If you’ve ever been camping before, you know you’re in for quite a bit of packing. It’s my least favorite part of camping – getting everything ready. (And the list has gotten so much longer with 3 kids coming along!) I’m always afraid I’ll forgot something important! Having a checklist makes things so much easier.
This list is set up for tent camping, since that’s what we do the most of. We don’t always need everything on the list (like water purification tablets – most campgrounds have safe drinking water), and sometimes we find ourselves adding to it. But it covers most of what we take.
Of course, every list will be a little different, depending on the type of camping you do. Growing up we did most of our camping with a pop-up camper. (And to this day, one of my favorite sounds is rain on the roof of a camper!) After Mike and I got married, I started tent camping. I don’t consider myself a very rustic camper – even though I’m staying in a tent, I like to take along an air mattress (otherwise my poor hips!). We usually stay at campgrounds too, with flushable toilets close by. I have gone canoe camping before – you load all your supplies in a canoe and paddle out to an island to stay on. (No toilets nearby on that trip!) There’s also backpacking, which Mike does a lot of. At some point, I’m thinking I might give that a try, but I’m still trying to work up the courage for that. 😉
One of the other things that I’ve found helpful is storing all our camping items together. We have a couple large plastic storage bins in our basement just for camping items. That way everything’s all together and ready to pack. Some trips we even just take one of the bins with everything in it.
What about you – do you have a checklist for packing for camping or vacations? What’s a must-take on your list?
-Manda
