We’re ready to take our camper “Cherokee Jack” on his 2021 maiden voyage. Below are some steps that we take in order to make our camping trips smooth and low maintenance.
1. Prepping Beds
We make the beds ahead of time, making sure all of the bedding is washed before we leave. The kids have a fitted sheet on their bunks, and they sleep in a sleeping bag on top in order to make it a lot easier to clean. We have a full bedding set, but my husband and I know how NOT to bring in mud, sticks, leaves, and dirt all over our bed, so it’s a lot easier to maintain!
2. Grocery Shopping
Meal planning is a must when you’re camping. We have staples, like mountain pies and s’mores, but we always try to incorporate the same or similar ingredients for our meals in order to pack as little as necessary. We also pack snacks that are semi-healthy and don’t need to be refrigerated because of our limited refrigerator space.
3. Packing the Camper
Each of us has our own designated space for clothes and any entertainment we want to take along, like books or toys. We put all of our stuff in our designated spots in the camper before we leave. This eliminates extra unnecessary items in the camper, like backpacks, bags, etc. I have the towels for the whole family and put them in the bathroom ready to go when they need a shower. We have travel bags in case we use the bathhouse with travel sized toiletries, but we also have community shower gel, shampoo, and conditioner in the camper when we are not going to use the bathhouse. I have a toothbrush holder that we put out for everyone, but we also have travel toothbrush holders in our travel bags for the bathhouse.
We have bins that stay in the camper, but we bring them into the house to load the food for the pantry and fridge. Once we load the fridge, the other food stays in the bins and they go in our pantry. This is a super easy way to empty the camper, too. The bins also keep items from rolling around as we travel.
We each have a Yeti and water bottle in order to minimize garbage. We use them the whole trip, washing as necessary. These containers keep our beverages warm or cold, and they’re very durable. We take a large cooler, fill it with ice, and pour bottled water in it. This gives us fresh water for the whole trip and kids have easy access to fill their drinks.
Items that stay in the camper all year are dish detergent, silverware, plates, kitchen utensils and towels, bug spray, sunscreen, disposable masks (because COVID), and our fishing rods and bag. I also keep a collapsible laundry basket in the camper under our bed, and everyone’s dirty clothes go in there for the week. I take it in the house after the camping trip is over, wash everything, and then reload it in the camper with our clean towels/sheets. This ensures I never forget them!
4. Outdoor Items
We have a griddle that we use to cook most of our food. My husband enjoys making elaborate meals, like breakfast fajitas with grilled steaks. We eat like royalty on these trips, and my hips show it! Other must-haves are a picnic tablecloth. This makes cleanup very simple. We clip it onto the table at the beginning of the trip and wipe it down a few times a day. At the end of the trip, we fold it up and put it back in our outdoor bin.
We have a picnic caddy that we keep in our outdoor bin that has all of our silverware and plates. We leave it outside because we eat all meals out there unless it’s raining. We keep paper towels, wipes, and hand sanitizer in the bin, too.
Other must-haves are a hammock, clothesline, camping chairs, mini table (for extra space while we prep food), games, and bikes.
Two things we thought were maybe a bit over the top but now realize we get a lot of use out of them are the outdoor camper rug and a pop-up canopy. The camper rug is a great place for the dogs to hang out, and it really does minimize the dirt that comes into the camper. We put the canopy over the picnic table, and at night, we hang our lanterns from the top, giving us great lighting for our evening card games.
5. Pet Preparation
We have two goldendoodles, which are not small dogs. They take a lot of prep work to get ready for our trips. The absolute essential items are leashes. Our camper has only one hook for a leash, which we thought would be appropriate, but then we ended up getting a second dog. Our first dog is very docile, so we can hook him up on the steps. Our youngest dog is very strong and still a puppy, so his leash hooks to the camper.
We keep a tupperware container with their food in it and got collapsible food bowls for them. We fill up a huge bowl of water a few times a day. Both the water and food bowls are placed strategically where they can just reach it because we’ve had many spills when they cross their leashes and knock over the food and water.
We also pack a bag of toys. They typically are fine chewing sticks, but when we’re inside, these keep them content. It’s also important to have treats and chewy bones. The other absolute essential items are poop bags. There’s nothing worse than getting to a campsite where the previous camper didn’t bother cleaning up after their dog. It’s infuriating.
We took a collapsible kennel last year since our second dog was only a few months old, but this year, we are not going to be taking that. Instead, we’ll lay a blanket out for both dogs to lay on at night (if they don’t take over my daughter’s bed, which tends to happen).
Camping (or glamping because, yes, I know we are far from roughing it) might sound like a lot of work, but if you can keep as much as possible in the camper, you will have little prep work for your trips. I was hesitant to be a camper family, thinking that there’d be so much stress that came along with it, but once we got our system down, it’s been nothing but a fun, relaxing family event that we have really enjoyed doing together.
Feel free to comment with any other essentials or camping hacks you have found to help your family.
