Camping – How To Prepare For The Trip

You can have tremendous fun while camping along with your spouse, family, or friends. But to have a successful camping trip, it is essential that you make adequate preparations before leaving the safety and security of your home. Preparation to go camping entails identifying a suitable site, gathering information about that place, and making a checklist and purchasing / arranging the camping gear. Lets go over the various aspects of preparation to go camping step by step.

Selecting The Site Or Park To Camp:
The first thing you need to do is to select the site for camping. To safeguard the environment, the U.S. Govt. has allocated certain sites or grounds for camping. You cannot camp outside these particular sites known as National Parks. You can get information on various parks on the Internet. From among these sites choose a site that you like the most. Then get started with your preparations.

Getting Weather Report:
Once you have earmarked the site, you should obtain a weather report for that particular area for the duration you propose to go camping. The weather in many areas changes sporadically, but still its a good idea to know the overall climate and equip yourself for the same. You may consider getting a portable weather station that will keep you informed regarding the weather forecast throughout your camping trip.

Procuring Tents, Sleeping Bags, & Clothing:
Once you have an idea of the weather conditions of the area where you wish to camp, you can go ahead and purchase suitable camping gear i.e. tents, sleeping bags, and clothing for your trip. If the weather is going to be warm or moderate, you may opt for tents and sleeping bags made of light stuff. The clothes should also be apt for summer time and it is best to dress in layers so that you can remove or put on clothes depending on the temperature. And if its going to rain, you will require waterproof tents and raincoats along with other clothes. If the temperature is expected to dip, you will need to buy tents that retain warmth and sleeping bags that have extra padding inside and cling to your body to keep you warm. In fact, you just need to describe the weather conditions to the salespersons at the store and they will offer you suitable gear for camping.

Packing The Right Sort Of Foodstuff & Water:
You can either take along tinned / freeze-dried food which you can turn into ready to eat food just by adding hot water. Or you can pack the groceries and cook your own food at site. The first option will cost you more but require negligible effort on your part. The second option will have you spend less and the meals would have adequate variety but you will spend a lot of time cooking and need to carry cookware too. If you enjoy cooking over fire / grill, the latter option will suit you. And if potable water is not going to be available at camping ground, you will also need to take ample water bottles to last your trip.

Last but not the least; remember to pack a good first aid kit to keep prepared for any kind of mishaps while camping in wilderness.

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