Swimsuits.
Bug spray.
Life jackets.
Marshmellows.
Sleeping bags.
Sunscreen.
Hiking boots.
Sunglasses.
Water bottles.
Ice cooler.
It is a random list, but when you are only 15 years old and you are getting to go on a camping vacation with your older sister and older cousins you only need to make sure you have a few things. The older crowd is really responsible for the essentials, you are just checking to make sure that your favorite things are packed. And while the rest of the crowd may have to worry about the graham crackers, chocolate bars and sticks for roasting s’mores, you really only like a toasted marshmellow so you are good.
For a 15 year old sophomore in high school it really does not take too much to go camping. If you were going to a sleepover with your friends, of course, you would have a whole other kind of list. You would have to remember a blow dryer, a hair straightener, makeup, makeup remover, nail polish, pillows, cell phones, earbuds, and favorite DVDs. For a camping trip with two adult male cousins and your 19 year old sister, however, your camping packing list can be short.
You will be out on the boat all day and instead of just tubing you are hoping to get up on water skis for the first time this summer. These trips used to involve parents, aunts, and uncles, but coordinating everyone’s schedules simply became too complicated. This year it is just the cousins and you are so excited that at the age of 15 your parents decided that you could go on the trip.
Are You Looking Forward to This Summer’s Family Camping Trip?
Family camping can be addictive and even when some people’s schedules get too busy it is an addiction that is still hard to break. The idea of setting up a personal hammock between trees on one of your favorite shady campsites is many people’s idea of a great weekend. For the lucky few, a whole week of boating, water skiing, and resting in a hammock on shady campsites is better than any five star hotel.
In a time when many family vacations appear to be a contest to see who can post the most exotic pictures on social media, a simple family camping trip is especially alluring. Disconnecting from technology and busy work schedules provide many families the opportunity they need to rest and reconnect. Family camping vacations, in fact, are available and popular in any part of America. A beachside campground in California or lakeside campgrounds in Minnesota, or shady campsites in the Rocky Mountains all provide the same things: relaxation and a chance to reconnect with what is important.
Local camping sites provide the perfect solutions for families who only have a short weekend to get away, but early fall camping trips to the east to experience nature’s color show provide a real travel destination. And while many thing of tents and cabins as the typical accommodations for a camping trip, other options are also available. Yurts, refurbished railroad cars, and the newly popular glamping sites on raised platforms are great ideas for many families.
How Old Were You When You Went on Your First Camping Trip?
For many families the simple act of camping was the biggest motivation for their first trip. whether it was to celebrate a new tent purchase or simply an opportunity to unplug for a weekend, camping is both a destination and an activity. Following their initial experiences, 47% of adult participants indicated that they continued camping simply because they enjoyed it. And while camping can be a solitary activity, 13% of adult participants indicated that they camped because they wanted to spend more time with their families. In fact, 12% of adult participants indicated that they first went camping with their immediate family.
For many people, camping is so fun that it becomes contagious. Families allow their children to each invite a friend on a trip and before you know you have an entire group of families who enjoy visiting campsites together. Allowed the luxury of choice, campers can select to spend all day by a lake fishing, or out on the water tubing, or back at shady campsites reading books. Have you started packing all of your things yet?
