It’s cold outside, that’s for sure. This is the kind of weather only the diehards are willing to get out in and camp overnight. You don’t have to be a “diehard” to enjoy camping, fortunately. However, a family faced with youth sports, scouts, church activities, etc. often find that camping gets pushed aside into one of those “when we get the time” bins.
Believe it or not, Spring is coming, folks, and these remaining cold winter days make the best time to start laying out your camping season now. Go ahead and plan your camping trips as if they were your family’s main vacation. You know, the one that involves taking days off from work, booking hotel rooms, saving back enough money to fund the event, etc. Camping trips are really just mini vacations. No hotel rooms necessary, no extra days off work (although that would be nice), and not nearly as much money needed in reserve.
If you treat your camping trips with the same importance as your main vacation, you will be much more likely to camp more often. That is the goal, right? If you wait for just the right circumstances to occur before quickly planning a, let’s call it a “pick-up” camping trip, chances are that you will spend the entire year without camping at all. I speak from experience here. I, myself, a self-described camping enthusiast, did not camp at all in 2011. Those “just the right circumstances” simply didn’t occur last year and, as winter fell upon us, I grimly realized that I had missed it. I let the entire year slip away without hooking up Frostbite (a renovated 1983 pop-up) and rolling her to a campground.
A new year brings the chance to right past wrongs. I believe that planning is the key. Go ahead and plan all your trips now. The location isn’t critical. The weekend set aside for camping is. You can even plan around all those other activities that demand your time. If your child has a game on Saturday, camp at a site close enough so that you can go to the game from the campsite and return to the campsite afterwards. You might even consider the possibility, dare I say it, that missing one game is not going to ruin your child’s sports experience.
Personally, I am planning one camping trip a month starting in March. Yes, I know, it’s an ambitious plan. You might want to start with at least once a quarter. Go ahead and plan a trip in the spring, summer, and fall. Decide on the dates. Consider those weekends spoken for when the numerous demands on your time start raining down upon you once Spring gets here. Let other’s plan around your schedule if necessary. Camping, after all, is important for your family. If you truly enjoy camping, it is important to you as well. Don’t feel guilty for planning your vacations and sticking to those plans even if they are “mini.”
Reserve those camping weekends now, Nashville campers, and let’s go camping in 2012!
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