When you’re packing up for your big camping trip, the last thing you want to do is to weigh down your car with all the extra pots, pans and kitchen utensils you’ll need to prepare your favorite meals over the camp stove.  You also need to pack sensibly when it comes to perishable foods – nothing will ruin your camping trip quite as quickly as spoiled meat or potato salad.  If you’re stuck on what to pack for your camping trip, read on for more tips on easy-to-prepare campsite meals.

Breakfast

Check your local grocery store for pre-mixed pancake batter.  In most cases, all you’ll need to do is add a certain amount of water to the package, shake to mix and pour onto a fry pan on your camp stove.  To round out the meal, pack a few eggs and some strips of bacon.  Cook the pancakes first, then the bacon and then the eggs – they’ll pick up a nice outdoorsy flavor from leftover bacon grease in the pan.  Just be sure to eat this meal within the first day or two of arriving at your campsite so that the eggs and bacon will still be fresh.  After the fresh stuff is gone, cereal and toast (check your sporting goods store for a camp stove toaster) can get you through the rest of your trip.

Lunch

Lunchmeat and deli cheese make great lunch sandwiches for the first day or two you’re at your campsite, but if you’re going to be around for longer, you’ll want to pack some non-perishable items as well.  If sandwiches are your thing, consider peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese – their ingredients will keep longer in your cooler.  You can also try things like canned spaghetti or soups that heat up well in only one pot.  Be sure to pack plenty of goodies – like cookies, crackers and other snacks that will help round out your meals and keep hungry kids going until mealtime.

Dinner

When you’re making dinner at your campsite, you have a couple different options.  For an authentic camping experience, consider roasting hotdogs on sticks over the fire.  Just be sure to purchase pre-cooked hotdogs – there’s no guarantee that an over-excited 8-year-old will evenly roast a hotdog to an internal temperature of 160o!  If you have a Dutch oven or tripod for hanging pots over the fire, you can also experiment with stews (either canned or pre-mixed from home) or by cooking baked potatoes in the fire. 
If you’re working with a camp stove, you’re options are only limited to what food products you can bring with you or purchase from a local store.  With a single fry pan and sauce pot, you can cook up dinners as complicated as ham steaks and rice pilaf or as simple as canned ravioli and green beans.  You can also ask at the campground check-in station for directions to the nearest pizza place. If it’s nearby, you may be surprised to find out that they’ll deliver directly to the campground.

Above all, when you’re planning meals for your upcoming camping trip, think food safety first.  Meat products and any salads should be eaten within a day or two, since the temperature of your cooler isn’t as stable as your refrigerator at home.  Milk, cheese, eggs and condiments have a slightly longer shelf life, provided you ice down the cooler regularly and make sure that the items are as buried in the cooler as possible. 

Camping can be a lot of fun for younger children – however, you’ll need to prepare differently than you would for a camping trip with your buddies. If you’re thinking about taking your children on their first camping trip, read on for more helpful tips on camping with young kids:

Start with Short Trips

Even if you pride yourself on the month long wilderness adventure you recently took, it’s best to start young children on shorter camping trips – no more than two to three days at a time.  Camping trips – as fun as they may be – are stressful on young children, who aren’t yet used to being out of their comfort zone for an extended period of time.  Young children may feel uncomfortable when they’re away from their usual routines, even if you believe the natural world is infinitely more fascinating than the host of television programs and video games that seem to constitute a normal day in your house.  Start small, and when your children start begging to stay longer, go ahead and up the length of your trip.

Plan Your Days Wisely

However, don’t think that you need to pack more activities into these few days, just because you’re taking a shorter trip.  Camping should be a relaxing activity for you and your children – and you won’t achieve that if you plan something for every moment of every day.  All those fabulous attractions and learning opportunities will still be there next year, but if you try to shuttle your children back and forth to all of them over the span of a weekend, you’ll end up with some cranky children – at best.  Instead, shoot for one or two attractions a day, and be sure to leave plenty of time for bumming around the beach.

