Camping With Bugs? Not a Problem!

One of the number one complaints when people go camping is that they hate the bugs. Below I will give you some of my expert tips on how to keep them away. Camping with bugs? Not a Problem!

The “Troop Beverly Hills” Camping Experience

As a child, I remember watching a film called “Troop Beverly Hills”. In this movie, a group of high class girls join a Wilderness Girl organization. One of the requirements to get merit patches is to become an avid camper.

One of my favorite scenes in this movie is when the leader of the troop, a wealthy woman named Phyllis, takes the girls for their first overnight camp trip. Phyllis became the troop leader to become closer to her daughter, but she did not know what she was getting herself into.

The overnight camp scene starts off by Phyllis walking out of her Beverly Hills Manson with luggage bags like she was staying a month in France. Phyllis’s maid puts on her fur coat and then she says “well girls are we ready to rough it?” Then the troop starts off to the camp site with two limousines and tent rental company. The rental company sets up the camp, leaving the girls to sit on some chairs and read glamor magazine etc. Then comes the dinner scene, and what are they eating? Fondue! No trout! No S’mores! Fondue! Then it starts to rain and the girls retreat to the tent, leaving Phyllis to get the dinner. Phyllis slips in the mud and gets her coat all dirty. Then Phyllis takes retreating to a new level. She takes the girls to the Beverly Hills Hotel, leaving the camp site entirely.

Divas Don’t do Dirty

I know this movie is fiction, but when I went camping with my wife for the first time, I kept thinking back to this movie often. My wife hates bugs, and being dirty. She is a diva, and camping is not really her thing. Now I do not want my tone in this post to sound like all women are divas. This is not the case and there are plenty of posts on this site to support that. I come from a family of campers, and I am terrified of snakes! My sisters love to play with them and chase me around the camp with little garden snakes they find in the woods; bugs and dirt do not bother them.

I do everything I can to take care of the bugs and dirt for my wife while camping. I worked for a Pest control company in Virginia (Pest Control Alexandria) a few years ago, so I know some tricks to help control the bugs while camping. I wanted to share a few with the audience of this site.

How to Keep the Bugs at Bay:

1. Do not wear any scented perfume! And try and keep yourself as cool as possible. Bugs are attracted to both scent and our sweat! Except for skin care creams with citrus juices or coconut oil; bugs hate both scents
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3. I love cooking, so I make sure our diets are pumped full of garlic! Yes misquotes are vampires! They hate the smell of garlic coming from our pores. I also burn citronella candles around camp.
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5. Do not camp near swampy wetlands or water if you can help it. Sitting water is perfect for bugs to lay their nests in.
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7. Try and cover as much skin as you can. If bugs cannot smell you, they will not bother you.

Alright there you go. I have the bug problem figured out. How about dirt? Anyone have any good ideas that can help a fellow camper out? My ears are open to make the camping experience as pleasant as possible for my dirt traumatized wife.

Author: Kody Carling

Edited By: CampTrip.com

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