Don’t let the outfit fool you. I’m a poser. I camped as a kid, but until last year, I hadn’t been camping in more than two and half DECADES. And in those decades, I have grown a little……soft.

Since our older two kids started doing the Adventure Guides Camping program three years ago with my husband, they camp A LOT. Every year there is one weekend, called Family Camp. As the name suggests, siblings and moms join the party in the woods. The dads roll out the red carpet for the moms. They cook, they entertain, they serve, they clean and they pamper. Even, with all that, I still, was not overly keen on the idea of sleeping in a tent in the woods with no running water. Where would I wash my face and brush my teeth? AND most importantly- where would I go to the bathroom? If I have to ask all this, perhaps we were not a good match. I avoided the first family camp out because we had a new baby. No, I did not have another child just to avoid it, but it was a solid alibi. So last year was my first year at the family camp out. Luckily my husband had all the major stuff covered and did all the heavy lifting. But even then, I was a little out of sorts the whole time. I did not bring any of the right “stuff” for myself. And I brought a lot of the wrong “stuff”. If there is one thing I’ve learned about camping, it’s all about THE GEAR. There are plenty of black-belt camping folks out there to tell you about the big necessities- like a good tent and a high quality sleeping bag. I’ll leave that to them. I wanted to share a few of the little things or the “nice-to-haves” that I wish someone would have told me. When my husband first started camping, we realized how much was needed, it was a little daunting and NOT CHEAP. For what it’s worth, a lot of these things in this post serve double duty at home and we’ve collected slowly over time.

Tent heater- Is this necessary for a real camper? No. Is it necessary for me? YES. It’s a portable space heater that runs on gas that heats up the tent like magic. The first night of my first family camp, my husband brought the tent heater…..BUT… forgot the propane tank. EFFFFF. I froze. It sucked. Dew was everywhere. I wanted to go home. WHOA was me. Then his buddy brought the tank for night two. The idea of having a tube pumping propane INTO my enclosed tent was not my favorite. But after one night of freezing my butt off, I was wiling to roll the dice. I’m so glad I did, because it changed everything. It felt like the Four Seasons compared to first night. Money well spent. New rule for me: we use the heater or we get an RV.

Something I saw at this year’s camp out (which I will definitely do next time) is bring a battery-powered carbon monoxide detector. Even though the tent heaters have built in safety features, like an auto-shut-off (if tipped over) and a low-oxygen detector, I like the idea of another fail safe. The detectors are the size of a remote and we already had two at our house. They cost $24. You can always use another one around your house or in your garage back home. I have a friend that travels with one when she rents houses on vacations with her family. Not a bad idea. The tent heaters will still not win any awards for safety, but they are game changers if you take the right precautions and use them correctly. PLEASE DO SO before using. (We burned a hole in the bottom of a sleeping bag that was left too close. Lesson learned.)

Fun fact: More clothes does not equal more warmth in a sleeping bag. Something about letting your body heat work with the sleeping bag? I don’t know why exactly but the NASA physicists that work at REI confirmed it’s true and that’s good enough for me.

If you are camping with kids- which we always are- these Walkie Talkies are oddly helpful. A lot of the time there is no cell coverage and older kids want to explore and ride bikes. They are super convenient to leave with the kids in tent when they go to sleep and the parents want to stay up. It’s a novelty for them and super functional. WIN-WIN. Another justification for this purchase: Kids love using these at home for play. They are awesome gift ideas for both girls and boys age 4 to adulthood :) They come in lots of colors. $20.

Headlamps- this is a ‘duh’ for most people. But it wasn't for me. I thought a flashlight would do. Headlamps are game changers when camping. $13. Hands free is fabulous. They are also nice around the house for a lot more things than I would have guessed. We use them for power outages, walking the dog at night, taking out the garbage, fort building, anywhere you’d use a flashlight. We have even give them as gifts to my son’s friends and stocking stuffers for all the men in our family. Kinda weird. Kinda practical.

