Is it easy? Is it worth doing? Is it manageable? Yes, you ask yourself all those questions before barking upon a family holiday under a tent. It wasn’t easy for me to decide when to go camping for the very first time, so today I’d like to share with you some advice/tips if you plan your first camping trip with the little one.
When: You’ll know when you’re ready and you’ll feel the same about your baby. Just wait and see. I think our baby was around 9 months when we went away camping.
Packing: Start packing early, to make sure you have all the necessary items with you which you can then easily find in the tent.
Time: I would suggest going for a shorter period, e.g. a weekend. We went for 4 days and it was absolutely enough.
Destination: We chose an off-track campsite within a 2-hour drive, but I think I would have preferred to have chosen a more commercial campsite. We didn’t complain, but I think we’d have had a better camping experience if the campsite was more baby-friendly.
Sleep: As I was still breast-feeding at night, I didn’t sleep so comfortably, because I was woken up every couple of hours. I knew the quality of my sleep would be compromised; out of 3 nights, I had one really good night’s sleep (not too bad, huh?).
Activities: Plan as little as possible, as you don’t know how much energy you’ll have left, after cooking, taking care of the children, cleaning up, etc.
Would I repeat it? Oh yes!!! Organisation-wise was a bit challenging, but overall, we had a great time together. And I love sleeping outside, so even with no uninterrupted sleep, I wouldn’t change it for anything!
Kinga Macalla