Don’t go on a family camping trip without these 5 survival items

Author – Nicola Sayer

My husband and I are not ‘natural’ campers. Civilisation means sleeping indoors, as far as I can tell. But our children love it and so we do it. Occasionally.

When we do intrepidly venture forth, we will not leave home without the essentials listed below. You won’t find many, or indeed any, of these on the AA Camping Checklist. This is because the type of camping we do is different – we are two clueless adults, trying to keep small children alive and entertained in a hostile environment. And so, we need a unique and specific set of tools.

If you find family camping trips challenging, then look no further. Below are the 5 things that will help you survive.

1. A camping fridge

My brother-in-law got us onto this one. He and my sister are worse at camping than we are. When we go camping with them, they make us look good.

As a teetotaller, he loves a cold Coke for sundowners, so he bought a camping fridge. It was a game-changer. Lettuce was crisp. We didn’t get salmonella, and our G & T (and Coke) game was strong. They have become our camping people – mostly because of their fridge.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that you will need electricity for your camping fridge. And a safe extension cord. I mention ‘safe’ because we jerry-rigged a system once and I’m not sure it was safety compliant. Every time we opened the fridge we were mildly zapped – which didn’t bother us and kept the kids away from the cold Coke.

2. Tablet or Laptop

This is a contentious one. On paper, our focus should be getting our kids away from screens and into the wild world of nature. We get it. However, when your children are out and about from 5 am until 5 pm, this gives them a full day of what I call ‘the wilderness emotional rollercoaster’. They find a snake (JOY), they step on a thorn (ANGUISH), they find a stick (JOY), they lose the stick (ANGUISH). By supper time, you will need them to be stupefied for an hour. Who cares if other “campers” and “outdoor enthusiasts” walk past, throwing you looks? You’ll be enjoying your chilled G&T

3. Air-fryer or camp cooker

My husband is lovely – funny, smart, nice. But he can’t braai. He tries, but it takes a long time. Like the whole day. So, come supper time if the kids’ worsies are 3 hours away from being ready you need a backup plan. Bring your air fryer if the camp has plug points, or a camp cooker, to quickly heat up packaged kiddie meals.

4. Floaties

We always try to camp near water. Not for our washing up or to drink – that’s disgusting- but for the entertainment value. If you have a body of water and a stack of inflatable unicorns, pineapples, doughnuts, and sharks, then you are good to go. My sister and I sat in deck chairs with our books and watched our husbands and kids float past on repeat. It was wonderful.

5. Light-up Pop Tubes

When the sun has set, and the kids have enjoyed their hour in front of the screen, we start the night action. Not that night action, people. That will never happen when you are camping with kids. Ever. I am talking about light-up pop tubes.

China did us a favour here. When we tried sparklers, our daughter almost set her cousin on fire. When we tried glo sticks my eco-warrior brother had something to say about single-use plastic. These beauties flash neon lights, make annoying sounds, expand and contract, and you can use them EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. You will be very relieved to hide them when you get home, but they will bring hours of endless (neon-flashing) joy.

Go Forth And Don’t Forget The Sunscreen

So, there you have it. Our list of essentials. Don’t get us wrong, we love how much our children enjoy camping, and the beauty of nature is good for our souls too. Camping just doesn’t come naturally to us. We need a few home comforts to take the edge off and ensure that everyone, grown-ups included, has a good time.

As my husband likes to say, “If we are going to be homeless for four days let’s make it fun.”