Camping Checklists are Useful: Use Them!

I can already hear the campfire crackling, the smell of roasted marshmallows, and the trickling stream in the far off distances. Camping in the great outdoors can be an unforgettable experience for many, but it can quickly turn into the worst nightmare you’ve ever had. Camping out for a few days is not something everyone would do. Roughing it for a few days with no technology, no fast food, and no restroom is pretty difficult but not impossible.

My First Camping Trip

I made the brave decision to go camping, me a girl who couldn’t live without a blow dryer, who hated bugs, and who couldn’t live without her computer! My boyfriend decided this was an experience “the prissy girl” needed to face. I will admit I was fearful of lions, tigers, and bears given that there were no tigers or lions I was still a little frightened about being out in the wilderness. My boyfriend swore to me that with the proper preparations I would end up liking it. What I didn’t know then but know now is: camping checklists are useful!

Each Create a Camping Checklist

To set up for our camping adventure we made a camping checklist of everything I needed and everything he needed to take for this trip. We each had our own paper and wrote down the things we considered necessary, the list could include anything you could think of. Once we both finished our camping checklist we scratched off the things that were too fare fetched for camping. With this scratching off went my blow dryer, but I got towels in return. Out went a nice room, but I got a tent instead. What I began to notice about our list is everything I wanted to take was replaced with something that was useful for camping.  It was a very clever idea especially for a person, who never thought they’d ever go camping! It is also helpful that he wrote his own list because I would have never put fishing poles on my list; nor would I have ever imagined writing down matches. It is very helpful to have everyone on the trip write their camping checklist, heck you can even make a game out of it by seeing what things your list had in common.

Create a Master Camping Checklist

So once our master camping checklist was created we set out to our local camping store to stock up on all the necessary equipment, food, and so on.  Once we had all our camping supplies we made sure to put it together and check off as we packed it for our journey. It was a rather long process to get this whole first part of the trip together, but trust me you can’t just get the crazy idea to go camping and then just go on a whim.

Create a Worst Case Camping Scenario List

You need to be ready and prepared for any worse case scenario, so after the packing you create another list of the worst things that could happen on a camping trip. This worst case scenario list can include anything from being eaten by a bear to getting lost in the woods; this is a great helpful hint to better prepare you for the “exciting” trip your about to take. The scenario list allowed me to pack a compass, a trusty map, and even to pack as many odorless items in case of bears.

I thought the most helpful thing about this whole trip from beginning to end were the camping checklists;  I know writing so much sounds like a drag but without them this “prissy girl” would have had a horrible trip! My first camping trip turned out to be an absolute blast and has completely changed my view on camping. I am currently planning my next camping trip…starting with my camping checklist!

Author: Keandy Rodriguez

Edited By: CampTrip.com

CampTrip.com – Your Guide to Camping & the Outdoors