I have been camping about eight times so far. I’m finally transitioning from being a “sparkle pony” as they say at Burning Man (someone who relies on others for provisions), to someone who vaguely knows a thing or two about camping. As a brown person, I’ve had a lot of associations around camping being a white person activity that it was hard to visualize myself being any good at it, and this is an identity hurdle that I’m crossing. In the spirit of Brown Girl Confidence, in this blogpost, I’ll share five key lessons I learned for other beginners.
Lesson 1: You need a lot of stuff to enjoy it – this is not a great time to practice minimalism
I used to think of camping as a survival experience like “Naked and Afraid”. You take very few tools and use what nature gives you to survive. This is totally the wrong mindset for a bunch of reasons. On a standard camping trip, you are not going to be hunting, fishing or foraging. You are not going to be welding tools, sharpening sticks, chopping down trees, building a shelter from branches or rediscovering the wheel. You will not miraculously be able to sleep on a bare rock after years of sleeping in a temperature-controlled room with a mattress, a head pillow, a knee pillow, blackout curtains, sound-proof windows and an elaborate bedtime routine involving organic lavender sleep balm. And, you will probably get arrested if you are naked. Thus, in fact, packing a lot of stuff and technology is a large part of camping1. You’ll need everything for:
- Food prep and cooking
- Sleeping
- Drinking & Washing hands and dishes
- Entertainment
This ends up being a LOT of stuff!! This makes it particularly challenging to fit everything into a standard car. I don’t know what the answer is other than to have a bigger car or add storage space to your car via roof storage. Then having created the space, you can optimize in a few ways like:
- Have the more compact version of stuff: e.g. Pay attention to the folded up size of tents, camping chairs etc. Instead of board books, bring thin paper books for your child’s bedtime.
- Getting creative with fashion: e.g. sarongs that can be worn in multiple styles or outfits that are mix-and-match
- Doing washing up more frequently: you don’t need an entire dinner set but the same number of plates as people eating. Also, washing up at night with a headlamp on and surrounded by bugs is not fun – do it in the daylight!
- Going in a group and coordinating who is bringing what: there’s some stuff that you can share if you are sufficiently well coordinated e.g. one person brings a grill, one group does breakfast for all with their pancake mix etc.
Generally, it is not a good idea to skimp on sleep items like pillows. You’re already in a different and possibly scary environment (many campsites in California have bears) so sleeping can be challenging enough, without the added discomfort of trying to go without a pillow. You know how fussy you are as a sleeper – act accordingly. For those of us that are light and fussy sleepers, this means it’s better to take your regular pillow. I’ve seen people bring nice sheets, duvets, duvet covers and rugs and make their tent look very appealing and cozy, which makes it more like a holiday than a survival quest.
It’s just not a good idea to be minimalist when camping. For example, I’d think “Who needs a light? My eyes will adjust and this is great practice for my night vision”. After stubbing my toe on a rock, and nearly stepping in dog crap, I had changed my mind about the need for lighting. Do yourself a favor and get a lantern and a headlamp.
A note for those who don’t want to pack up their whole house: There are different styles of camping! I’ve done a minimalist style in Maui. Since we were flying, we just checked in a tent and sleeping bags, and we dined out for meals. The only way “minimalist” camping can work is if you are close enough to civilization, and mostly just camping for the night and morning experience. Camping can be whatever you plan it to be – don’t beat yourself up over not doing the full shebang!
Lesson 2: Don’t cheap out! Tools matter
The cost of a hotel or Airbnb is pretty high these days2 and probably only set to rise. Though good camping equipment can be very expensive, if you go camping like five times with it, you are still having a cheaper holiday than being in a resort.
If you are committed to camping every year, it’s worth getting higher end equipment like a spacious tent, good air mattress and other tools. If you’re going to buy the more elaborate set-up stuff, compact tools like the folding bucket or folding lanterns save space. Buy nice or buy twice! If you are not committed, you can rent from REI or Sports Basement, or just be a sparkle pony and borrow from friends (but with advanced warning please).
