Even though for some of us it may not seem like it, summer is just around the corner! Which means that camping season is almost upon us. Camping is one of our family’s favourite things to do during the summer. It’s affordable and easy to just get away from the busyness of life. Plus, there are so many amazing places that you can explore while camping!
Lots of people choose to upgrade to a travel trailer or RV once they have a family. We would have loved to but it was just a bit out of our budget for now. What we could afford was a tent that was big enough to fit the whole family so that’s what we go camping in. For some tent camping can seem a little overwhelming so I thought that I would share our absolute must-haves when you are tent camping with your family, it’s the little things that make the difference.
Large tent
Having a tent for tent camping is pretty obvious but I think that having a large enough tent that you aren’t feeling like you are sitting on top of each other is important. We personally like to have a tent that you’re able to stand up inside, it really makes getting dressed a lot easier!
Good quality cooler
It might seem crazy to worry about the cooler that you buy but after years and years of tent camping, I have learnt that this is one of the most important parts. You definitely want to keep your food frozen as long as possible and having a cooler that can do that for you is so helpful.
Warm sleeping bags
When you’re sleeping in a tent it can get really cold at night, even when the days are really hot it can still get cool at night. Having a quality sleeping bag to help keep you warm can be the difference between a night of good sleep and a bad one.
Cots or easy fill air mattresses
Trust me, no one wants to be trying to fill up an air mattress in the middle of the night. Honestly, they are such a pain in the butt and if you happen to forget the pump it makes for a really rough time! We recently bought some camp cots for my husband and me, they are really easy to set up and surprisingly comfortable. Our kids just use really simple self-inflating air mats.
Camp stove and dishes
Lots of people figure you need a whole bunch of supplies for camping but I think that a camp stove, frying pan, pot, kettle, dishes, and utensils is all that you need. Keeping things simple means that you can travel light and you have fewer things to clean each day!
Flashlight
Nowadays every person probably has a flashlight on their phones but when your camping in a tent there isn’t a whole lot of places that you can plug your phone in so it’s nice to have a flashlight that isn’t your phone. Also, you are not going to want to risk dropping your phone into the outhouse toilet!
Something to hold drinking water
Lots of times there’s only one tap in a campground that has potable water so if you don’t have a trailer that you can fill a tank it’s really helpful to have a container that you can put your drinking water in on the campsite.
Comfortable camp chairs
When you’re camping in a tent you don’t really have anywhere to sit other than the picnic table that’s at the campsite so it’s really important that you have somewhere to sit while you are camping, trust me you will be glad that you got one!
