{"id":7103,"date":"2017-07-19T08:45:57","date_gmt":"2017-07-19T14:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/?p=7103"},"modified":"2017-07-19T08:45:57","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T14:45:57","slug":"10-camping-tips-for-people-who-are-not-at-all-rugged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/19\/10-camping-tips-for-people-who-are-not-at-all-rugged\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Camping Tips for People Who Are Not AT ALL Rugged"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I’ve said before<\/a>, I grew up in a family who’s idea of roughing it was a hotel without an indoor pool.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nature and I have only really recently became BFFs.\u00a0 I always liked the IDEA of being outdoorsy, but not the reality.\u00a0 While I’ll never lose my enjoyment of posh penthouse hotel rooms overlooking a sprawling downtown city center, I have also come to love being in the middle of nowhere as well.\u00a0 Here are my tips for those of you who relate to the meme above but also secretly want to become a badass woodsy nature princess.<\/p>\n

1. GET A GOOD TENT.\u00a0<\/strong> Even if you ignore everything else I say, DON’T CHEAP OUT.\u00a0 Every time we are able to set up our 200$ REI tent<\/a> in less than 5 minutes and watch other people struggle for over an hour, I thank my husband for not listening to me when I said “dude, why don’t you get that 40$ one that’s the same size?”.\u00a0 If you don’t want to commit, you can rent a nice one from REI.\u00a0 If you still don’t want to commit, borrow a crappy one from someone for your next trip and I guarantee you’ll be sold.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the telling things about how outdoorsy I am is that my best tent picture is actually from my backyard…<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Double thick air mattresses.\u00a0<\/strong> People make fun of mine<\/a>, and I’m certainly not at the rugged “backpack only hike in hike out” level, but it beats the hell out of sleeping on the ground.\u00a0 PRO TIP: get something like this<\/a> so that you’re not screwed if you end up somewhere without power<\/em>.<\/p>\n

3. Bring so many layers if it’s cold.<\/strong>\u00a0 My first time in the winter, I just couldn’t get warm and I think I had on every article of clothing I brought simultaneously.\u00a0 Conversely, in the summer, you’ll need WAYYY less than you think.\u00a0 Bring a couple swim suits, a few super comfy things to wear, PJs, and you’re pretty much set for a week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

#hammocklife forever<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Hammock.<\/strong>\u00a0 I get tired of sitting in camping chairs after a while and it’s nice to have somewhere to recline.\u00a0 I just bought a new one<\/a> that has mosquito netting and while I can’t vouch for that specific one yet, that’s probably where you’ll find me on every camping trip for every moment until forever.<\/p>\n

5. TP.\u00a0<\/strong> Even for improved camping with bathrooms.\u00a0 Sometimes you don’t want to walk that far and the woods are closer.\u00a0 Sometimes they’re out.\u00a0 Sometimes you need something absorbent for a non-bodily waste related reason.\u00a0 There’s no reason not to have a spare roll of TP in your car.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You see flowers, I see a nice field to pee in when that sun goes down… as long as I have my TP…<\/em><\/p>\n

6. Improved camping.<\/strong>\u00a0 Spend the extra money, it’s worth it.\u00a0 Access to showers (even if they’re gross) and being able to plug stuff into charge if needed is great and not usually much more expensive – though they usually fill up quicker. PRO TIP: if you do find yourself on the primitive side of things and there are improved sites in the area, asking one of the campers there all nice like will usually net you use of their power to charge your phone, or the combination to the showers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

7. Here’s the order to unload the car:\u00a0<\/strong> Tent, pump up and place mattress in tent, make the bed, THEN everything else.\u00a0 It doesn’t work the other way if you have a tiny one. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

8. The no-PTO-mini-vacay:<\/strong> go out Friday night (with enough time to set up before dark) and come back Sunday morning.\u00a0 This is better than the “go to the woods for one night to get drunk and eat hot dogs” trip, you get a full day and night in nature.\u00a0 You don’t get the three day effect<\/a>, but this way you don’t have to take time off work and you also get almost a full Sunday at home to relax and unpack.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

No matter how long you get to have this as your view, it’s soul-refreshing.\u00a0 But I do recommend 3 days.<\/em><\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 The three day camping effect.<\/strong>\u00a0 However, if you can swing it, something magical happens on that third day<\/a>.\u00a0 You feel lighter, unburdened, and probably more relaxed than you have in years.\u00a0 You’ve forgotten your to do list, schedules, and the importance of the time of day, and day of the week.\u00a0 You morph from worrywart and sufferer of decision fatigue<\/a> to your cooler, more relaxed camper persona, who’s most pressing concern is whether to walk down to the water or continue to sway in the hammock.\u00a0 It’s a chance to spend multiple days in mono-task mode<\/a> which is a HUGE luxury for a lot of us and one of the most creatively refreshing things you can do.<\/p>\n

10. Just do it.\u00a0<\/strong> You’re going to whine about all the gear.\u00a0 It’s going to be too hot, too cold, too windy, or it might rain.\u00a0 It’s going to seem like a lot of work and you may as well just stay home because you could get soooo much done.\u00a0 But… go camping.\u00a0 At least sometimes.\u00a0 It’s good for your soul.\u00a0 Your inner woodland nymph crying to get out will thank you.<\/p>\n

Save<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I’ve said before, I grew up in a family who’s idea of roughing it was a hotel without an indoor pool. Nature and I have only really recently became BFFs.\u00a0 I always liked the IDEA of being outdoorsy, but not the reality.\u00a0 While I’ll never lose my enjoyment of posh penthouse hotel rooms overlooking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[102,90,41,79,45],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paUhDu-1Qz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7103"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7103"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7108,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7103\/revisions\/7108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/adjustedreality.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}