Lesson 3: Planning and Communication matter
These matter in all facets of life. But somehow in camping, I have come to appreciate detailed planning even more. Because you can’t just run to the grocery store and buy something if you run out, or just raid your pantry and switch what you’re going to make. Everything needs to be planned to a tee. For example:
If you’re making pancakes, do you have the butter and the toppings?
If you’re making hot dogs, did you bring ketchup and mustard? Are your condiments out of date?
Are your tea bags labelled so you aren’t playing a guessing game and then drinking chamomile in the morning to
“wake up” instead of black tea? (These are all things that have happened to us!)
One missing item can throw back a plan. Like the time when we were camping in Sonoma and had tins of soup to make but forgot the pot. The evening was rescued by a drive to the town for a dinner, which admittedly was a pretty good outcome, but not always an option you can count on when in the wilderness.
Lesson 4: Prepare more at home
Wash vegetables at home. Pack things in a way that is organized, labeled, intuitive to make it easy to find and access. Having some prepared food that’s ready-to-eat and in the cooler really helps – like a giant bowl of pasta salad, or potato salad.
Lesson 5: Despite it all, you probably won’t sleep as well as at home, and that’s ok
Unless you are one of those lucky people that can sleep anywhere (I envy you!). There’s just a lot of variables out of your control when camping, as this video shows:
A camping trip is a good opportunity to let go of sleep anxiety. You’ll survive and can even have a wonderful time even if you do have a couple of nights of less sleep than usual. You can also try higher doses of caffeine. A warm cup of coffee or tea tastes even better when surrounded by trees. Letting go of this unrealistic expectation that camping is only ‘successful’ if you slept as well as at home helps.
Is camping for you?
With enough practice and preparation, it probably is! But you won’t know until you try and give it a few chances. Don’t let one bad trip put you off it forever. Personally, I’m an anxious personality and have a bunch of sensory issues like not liking dirt, not liking the feel of mud at the bottom of a lake (river shoes help!) and not liking bugs, which can make enjoying the outdoors in an immersive way challenging. But even still, there’s a lot to be enjoyed about waking up and just being somewhere beautiful, or running down to the beach in 4 minutes as our Little T-Rex did soon after waking up. Or watching a sunrise that you’d miss if you were in a hotel room with thick black-out curtains. Or having the lowest screentime you’ve ever had without even trying or noticing because you have no wi-fi and were busy doing other things.
No pain, no gain. I wouldn’t describe any of my camping trips as “comfortable”, but they are all memorable. And what more can you ask for in an adventure?
References and Footnotes
- Think of what you need in the buckets of activities that you have and want to do in a normal holiday:
- Food prep and cooking: pots, pans, utensils, plates, mugs, stove etc.
- Sleeping: tent, sleeping mats, pillow, eye mask, ear plugs, sleeping bag/blankets etc.
- Drinking & Washing hands and dishes: I highly recommend avoiding sites that don’t have drinking water, because the amount of water you get through on a hot day is A LOT, and it’s not very nice to be washing dishes in risky water
- Wearing clothes: at a minimum you don’t want to smell like a swamp creature. And if you’re into fashion and looking good in photos, you’ll need more than the minimum
- Entertainment: Book or kindle. Add on significant equipment for hobbies like water sports, photography, or having a child (a hobby that requires a lot of equipment and a slice of your soul).
2. I looked up a few Airbnbs in the California countryside and the best deals typically are about $250/night so a 3 night and 3 day trip will put you out $750. You can buy pretty good camping equipment for that much and use it every year for 5 years at least.
3. For a laugh, check out the classic Stuff White People like post on camping: https://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/08/14/128-camping/
4. For another more anthropological reflection on camping, check out this journalist’s article: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/jul/09/why-do-we-like-camping
5. For actual practical advice: Amanda Outdoors has a lot of helpful and not-overly-promoting-expensive-equipment YouTube videos. I liked her idea of having a separate pantry box and separate kitchen equipment box.
6. Glamping tips from REI: https://www.rei.com/blog/camp/glamping-101-how-to-go-from-camping-to-glamping
7. Sparkle pony discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/4zee5i/whats_the_origin_of_the_term_sparkle_pony/?rdt=48294&onetap_auto=true&one_tap=true
