Beginner Campers

Camping List – What to bring when you go camping

The video above demonstrates the 3 essential Tips to camping packing:

1. Use a camping check list. Don't try to keep it all sorted in your brain. You'll break your head.

2. Pack by categories or groups. For example, pack your kitchen stuff together in one big bin. Pack your shelter – tent, mallet, mat in one big duffel bag. That way you are thinking of a few categories instead of being overwhelmed by 1,001 items.

3. At the end of your camping trip, pack your stuff back into the same groups so you are pre-packed for your next camping trip. Leave the items in the bags and [Read more...]

Filed Under: Beginner Campers, Camping Gear

How to Reserve a Campground Online

9:34 am By Myrtha Chang Leave a Comment

Online campground reservation web sites make camping reservation much easier today. You can check out the campground map, see how close your site is to the restrooms, are your neighbors stacked on top of you, what other campers say about the campground, etc.

Although the video below shows how to reserve a campground through Reserve America (www.ReserveAmerica.com), other online campground reservations work the same way: specify the criteria you want, click Search, browse through the search results, check out the campground ammenities, venue, campsites, then [Read more...]

Filed Under: Beginner Campers, Find Campground

What Is Your Camping Style?

1:38 am By Myrtha Chang Leave a Comment

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The video above shows the 4 Most Popular Camping Styles.

When you book a campsite, the first question you are asked is how you want to camp. So itâ€™s good to decide first if you will be camping in a:

Tent
Pop-Up Camper or Trailer
RV or
Cabin

Style #1. Tent Camping

This is the way most families are introduced to camping. Kids love tent camping because itâ€™s most different from indoor housing. My favorite memories of tent camping is lying in my tent at night gazing at the Big Dipper, waking up to the chirping of birds, and playing Old Maid with the kids.

We actually have a couple of tents now. A large [Read more...]

Filed Under: Beginner Campers, Family Camping

Planning Your Camping Trip

1:31 am By Myrtha Chang 5 Comments

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Step 1. Determine your camping style
Most families begin with [tag]tent camping[/tag], also called car camping because you bring all your gear in your car. Then they venture to other types of camping: pop-up camper, bicycle camping, canoe camping or the adventurous backpacking. On the other extreme is camping in a cabin in the woods or in an recreational vehicle (RV). Click here to determine your camping style.

Step 2. Find and Reserve Campsite
First, we do some research to find the best campground for your family. Next, we reserve our campground.

Step 3. Pack your gear
Don't get overwhelmed. We show you tips and ideas on how to pack your camping gear without getting a migraine. Click here for a video on packing essentials.

Step 4. Set up Camp.
Once you and your gear get on the campsite of your dreams, how do you set it up? Where to pitch the tent? How about the camp kitchen? Watch this fun video on how to set up your campsite.

Step 5. Cooking outdoor
Cooking in the wild can be a lot of fun. With all the 21st century gear available, food has never tasted so good outdoors. Click here for a primer on camp cooking.

Great camping begins with great preparation. Have fun outdoors!

Filed Under: Beginner Campers, Family Camping

City slickers go camping

10:50 pm By Myrtha Chang Leave a Comment

By Joel Achenbach Washington Post July 2005, New York, NY.

I like to take my [tag]family camping[/tag], but we are not what you'd call `happy campers.' We enjoy nature but wish it had air conditioning. We basically start to get nervous when we're more than five miles from the nearest Pizza Hut. The mosquito is an insect viewed by my family with the same level of fear normally associated with the grizzly.

camping without starbucks My wife freely admits that she views the countryside as a land of hillbillies, snakes and ticks. Camping is an obligatory journey to a theme park for parasites. For her, it's like `Welcome to Leech World.' Compounding the problem is my own tendency to devolve, as it were, when I leave the big city.

My long-repressed Southern accent starts to kick in. I lose the ability to enunciate the `G' at the end of I-N-G words. I have the urge to say the word `bodacious' at the slightest provocation–for example, the ritual opening of the bag of Doritos at the campsite. I'll feel an uncontrollable need to make a declaration of how much fun we're having. I'll say, `Yessirree, Bob, it doesn't get no better than this.' My family will look at me with an expression that says, `Who is this man? Is he blood kin?'

10 Great Reasons to Go Camping This Year

10:32 pm By Myrtha Chang 4 Comments

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Reason #10. You have tried everything else to peel the kids (or the hubby?) away from the TV and Xbox. One thing I learn as a parent, when I yell, "Turn that TV off!" I need to provide an alternative. Kids can't substitute TV for vacuum. Gotta give them something to occupy their active minds like Surviving in the Wilderness.

Reason #9. You can't remember the last time you gazed at the stars. It's time to see the Big Dipper beyond the printed page.

Reason # 8. The only bird chirping you have ever woken up to is the cuckoo clock in the living room.

Reason # 7. Ten years from now, when your kids lament to their therapists that you were absent in their lives, you can show videos and pictures of your [tag]family camping[/tag] experience.

Reason # 6. Food tastes better outdoors. I'll tell you about the Baby Weber Grill at another time.

10 Reasons to go Camping Reason # 5. Its affordable. You can buy very nice camping gear with the equivalent of a couple nights hotel stay. And you get to keep the gear. (Its like owning your own home instead of renting).

Reason # 4. Enjoy the inheritance that was saved for you. In 1916, your grandparents and mine made a commitment to preserve, protect and share the natural beauty of this land through the National Park Service. When was the last time your eyes feasted on the natural beauty of our [tag/]national parks[/tag]?

Reason # 3. Camping is so easy today. Down-filled sleeping bags, 10-minute-set-up tents, instant fire starters, and yes, that Baby Weber Grill. Today's camping equipment is easy enough for the beginner campers.

Reason # 2. There are many ways to camp, so you can choose what suits you best. There's rustic cabin camping, car camping, [tag]luxury camping[/tag] such as at the Adirondacks, RV camping and backpacking. Start with something you are comfortable with. Chances are, you'll explore other more adventurous camping with time.

Reason # 1. You have never gone camping before. Well, then you absolutely have to go camping this year. Do it before you are set in your ways. Do it before you take yourselves too seriously. Do it before the kids leave the nest. Do it before you can't do it. In other words, just do it.