With the warmer weather rolling in and camping season basically upon us, planning is key. Planning for when and where you are going camping is essential, planning for what you need to bring along with you is a must, and planning for what food items you are going to indulge in is also high on the list.
Over the years I have found that having multiple camping lists makes things run so much smoother, especially when you are trying to get out the door to enjoy your weekend as fast as humanly possible.
I always like to start the season off by going through my camping list to ensure that all the essentials are packed in our camping bin. This will help ensure that your first weekend getaway is a positive experience.
Once I have my camping bin ready to go, I only need to check my Food Bin and my master list when we are getting ready to leave.
Because of these lists and processes our first camping trip for the 2021 season, was a success. Our trip out to Burnstick Lake was filled with calm nights around the fire and long hot days out reading and fishing. While nothing essential was missing, we know that more citronella candles need to be purchased for future trips as they only lasted us the weekend, along with our small propane tanks since they were both from last year. To ensure that they don’t get missed on our next camping trip they were added to our “Need To Buy” camping list.
While lists aren’t for everyone it is the one thing that has made all our camping trips easy and successful.
Camping Check Lists
Camping Bin
This should e packed at the start of the season, and ideally shouldn't need to be adjusted or checked before every trip. Make note of things that are low or need to be purchased once they run out during your adventures.
Wash Bins + Cloths
Environmentally Friendly Soap
Hatchet
Fire Starter
Citronella Candles
Ropes + Straps
Toilet Paper
Paper Towel
Table Cloth
The first camping trip of the year is always a good test run for how the rest of your trips will go. This is where you'll find out if you forgot anything important (hopefully not if you stick to the list) or if a "would have been nice" item slipped your mind, and didn't make it into the vehicle or camping tub.
Figuring out your activities before planning your camping meals is very useful. You won't want to be making a big breakfast, knowing you want to get up early to go hiking or fishing in the morning. For the early mornings, I would recommend greek yogurt with berries and granola or oatmeal.
Food Cooler
We like to keep a list of food items that could go in the cooler at any given time, and then generally once we have our meals selected for the duration of our trip we'll read through the list and check off the items that get packed in the cooler. For example, if we know we are going to have steak, potatoes, and Cesar salad we would check off: steak, potatoes, lettuce, and dressing from the list.
Dry Food Bin
Generally, once you pack your dry food box you shouldn't have to keep stocking it (but depending on what you pack you may need to replenish it every once in a while). Here is generally what is packed in our dry food box at all times:
Tea
Coffee
Hot Chocolate Packages
Sunflower Seeds
Granola
Granola Bars
Cooking Spices (salt, pepper, lemon pepper, steak spice, old bay, sugar)
Oatmeal Individual Packages
Sidekicks (the ones that only require water)
Can of Beans
Pizza Sauce
Cooking Oil
Small Plastic Bags
Master Camping List
Before leaving the house we also have a master list that we refer to when packing the vehicle, to ensure that those items outside of meal prep and the camping bin makes their way into our vehicle.
Tent
Tarps
Mattress
Sleeping Beds / Bedding
Camping Chairs
Joffle Iron
Hot Dog Sticks
Ax
Pillows
Camping Bin
Dry Food Bin
Cooler
Packed Bag Of Clothes
Paddle Board
Fishing Stuff