Let's Go Camping!!

Last week I turned 25!!!! I had the most amazing birthday yet. My friends and family really made the day so special!

One of my favorite things that we did for my birthday was go CAMPING! Jared and I love to camp! It's an amazing way to get away and unplug (literally) from the world. We have so much fun and see such amazing things. Check out this view that we had!!!

Camping has really been a crucial piece of our marriage as well. We have a pretty solid marriage on a day to day basis. But getting away and not getting distracted by phones or TV or anything else is really special. It takes our relationship deeper and stronger and we come back feeling so refreshed!

We've been going camping for a while now. We are by no means experts but we feel like we have a great system down and can do it pretty cheap! And while Jared and I were out on our last camping trip, we discussed that it might be a good idea to pass on our tips and tricks for camping! We hope that this series of blogs will be helpful for anyone out there that might be interested in starting to explore the great outdoors!

So the first thing you really need to think about before you do anything is set your expectations. Camping is a ton of work. There is a ton of preparation involved. You are going outdoors. There are bugs and no air conditioning and everything takes twice as long to do as it takes at home with a ton more effort. It's not going to be a five star hotel, but you will have an adventure! Setting your expectations is important to help your planning and teamwork to go better. Good planning makes a really great camping experience!

Second thing you need to do is decide weather you want to go RVing, camp in an enclosure, or go with the tent. Jared actually lived in an RV for a month between apartment rentals, and I actually enjoyed visiting while he lived there. It is nice to have an enclosure with semi-house like feel. My extended families would take their pop up campers with them on our family camping trips and they do make the experience a bit more pleasant for those who don't camp often or aren't big fans of the outdoors.

Enclosures are actual cabins at the campgrounds. They usually do not have air conditioning but have bunk beds where you can bring a mattress and sleeping bag and you aren't sleeping on the ground. There are also usually screened in which cuts out on the bugs.

Our Little Tent!

Jared and I actually camp out in our little two person tent on the ground! We love the fact that we can not put the rainfly on if we are expecting good weather and fall asleep looking at the stars! It's one of my favorite parts of camping! We do have backpacker mattress pads to help cushion our sleep since we both naturally sleep on our sides and the ground gets really rough on our hips and shoulders. However, the not-as-great-as-at-home night sleep is totally worth some of the amazing views we see and places we get to camp!

So once you know what type of sleeping arrangements you want to have, you can then start looking for campgrounds! Make sure they have spaces that accommodate your camping preferences, and then start planning for a great trip!

Next camping blog, Jared and I will share some of our favorite places to camp!

We are also, by no means, experts. We would value any input you may have! How do you camp and why?