Camping is no easy chore. For beginners, you can save a lot of headaches by learning from the camping mistakes of others. Consider avoiding the following common camping mistakes on your next trip to the woods for a better time!

1. Arriving at your campsite exhausted and near dusk. Setting up camp in the dark can be a complete nightmare. Be sure to arrive with a sufficient amount of daylight left so you can get everything situated.

2. Leaving the mattress pad at home. If there’s nothing but the bottom of the tent between your sleeping bag and the ground, be ready for a restless night!

3. Leaving food or trash out overnight. Do this and you can almost certainly expect to wake up and find that an animal of some sorts has ravaged through everything.

4. Thinking a tent for four people will comfortably fit four people. Unless you like sleeping on top of your friends and family, always buy a bigger tent than you think you’ll need. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did.

5. Bringing too much stuff. People, you’re camping! You don’t need to bring your kitchen sink with you. Unless it’s an essential item, leave it at home and rough it up a bit!

6. Letting the dog off leash. Even the most obedient dogs will find it hard to contain themselves in an area full of new smells. Unless you want to be walking through the woods calling out “Sparky!? Sparky?!” all night, consider keeping your best friend curbed.

7. Setting up camp near a cliff. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night should not be a life or death matter.

8. Bringing insufficient drinking water. If there’s one thing you don’t want to skimp on, it’s drinking water. Think about how much you think you’ll need and bring double.

9. Not bringing enough blankets. Do you know how cold it gets at night when you’re sleeping outdoors? Oh, double up on the socks too!

10. Leaving the flashlight at home. Bring several flashlights and spare batteries for each of them.

11. Forgetting bug repellent and/or sunscreen. Both of these items are crucial to enjoyable camping.

12. Not cleaning up. Camp responsibly. Clean up after yourself before you leave. The only evidence of you having been there should be your fond memories.

13. Building a fire or using a stove inside a tent. This is incredibly stupid. A torrential downpour is still no reason to start a fire in a tent. Never start a fire in a tent.

14. Setting up a beach campsite below the high water mark. Usually high tide is around midnight. If you set up camp close to the water line during the day, you’re likely to wake up to a wet campsite. You should be able to detect evidence in the sand of the high tide point from the night before. Set up camp considerably behind that mark.

15. Cooking elaborate meals. Even if you have a stove or grill, cooking at a campsite is nowhere near as nice as cooking in your kitchen. Keep the meals simple and easy!

Chances are, unless you’re going camping with children, you’ll probably be drinking some alcohol. As long as that’s the case, why not try to have as much fun drinking as possible? Here are some drinking games to try when camping:

Beer Pong

This is a popular drinking game on college campuses, but it’s perfect for a camping drinking game as well.

What You Need:

* A long, flat surface (like a picnic table or the tailgate of a truck)
* Plastic Cups
* Ping-Pong Balls
* Beer

This game can be played one-on-one or in teams of two. Players set up 10 cups “bowling pin” style on each end of the table. The cups are filled about halfway with beer. Players on one end of the table try to throw their ping pong balls in the cups on the other end of the table. If a shot is made, the other team must consume the beer in the cup. Each team gets two shots. If they make both shots, it remains their turn, if one or both miss, it is the other team’s turn. The game is played until one team has made a shot in every cup.

Alphabet Game

This is a great way to have fun and get drunk in a hurry. Go around in a circle and say a word that starts with the next letter in the alphabet. Create a theme. So if the theme were “cities”, the first person would say “Annapolis”, the next person would say, “Annapolis, Baltimore,” while the third person would say, “Annapolis, Baltimore, Cincinnati,” and so on and so forth. When a person forgets one of the cities, they forfeit their turn and must take a shot.

I Never

While sitting around the campfire, participants take turns saying “I never…” statements. Anyone in the group who has done that particular thing has to take a drink. For example, if someone said “I never have had sex outside,” anyone who has had sex outside would have to take a drink.

What Lodden Thinks

Professional poker players started a game called “What Lodden Thinks” where they bet on the answer to a question that was asked of poker player Johnny Lodden. You don’t need Johnny Lodden to play this game though. Two people come up with a question and bet (either money or a shot) on what they think a third party’s answer to that question will be. For example, Bill and Bob are betting on how many times Jimmy thinks the average person gets bitten by a mosquito in one year. The actual answer to this question is irrelevant. All that matters is what Jimmy thinks the answer is.

So Jimmy thinks of his answer and keeps it to himself. Then Bill and Bob hold a “Chinese auction” where they establish an over/under for Jimmy’s number. So Bill might say “40,” Bob could counter with “55,” Bill could say “60,” Bob would say “72,” and Bill would say “sold”. This means Bill is betting that Jimmy’s answer is under 72 and by default, Bob wins if Jimmy’s answer is over 72. Ask Jimmy to reveal his answer and the loser takes a shot. Of course, if your “Jimmy” happens to be untrustworthy, just have him write his answer down before the auction begins.

No one wants their camping trip to be ruined by mosquitoes. Check out the following information on how to keep mosquitoes away while you?re camping.

The first thing you need to do is to protect yourself. This means wearing long sleeves and long pants whenever practical based on the weather. Mosquitoes seem to be attracted to darker colors, so choose light colors when you can. If you?re camping in an area where mosquitoes are prevalent, you might also want to consider treating your clothing with special mosquito repellents made for clothing or perhaps investing in pre-treated clothing. However, be aware that the repellents that are designed for clothing can?t be applied to the skin. Follow the manufacturer?s instructions regarding their use and laundering.

The parts of your person that aren?t covered by clothing should be treated with a mosquito repellent. The most effect ones contain various concentrations of DEET. Depending on the concentration, a product with DEET can protect you from 2-5 hours without re-application. There are also some naturally-derived repellent products on the market, but they require more frequent reapplication to be effective.

If you don?t want to have to worry about slathering on some repellent, there are some products that are available in the form of towelettes, which may be easier for you to carry around. Whatever you choose, follow the label directions carefully when it comes to application and removal. Don?t apply mosquito repellent to broken or irritated skin, or to skin that will be covered by clothing. If you don?t have a combination sunscreen and mosquito repellent product, you?ll usually get better results by applying sunscreen first, then the repellent. Don?t forget the back of your neck!

Now that you have your person protected, it?s time to think about your campsite. First, your tent should have a mesh door ? keep it closed at all times to keep mosquitoes out. This is also a good time to think about using that mosquito repellent for fabrics again. If thing are really bad, you can even use a mosquito net inside your tent. Netting is also a good way to protect yourself when you?re sitting outside and eating or cooking. Many outdoor stores sell square tent-like structures with net on the sides to keep mosquitoes away from your campsite.

A camp fire is also good for keeping mosquitoes at bay, as they don?t like the smoke. Depending on your camp site, you may or may not be able to have a campfire and you may or may not be permitted to keep it burning all night. Always follow the rules and regulations of the site where you?re camping.

In areas where mosquitoes or other flying pests are prevalent, you may want to consider treating the area. One of the newer products available is a portable device that uses butane to infuse the air with repellent over a 15 foot by 15 foot space. There are models designed especially for camping, as well as mini-models designed for easy portability. Just a few of these would provide effective mosquito protection over your entire camping area, allowing you to enjoy your camping trip without the constant threat of mosquitoes.