This past weekend, we went camping with Kim's family at a KOA campground in Richmond Hill, GA, just outside of Savannah. Based on the trip, I have a few tips that I thought I'd share with all of you, in case you ever go camping.

There are no purple bathrooms.
Kim and I travel quite a bit and, like most couples, we only pack one bag of toiletries. Well, when you go camping at a campground, they have separate bath houses for men and women. This is problematic when you want to shower or just brush your teeth before bed. So, you need to pack separate toiletry bags.

There are a lot of obstacles between your bed and the head.
This is not something that I have to worry about, but with Kim being pregnant, she has to make some middle of the night trips to the bathroom. Well, when you are at a campground, that means walking to a building way over there. Between here and there are pine cones, roots, rocks, and all kinds of other nature. So, bring a flashlight with you.

Stuff gets wet.
This is more of a convenience than anything, but it would have been nice to have had a drying rack for our clothes in our cabin. We had shower towels, pool towles, and bathing suits hanging all over the place in our cabin. So, if you are annoyed by clutter, like I am, bring a drying rack.

This isn't a walk on the beach.
I wear sandals quite a bit, especially on vacation. Well, camping is not super conducive to sandal wearing. Beyond the many obstacles available for stubbing you toe, there are many flavors of bugs that enjoy to chow down on your exposed toes. So, bring some shoes. However, sandals are convenient for going to and from the pool and to and from the bath house for showers, and I know there are some people who like to shower in sandal when using public showers. So, maybe bring the sandals, too.

It is not too hot.
Those same bugs that chow down on your toes don't mind legs and arms either. I brought pants to wear in case it got cool, but it turns out they are more useful as bug repellent. So, bring pants, and wear them, especially at night. You will want to bring some bug spray, too, for your arms.

Bond. Goldbond.
If you don't know why you need to bring Goldbond, you probably don't need to worry about packing any, but if you have ever needed it before, you will want
to make sure you have some if you plan to go camping for a few days.

Make sure you know the law of the land.
If you are going to be spending Sunday night and you are camping out of state, you need to know if they sell beer on Sunday. In Georgia, they don't. So, plan ahead.

Do you have any tips you can add for other inexperienced campers?

Labels: camping, travel