With any family trip, the overall aim, naturally enough, is to create some kind of bonding experience. And, as it happens, camping is particularly well-suited to this. At home, children have all manner of distractions to pull them away from intimate time with family members. It doesn’t even matter if there is no one else besides family in the home; television, internet devices, and video games can take the place of quality family time. Camping, which is a way of getting away from all of that, brings families together in union with the great outdoors. 

Of course, these family camping trips need to actually be successful if they are to create a true family bonding experience. If you have young children missing their toys or stroppy teenagers missing their friends or video games, then you are going to have to replace those amusements with something. Otherwise, the whole experience could end up just being a chore, leaving everybody unenthusiastic about doing it again. Luckily however, family camping is a pastime widely enjoyed the world over and, believe it or not, by the whole family.

Top Tips 

So, what can you do to make your family camping trip one to remember for all the right reasons instead of wrong? Here are some top tips to help you pull it off and leave everybody with the kinds of memories they will keep for a lifetime:

Make a Dry Run

This is more of a tip for those families with young children, but it could be a good idea for any family to make a few dry runs before they head for a family camping trip. Young children, for example, might feel a little daunted at the thought of sleeping in a tent or out in the open. A tent in the garden is a good way to practice. As you sleep outside with the kids, you can also teach them the sounds of night and the reasons why there is really nothing to fear. 

Make the Car Journey Fun 

For most city-dwellers, camping involves a fairly long car journey out into nature with a lot of equipment packed in. This can be pretty unpleasant for anybody, but for teenagers and young kids, it could end up leading to some seriously frequent complaints and interrogations of “how long?” and “are we there yet?” every twenty minutes. To make things as comfortable as possible, invest in some tie down straps – a recommended supplier is Rollercam, who specialize in cam straps for outdoor pursuits – in order to keep the interior of the vehicle as spacious as possible. Also pack sufficient refreshments for the trip, perhaps stop every now and again, and play some road games as you drive. 

Pack The Right Things 

And speaking of the cargo that you will be bringing on that car journey, you’re going to need to make sure that you have everything required for a successful family camping trip. Of course, you are going to want a tent that is big enough, and you can bring along a few extra items to make the experience that much more rewarding. Campfire materials and tasty food are a great idea, so too are board games and perhaps toys for young kids. A great idea is a telescope because people of all ages cannot fail to appreciate the majesty of the night sky unpolluted by the city lights. 

By following all these family-specific tips, all that is left to do is to defer to the usual advice for successful camping. Sometimes, it almost seems as if camping was made for families.