Here are my three tips for comfy camping.
As someone who grew up in New Jersey and lives in Manhattan, my exposure to camping has been limited to say the least. Yes, I’ve slept in the middle of the Serengeti and among the redwoods in Big Sur, but I always had a proper four-post bed. So, when my husband (who was basically born knowing how to pitch a tent) suggested we take a legitimate camping trip, there were bound to be some compromises.
I agreed I would forgo the typical “glamping” getaways we’d previously taken, but I wasn’t about to get all Cheryl Strayed or Into The Wild and become one with nature. Some comforts of home were necessary. Once the concessions were clear, we came up with a plan that I think will work well for any adventurous city girl looking to ease into a little Americana-style camping. Here are my tips.
1. Consider Using A Truck As Your Tent
Our cozy (city girl approved) tent.
I never even knew this was an option. When I thought about camping, I pictured a car loaded with supplies that needed to be unpacked at the campsite. I didn’t realize the car could be a campsite. We swapped our city car (a Mini Cooper) for a GMC Sierra Denali 2500 HD knowing that they had a virtual campsite feature. Basically, instead of worrying about finding a plot of land to prop up your tent and sleeping on the cold ground, you actually use the flatbed as the sturdy structure to set up your tent. This means you’re off the ground (yay for being away from curious animals!) and have a whole car’s worth of support so you won’t get blown away in a freak storm. Also, if you’re looking to leave the campsite and go exploring, like we did, it’s easy to just collapse the tent and bring it with you wherever you want to go.
The wi-fi came in handy when we needed to Google how to put up the tent.
And remember some of those comforts of home I was talking about? Well, using the truck meant there was a 110V power outlet, auxiliary power outlet, and USB outlets to blow up our air mattress and charge our phones, and a built-in 4G LTE WiFi HotSpot with unlimited data to keep us entertained. I wanted to be able to use our phones for GPS directions without having to worry about saving my battery, stream a video if we got bored or needed to watch instructions on how to put up the tent (which we did), and I think having an air mattress that can blow up with the flick of a switch is self-explanatory.
Bottom line: I know trucks might be something many city folk loathe, but they sure make for a much more comfortable camping experience.
2. Look For An Alternative Campsite
Our private spot in the woods.
Within the last several years, an “outside desire” has propelled many North Americans to go camping, and Google trends has seen a 45% increase of mobile searches for the outdoor activity. In fact, millennials account for 38% of campers and continue to drive its growth. This means a couple of things. One: traditional campgrounds are busy. Two: millennials probably don’t want a traditional campground any way.
When we were hunting for where to set up shop for the weekend, most of the campgrounds we called were booked, had a two-night minimum or didn’t allow pets (our city pup was coming). Not to mention, a lot of the places we researched didn’t exactly have the vibe we were seeking. We didn’t want to be butted up against a million other tents, have playground filled with kids, or group activities. As much as I wanted some comforts of home, I also wanted to get away from people since I deal with millions of them daily on the streets of NYC. That’s when I came across Hipcamp.
We didn’t want a sea of tents.
The website is basically like an Airbnb for land. Property owners can rent out their plots by the night to campers who are looking for something a little less Kumbaya. There are 112-acre farms, mountain retreats and secluded woodlands. Some are literally just land where you can set up shop, while others have amenities like a full RV hookup and showers.
We scoured the site to find some where to spend the night, but we were looking a bit last minute and were only willing to go within a certain area. This meant we had to find a “hip camp” of our own and ultimately found some family friends who lived in the woods near the Appalachian Trail who let us crash on their land. It ended up being exactly what we wanted: quiet, beautiful scenery, and relatively close to civilization just in case.
I encourage you to ask friends or check out websites like Hipcamp over any standard campsite as it will mostly certainly be more Instagramable and you won’t have to worry about awkward conversations with strangers. We hit our quota with that one on a subway ride to work.
3. Embrace The Camping Traditions (Sort Of)
Now that’s a s’more.
While I didn’t want to be at your typical campground, I did want to partake in some classic campfire traditions. This mostly meant I had an excuse to eat s’mores. Luckily, we knew our lovely hosts already had a fire pit in place that we could use and it really was fun chatting while we saw who could roast their marshmallow perfectly. We were also determined to cook one meal outdoors. Breakfast was the meal of choice and we opted for some hot oatmeal we made with our portable propane stove that you could swing over your arm like a purse. Certainly a tradition, but also a bit of a luxury (A stove purse? I mean come on!). I also made sure to have some cold brew on hand because I wasn’t about to “rough it” with instant coffee first thing in the morning.
Yup, this folds up like a purse.
And though we had the luxury of having the truck for AC, radio, and light if we wanted, I didn’t want a car running for hours on end. Once the sun went down, we hunkered down in our tent using only a small lantern as our light source for a late-night talk. Traditional, right? Well, that lantern had a dimming switch to get the light just to our liking and a USB outlet to charge our phones tentside. So, go ahead, embrace those camping traditions…sort of.