What happens when it starts raining just when you have arrived at your chosen camping site? Will you feel like returning back to your home or will you be brave enough to pitch your tent? If you belong to the second category ( I belong to the first one), what steps and preparations you have to take to still enjoy camping in the rain? This blog post offers useful tips and advice for those who love to pitch their tent when it is raining.
The most adventurous types love to be out when it rains, especially during camping because:
- The smell of wet earth is invigorating
- The sight of brilliantly colored insects
- The sound of rain
- The arrival of exotic insect-eating birds
- The cool environs
What steps must you take when it rains at your camping site?
- Make your tenting material waterproof with tarpaulin
- If possible, try to pitch your tent at an elevated spot.
- Use tarpaulin for the groundsheet
- Ensure proper sloping of the tent so that the rainwater smoothly flows out
- Tarpaulin roof can be very stuffy inside the tent. Provide for ventilation. There are so many online sites to fulfill your need for a new camping tent.
What camping gears you need always?
Bright sunshine or unexpected rain, you need the following camping gears. Here is a checklist of camping and hiking gears.
- Strong ropes, preferably in plastic because animals don’t like to bite on plastic materials
- Flysheet is an ideal alternative to tarpaulin
- Sleeping bags
- More than two torch lights with more than enough batteries
- One or two mallets
- Your daily dosage of medicines plus medicines in case of insect bites
- Gauze and other first-aid materials
- Mosquito repellents
- Knives of various size plus scissors
- Water Cans
- Matchboxes or cigar lighters
- Plenty of hand towels
- Paper plates
- Cookies and chocolates
- Garbage bags
- Cooking gears if you plan to cook on your own
- Camera
- Powerbank to charge mobile phones
- Personal toiletries
Useful tips for campers if it rains.
An occasional rain is different than the monsoon downpour-right? No one will prefer any kind of holiday travel during a torrential monsoon downpour. Therefore, when you have arrived at the camping site and so does the rain, be prepared with more essentials apart from the above-mentioned checklist.
- A good quality raincoat preferably plastic as they are lightweight.
- Do not forget to pack all your belongings in a waterproof rucksack or duffel bag.
- Carry several pairs of gloves and socks to stay warm at night.
- Cotton earplugs are must as the chillness will affect the ears first
- Take carry-bags to put your wet clothes and used undergarments that you cannot wash at the camping site.
- In case the rain lasts for more than your expected duration, you need to engage yourselves inside the tent. To kill boredom, consider carrying some plastic playing cards,
- A few lanterns to light up your tent.
- A portable and battery operated fan can come in handy in the tropical camping sites.
If you think the above tips are useful and implemented them, then you have ensured that your camping and hiking trip is not wasted because of unexpected showers. Never get stuck up inside a gloomy tent.
It can be thrilling if you plan to cook your food on the open ground. Buy your groceries from the town nearest to your camping ground to avoid carrying excessive baggage from your home.
Some time-saving food ideas at the camping site.
Rain or sun, you cannot afford to starve, isn’t it? More so if you are taking children with you. Naturally, you need several types of food to suit different age groups. However, in order to satisfy the taste buds of all, you cannot afford to cook to fill up a buffet table. Here are some useful tips for the right kind of camp food.
Best food ideas for children while camping.
We all give the top priority for the children wherever we take them. If we take them to camping holidays in remote spots that include:
- Uninhabited islands
- Jungles on the outskirts of big cities or small towns
- Lake or riverfront
- Mountains
Children cannot be expected to eat whatever we cook at the camping sites. If you don’t want them not to get sick, you must be careful about what you feed them outside.
Irrespective of the age, we all tend to have good appetite whenever we pitch our tents or stop our cars during road trips at highway motels.
Here are some useful ideas of food to children on camping holidays.
S’mores
If you are a European reading this blog post, you may want to know what S’mores are? In the U.S., it is a famous food at the campfire. Do you know the ‘crackers’? They are usually tasteless biscuits. S’mores are nothing but making a sandwich by placing chocolate sauce in between two crackers. Along with this innovative (?) sandwich, marshmallows are roasted over the campfire holding them on a stick. This makes the ‘some mores’ shortly called S’mores.
Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled eggs would never cause an upset stomach. They are good for children as well as adults. You can also give bacon with the eggs if you happen to carry them along with your other food essentials.
Fried fish
Ah, there is nothing better than frying the freshly caught fish at the campsite. For seasoning, use preferably pink salt and a bit of chili sauce.
Note: Do not cook any red meat bought the previous day.
Bread and Jam
This is another harmless food option for everyone at the camping spot.
Fruits
Nothing is better than fresh fruits and remember to include them in your checklist of camping essentials. They are easy to carry and nutritious too. Take only apples, grapes, watermelons and not guava or banana.
If you still prefer the cooked food at the camping site, here are some good ideas.
- Steamed rice with fried fish and yogurt. Not much cooking is involved in this filling meal.
- Poach a few eggs and make a sandwich of them.
- Make a sumptuous vegetable salad and garnish them with black pepper, pink salt and sprinkle tutti frutti crystals liberally. Children would love them.
In my next post, I intend to write about the most convenient camping sites in around Washington, Virginia, and Maryland.
1 comment
Beautiful & informative !!