Camping

Being a single parent on a very tight budget I do worry that we will not be able to take family holidays. I have been lucky as there are a few families at my church that have holiday houses that I can rent, however, we need to work around when they are available. With that in mind I have decided to embrace camping. I have not been a huge fan of camping in the past, however, my experience is limited and a long time ago. I did not camp as a child. In my late teens/early twenties I camped occasionally with friends and only have memories of being cold, wet and sleeping on the uncomfortable ground. I last camped about 15 years ago when I took a trip through the South-West United States. I took this trip as it was a good way to get to the Grand Canyon and see other more remote parts of the country easily and cheaply.

So I don't have a lot of experience with camping, however, now is the time to start. I have a lot of friends that camp and they tell me that if you are set up correctly then camping is easier than you think and a lot of fun to boot. I have been planning this for a while so have been acquiring some of the things we need along the way. One of my favourite stores, Aldi, often have camping equipment on sale. I have got a camping stretcher (which is also good when I have extra kids for sleepovers), camping plates, bowls and cutlery. Yesterday, they had down sleeping bags for $100 so I snapped one up - they were very popular and not many left by the time I got there. I have a sleeping bag for B that a friend gave us.

But of course the major piece of equipment that we have been missing was a tent. A friend posted on Facebook about "Catch of the Day" during the week. They had Coleman 6 person tents for $60!! I had been planning to look for a tent in the next few months but when I saw this I thought I couldn't pass it up as it was a bargain and made by a reputable company. Well, it has arrived!!!

Front View

It is quite big, however, we will be having stretchers in there (my back would not enable me to sleep on the ground) and I also wanted a tent where there was plenty of room to just be in the tent comfortably during wet weather, etc. I think it will do just fine. It will also be big enough for us to have friends with us too in the future.

Back View

Of course the big test was if I could assemble it myself with some "help" from a 4 year old! I am pleased to say that YES, I CAN!!!!!! I put it up in the carport yesterday successfully. The instructions say that it is able to be assembled in 15 minutes (not the first time though). Now for someone that has limited experience with putting up tents I was expecting it to take quite a while but am pleased to say that it took me 33 minutes. For the first time I think that was quite impressive.

Inside View

As I mentioned we have quite a few friends that camp so initially we will go camping with them as it will be a while until I am fully equipped and also it will make it a lot more enjoyable than just the 2 of us. All my camping friends - let me know if we can join you on your adventures!!!

I would love to hear your tips for camping. What equipment do you think is essential? Do you have any tips to camping with kids? As a novice I am open to any and all advice.

Now if only I can get it back into it's carry bag!!!!