Look for Campgrounds with Family Amenities

Campgrounds vary widely in the amenities they have on site for families with young children.  While most have at least a playground for younger visitors, some campgrounds also feature waterfront access, picnic facilities and sports fields.  Some campgrounds even host special programming for children.  These programs are typically free to campground guests, and may include everything from identifying local plants and wildlife to junior ranger programs that teach children outdoors skills.

Get Feedback on Potential Campgrounds

So how do you tell if a campground is family friendly?  First, check online.  More and more campgrounds are setting up websites that enable visitors to look up their amenities before you make a reservation.  If you aren’t able to find a campground’s website, try giving the campground a call.  The person staffing the check-in office should be able to give you a good idea about what resources exist for families at the campground.  In addition, you might find it helpful to ask friends and relatives for recommendations – parents with first-hand knowledge of a campground may be able to tell you whether or not the campground is as family friendly as it claims to be!

Wherever you wind up going, remember to stay flexible during the trip. If bad weather hits and your children are miserable, don’t be afraid to pack up and go home. It’s far better to reschedule for a better weekend than to leave your children with a bad impression of camping!

Drive through any campground and you’ll quickly see that camping equipment runs the gamut from $20 pup tents to $400,000 motor homes, complete with satellite TVs and Astroturf.  But how do you determine whether RV or tent camping is right for you?  Read on for more of the advantages and disadvantages of each:

RV Camping

Some of the benefits of RV camping jump out immediately – if you encounter any bad weather or overwhelming insect populations on your camping trip, you’ll be able to take shelter in your home away from home.  The beds you sleep in will be more comfortable and the electricity hookups on your campsite can be used to power a television or computer in the event of bad weather.  In addition, if you suffer from any kind of back or knee pain, you may find that kneeling down and sleeping on the ground in a tent will aggravate your injuries.

Of course, the major downside associated with RV travel is the expense.  RV travelers have two options – to purchase their own RV or to rent one for the duration of their camping trip.  Renting is obviously less expensive, but there are a few hidden expenses you should take into account.  The first is the cost of the gas needed to run the RV.  Although gas prices have recently dipped, it will still cost much more to drive an RV than a small car packed up with a tent.  You may also find that RV camping spaces cost more than regular tent sites, due to the extra expenses associated with paving RV sites and providing electricity hookups and waste dumping sites.

Purchasing your own RV should only be considered by the serious camper.  Even simple pop-up campers can cost several thousand dollars, so you need to be certain that you’ll actually get enough use out of it to justify the cost.  Are you an avid camper who’s out every weekend in the summer?  Or do you think of camping as something that sounds fun to do when you actually get the time?  If you aren’t 100% committed, rent first until you’re ready to buy. 

Tent Camping

Ask just about any tent camper and they’ll immediately jump to the defense of tent camping as the “only pure way to camp.”  In fact, tent camping has a number of significant advantages over RV camping.  First is the cost – even a top of the line tent will cost much, much less than an RV.  Tent camping sites are generally cheaper and you’ll find that you have more flexibility in terms of location when you camp in a tent, since most back-country or wilderness camp sites don’t allow RVs.  In addition, tents are much easier to set up and store – you won’t have to give up a parking spot to store a tent or deal with the sometimes excruciating process of backing an RV onto a campsite.

However, if you’re considering camping in a tent, you should be aware of their negatives as well.  Pop-up tents – despite their advertisements – can be difficult to set up, especially if you’ve lost the instructions.  In bad weather, tents can leak or even blow over if the winds are strong enough.  You’ll also have less protection if some unexpected cold weather appears during a spring or fall camping trip.  You may also find that, since you’re lower to the ground, more creepy-crawlies find their way into your sleeping area.
If you still aren’t sure which method is right for you, ask around to see if any of your friends have camping equipment they’d be willing to lend you for a weekend.  Try out both a tent and an RV – at the end of a weekend or two, the answer should be clear!