, stakes, and rainfly

-Camping chairs 

-Popup or sunshade 

-Lantern w/ extra batteries

-Rope (this comes in handy way more often than you might think!) 

-Sleeping bag & mat 

-Pillows 

-Floor mat for inside your tent 

-Trash Bags

-Duct Tape 

-Lighter fluid 

-Lighters 

4. Coordinate with Others:
There have literally been times that we’ve shown up to a multiple day trip with a group of over ten people only to realize we were the only ones who planned for actual food other than pop tarts and beer! And while I love both of these things, sustaining off them for four days is just not a good plan! You can guess who ended up cooking all the meals for this tip. It also meant we ran out of food way too quickly and had to head into town in search of food. After this, we always make sure to send out a text or give a call to those in our camp and coordinate who will bring what. We also like to divide up the meals to where one couple/person is responsible for breakfast, another couple is responsible for lunch and snacks, and then another friend will take on dinner. This has proven really helpful when out camping because then it doesn’t mean that one person is stuck over the hot cook area while the rest of us laugh around the campfire. It’s also been a fun way for us to try new recipes and try and impress our friends. Also, coordinating who brings camp essentials such as firewood, the cast irons, water, ice chests, and sunshades saves so much space in packing and avoids folks bringing multiples of the same item.