Camping is meant to be a trip outdoors that helps you bask in the goodness and glory of nature and relax. You get to see the sights, including nature’s best foliage and fruit, and maybe even catch sight of some of the animals that live nearby if you’re lucky. Not only that, but it’s also just the perfect environment to get away from all the noise of civilization, if even for a while. No cars, no crowds, nothing to disturb the serenity of your enjoyment of the great outdoors and all that nature has to offer. It’s a lovely and relaxing activity that you can enjoy alone, or with other people as well.
But like any other trip, you should be well-prepared. You can’t just pack up a random tent in the car and drive off into some random campsite. You need to make sure that you have gear prepared, and that you know what to do in case of emergencies. Here are some important tips that you should remember when you’re going out camping.
Choose a camping spot that has decent cellphone coverage.
When you’re out and about camping, you’re likely not going to be using your phone much, if at all. After all, why go outside if you’re just going to spend your time fiddling away online on your phone like you already do at home?
But that doesn’t mean that you should go completely off the grid. When choosing a camping spot, try to pick spots that still have decent cellphone coverage. Doubly so if you’re still relatively inexperienced when it comes to camping.
This is mostly due to the fact that the internet will be your best friend here. Things like important research that you may need on the fly will be trivial to you, and if you need to do something like contact your family or call for help due to an emergency, you would be able to do so without problem.
If you camp in a place with little to no coverage, you will be completely off the grid, and while it may be nice to not be reliant on technology for a while, it can prove to become very dangerous should an incident occur while you are camping.
Luckily, cellphone coverage is only increasing over the years, and more campsites are increasing better coverage for their mobile devices. When doing research on a campsite, make sure to pick one that your phone can properly resonate with for ease of mind.
Inform your family and/or friends.
This one’s especially important. If you’re going to go on a camping trip, you want to make sure that people related to you in some way know, like your family or friends. Ideally, you will be telling them about your plans, where you’re going, and how long you’ll be staying for. This is because they won’t be there in person to ascertain how you’re doing if you’re not bringing them along.
Plus, in tandem with being in a camping spot with decent mobile coverage, they would be able to keep in touch and check on your status every once in a while. They would then determine whether they should send help if you haven’t responded after quite some time. If you don’t have good mobile coverage, then them having an outline of when to expect your return will assist them in the same manner. If you don’t return home in, say, Saturday afternoon, then they may call for help on your location.
Do thorough research on the camping spot.
Being knowledgeable about the location of the camping spot and the price tag are important, but there are other things that you should take into account as well.
For instance, have there been any recent sightings of wildlife in the area? If yes, which ones? There’s a huge difference between a mischievous raccoon and a bold and potentially deadly bear breaking into someone’s campsite.
You would also want to make sure that the campsite’s utilities work properly. Are their toilets well maintained and actually working, for instance? Or are they grimy, untouched, and have insect nests growing all over? These aspects will help you determine how well the site is actually being maintained. Plus, you don’t really want to use a toilet that’s broken and filthy, with the risk of being stung by wasps or ants, do you?
Check the weather reports.
Watching the weather forecasts is very helpful for ascertaining when you can and can’t go camping. Obviously, you don’t want to go camping when there’s a heavy storm brewing.
But other than forecasts, you may want to pay attention to the temperature as well. For instance, winter climate temperatures can drop down to especially cold temperatures, discouraging all but the most extreme campers from setting up in a specific place, due to the dangers of potentially catching hypothermia if ignored.
Have a plan on what you’re going to do once you actually get there.
Preparing for the trip in question is an excellent thing to do. Done properly, you ensure that your trip goes smooth, and that if things go sour, you have a plan for what you should do to help you out.
But you shouldn’t forget about what you’re going to actually do once you get there! Different people want to do different things. If you want to go camping and just relax without thinking about anything and just enjoy nature, then you won’t have to worry about getting bored.
But if you prefer keeping active, then you may want to do additional research on the things that you can do while out there. It’s not every day that you have access to such a large field all on your own or with your friends, so why not make the most of it?
It’s good to think of what you want to do, because otherwise, you may end up feeling bored the entire time and wonder why you wasted your time there. After all, when all’s said and done, what you’ll be doing is:
Setting up camp, creating a fire when it’s time to cook, the end.
What will you do then to fill the gap of fixing things up and eventually going home? That’s for you to decide.