We were all new at one time ... and I think everyone made a mistake or two in their adventure adventures. There are many lists of camping mistakes - these are the pitfalls that I think should avoid family tourists (and be based on our experience).
1. Without exploring where you are going
Camping is designed for relaxation and fun, but it will not be so if you are not ready for where you are going.
You (and your children) could feel that a 6-hour car trip to the campsite could have been avoided if you had heard that the roads were washed away (a simple call to the Park Ranger office would give this information).
Read where you are going, conditions, weather and amenities (water, toilets, campgrounds). Spontaneity is all well and good when you camp, but a lot of effort can help you from A to B, so take the time to secure yourself the best chances for a good time.
2. Do not attempt to use your equipment before leaving the house.
Put your tent at least once in the backyard. Try this new world. Find out how the stove works. Nothing worse than getting to the campsite, and finding out that while it looked like basic equipment, you really need to have the Rhodes Scholar to manage it. Or, even worse, it does not work at all, and this piece of equipment is crucial for your kitchen!
3. Leaning on a fire
Bonfires can take some time to create enough for cooking. To put a camp stove in the coals, these coals must be very hot, and this takes time. It's great when you can do it, but if you click on the time and have no obligation to have this fire set in advance, consider having a backup plan before dinner.
4. Buying cheap goods instead of quality
When we started camping, we chose cheaper items, because this is what we could afford at the time. But since then we had to upgrade most of this equipment, because it was not suitable for camping more than once a year. Or, when we really needed this equipment, it fell apart or did not do what he had in mind.
If you can, try to buy a quality brand with good guarantees and after-sales service. This extra money at the time of purchase can save you much more on the highway. See next item.
5. Buying big on camping equipment when you're new
I hope you listen to step 4 above and select quality items. But, having said this, do not go crazy and spend a lot of money on all types of equipment in the beginning. First, you need to find out if everyone loves camping and wants to keep going (otherwise you have a garage full of expensive unused items).
Secondly, it takes several trips to work out what you need and not to do it. Take your time and purchase quality items, not luxury items. Our Porta Pottie was a luxury item, but in my opinion, also a necessity!
6. Shivering in your tents.
See “The equipment we didn't like” on our website (details below) or our experience with using the wrong bedding at the wrong time of year. Suffice it to say that put the bedding on wrong, you may not have a comfortable night.
7. Arriving at the camp
Turning late in the campground, looking for unallocated space, and then, when and if you find a place, you need to set up and feed everyone. It is stressful for everyone. Children may be hungry or simply run away into darkness, unknown, excited to be released from the car. Or you have no idea where the toilets are located (if they even have one - again, I hope you did your research, as indicated in point 1).
I do not recommend late arrival to the campgrounds as a harmonious start to the trip.
8. Underestimating the importance of lighting
We went on camping adventures with headlights and hand torches, because we were going to the moon and the fire to shed light! This illusion was destroyed quite early, when it was time to cook, and we had weak lights, and for torches, how do you use one of them, as well as all the cooking? We looked around at other campgrounds, their places lit up like the sun, and for the first time experienced ........ the envy of the lighting. So it was - on the next trip we had our Coleman lantern (more than what was in the section “Equipment that we didn’t like” on our website), and moved from there to high-quality LED Lenser lamps, LED lighting (does not shed a wide light, but powerful directional light) and fluorescent lighting (charging through our battery). He is sure that he fights in the dark, stumbling over danger, and all children also have their own lights. Do not underestimate its value!
9. Out of food and garbage collection
Come to dusk and quiet camping, and you will get night visitors who you didn’t think about in your camping adventures (and didn’t read in brochures). Foxes, opossums and kangaroos are all we encountered when attacking trash. We woke up to find the contents of the garbage scattered throughout the site. We quickly learned about it, and now lock up the garbage, and sometimes put it on the roof of the trunk. Suspension height from the tree did not hold back the fox in Deep Creek Conservation Park (South Australia), from jumping and descending.
If they don't get to the garbage, they will try your other food, so put it ALL, and lock up the plastic tubs. In the US, we knew that bears would come to look for food, but we forgot about our Australian animals and their love of food!
10. Forgetting what it means to be pleasant.
The end point and the most important point with regard to camping is to be fun for everyone.
Know that it will not look like a house (precisely for this reason you are doing this for sure?), And that some creature comforts may not be available, children will get dirty in the first 10 minutes of arrival and sleep in closed quarters with family members can be difficult ( !!) But from these little things, remember that you are there to enjoy yourself, spend time with your family and experience life far from the suburbs. So laugh at the mistakes (and learn from them), and do not be discouraged if your early camping experience is not perfect in the first days. The main thing is that you enjoy wonderful outdoor recreation.
Happy and safe camping
