Your Top 10 Tips - Large Family
We are hoping to purchase a 2011 jay feather sport hydrid X20 E and have an appropriate tow vehicle. My question for you is... what tips do you have about camping? What did you learn your first time o...
Forum Discussion
If you haven't camped a lot, I very much agree that your first few trips should be close to home, especially "campground driveway" - just spend a night or two in your camper while parked in your driveway. Then do a couple trips within 30 minutes or less of your house, so you can return to get things you forgot.
We had (kids are in college now, so don't camp much with us anymore) a basic list of things for people to do when we setup and when we returned home. We didn't overburden the kids with "chores", don't want to make camping seem like work for them, but there is always something for them to help out with. Then we would send them off to the campground's playground while Mom and Dad finished the details of setting up.
Actually, one big thing we started right away and never wavered from was when we got home after a trip - no one does ANYTHING else until the camper is unloaded! Made coming home actually a pleasure, as everyone would grab stuff out of the camper and get it into the house. Really only took like 10 minutes with everyone helping.
We also basically banned electronics while camping. No cell phones, smart phones, DVD players, no TV. We played games, read books, got dirty, went swimming. My son, now 21, still refuses to use electronics when he goes camping! Having said that --- electronics while driving was a lifesaver many times. When the trip to the campground was multiple hours, DVD players or hand held electronic games in the truck were great.
Have fun, you'll figure things out, and come back here and tell us of your adventures!
We had (kids are in college now, so don't camp much with us anymore) a basic list of things for people to do when we setup and when we returned home. We didn't overburden the kids with "chores", don't want to make camping seem like work for them, but there is always something for them to help out with. Then we would send them off to the campground's playground while Mom and Dad finished the details of setting up.
Actually, one big thing we started right away and never wavered from was when we got home after a trip - no one does ANYTHING else until the camper is unloaded! Made coming home actually a pleasure, as everyone would grab stuff out of the camper and get it into the house. Really only took like 10 minutes with everyone helping.
We also basically banned electronics while camping. No cell phones, smart phones, DVD players, no TV. We played games, read books, got dirty, went swimming. My son, now 21, still refuses to use electronics when he goes camping! Having said that --- electronics while driving was a lifesaver many times. When the trip to the campground was multiple hours, DVD players or hand held electronic games in the truck were great.
Have fun, you'll figure things out, and come back here and tell us of your adventures!
