Whether you’re camping because you want to get drunk with your friends, admire the simple beauty of nature, or partake in a little fishing, you most likely know that only fools turn up to the site unprepared. Of course, just because you know you need to prepare for a camping trip, it doesn’t mean you know what you need to prepare to stay safe, and be successful with any hikes or other activities in which you engage whilst there.

The key to a perfect camp trip is doing it with people who love nature and a good adventure just as much as you do, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to consider all the practical, ‘sensible’ things before you set off on your journey. If you want your camping trip to be as fun as possible, whatever you plan to get up to whilst you’re there, make sure you don’t forget the most basic of things.

Prepare In Advance

Camping, hiking and fishing are not things one can simply do without much thought. You could head out to a lake or a river and give it a shot, but you might find it takes several… dozen trips before you get anywhere. Even if you’re doing this for fun, and you only want to understand fishing at a casual level, you could learn how to get started. The same goes for hiking, of course. Without proper rations, proper clothing and perhaps even climbing tools, you might find yourself caught out in bad weather, or with an impossible rock face for you to scale.

However, maybe you’ve already conquered the ‘hard part’ of fishing, and you already understand the theory. Maybe you think you’re prepared for your fishing trip, because you’ve got all the right gear and you understand the practical elements of it all. Of course, this is only one part of the package, because now you need a place to fish. Luckily, most state parks allow you to make camping reservations, so you don’t have to be panicking about becoming a master of fishing with no water in which to fish.

Allow Yourself Pleasures.

I’m sure you’ve considered the fact that the great outdoors invites a natural approach, and maybe you’ve considered packing nothing more than a bag of nuts for sustenance. Of course, just because you’re enjoying nature and going on a wild expedition, it doesn’t mean you need to deny yourself simple pleasures in life.

Bring some of the things you love with you. You’ll need a phone for an emergency, you might benefit from a solar-powered charger, if you have a rechargeable lighter or a dead phone battery, and you might need non-technological luxuries such as coffee. Camping can be exhausting, let’s be honest. You might love it, but sleeping in a bag, on a mat, starts to wear on the body after a little while. When that happens, you might need a pick-me-up to put a spring back in your step and get back up the mountain, or get back on the lake for some fishing.

Also check out a great article providing 101 camping trips from My Open Country.