Hanging light bulb- Crazy concept here: Did you know when the sun goes down, there is no light? LMAO. This makes shit hard. We had a couple of these hanging light bulbs for the inside of our tent. It helped SO much. There is no counter space in a tent, so a lantern that requires a “spot” is annoying. These lights are cheap, small and light. They hang in your tent and light the whole thing up. Magic. When it’s 30 degrees and you have to change your clothes or find your toothbrush, its nice to see the whole tent.

The right shoes really help. Ugh. My first camp out, I wore flip flops because it was warm out. My feet were covered in dirt in the first 10 seconds and I could never get them clean again. Call me a pansy. But that sucked. Running shoes are okay- but they kinda just absorb the dirt. I think some sort of rubber boot is super functional, easy to clean and they make really cute ones which is also CRITICAL :) I wore these Sorel booties and I was VERY pleased with that call.

For the kids, Crocs make a super light weight rubber boot that is so easy to clean and easy for them to slip on and off when going in and out of the tent. They also make for an awesome everyday rain boot. Unfortunately my stubborn daughter insisted on wearing her brand new running shoes. I had to boil her shoes after the weekend.

An off-the-ground cot is also a must. You might think a blow up mattress or a mat of some kind will be fine. And it is, if your are scrappy. I am not and having a cot off the ground is a game changer. Why? The ground is cold so you want to get off it. And the air is even colder. So an air mattress becomes a little freezer pack under your sleeping bag. NO BUENO. I’m pretty sure avid campers would agree with me on this one. The one linked is basic and does the job. What I like about it is how small is folds up in storage when we are NOT using it.

Baby wipes. Lots of them. This is your shower. This is your faucet. Dirt is everywhere and on everything. If you are reduced to a porta potty….. having real wipes helps take the edge off of, what I perceive to be, a BAD situation. Also, it’s nice to bring make-up remover wipes for your face. It made me feel like a royalty knowing I wasn’t using something designed for a butt. Small things matter.

A hanging toiletry bag! Similar to the lights, you want to hang as much stuff as possible. Real estate in a tent is precious. The more things that can go up, the better. My husband would never need this because he only has a tooth brush and toothpaste in his toiletry bag. I have a FEW MORE things. This doesn’t take up space and keeps it up and away from the layer of dirt that seems to creep everywhere. I use a hanging toiletry bag for all my travel so I accidentally got this one right the first time.

What I didn’t get right, was remembering to bring a mirror. I didn’t even think about a mirror. There are no red carpets or need for a glam squad, but dammit, I still wanted to see my face once a day to make sure something weird wasn’t happening. Trying to use my compact in the dark while holding a brush in the other was just not happening. I ordered a $4 plastic mirror with a handle and hung it with my toiletry bag. YES. It was basically the Hyatt up in there.

Kind of a random one here, but my husband had a big piece of synthetic grass to lay in front of our tent (which you can see peeking out from under all our crap). I had seen him bring it with the kids and I thought he was just trying to add some greenery to their temporary home for the weekend. How cute! Nope, it’s actually a super functional place to wipe the dirt from your shoes. The dirt then drops to the ground. As opposed to a mat, where it just collects on top over and over again. Clever. And it does add a nice aesthetic , if I may. We got a couple scraps for free from an synthetic grass installer in our neighborhood. We hung these string lights. Again, not just cute. They outline the tent so you can see better. And they are solar so they are low maintenance. Like me :)

This one is a major splurge but it was damn nice to have so I’m gonna share it. Yeti Cooler. They are actually designed for hunting and camping and that’s what we are doing here, right? (minus the hunting). It was so nice to know that the milk we brought the kids, the cheese for appetizers and adult beverages were icy cold the entire time. We dumped out the same ice we packed three days earlier. We have two. GASP. The cooler bag and a traditional cooler below. We also use their tumblers for all our drinking devices. I want my vodka cold and my latte hot. Sorry not sorry.

As you can see, a tall chair is the popular choice. I brought my low beach chair. It worked. But I won’t do it again. You want to be far off the ground when camping whenever possible. I linked the chair my husband has and I must say its pretty nice and we use it for sports and backyard parties a lot.

When we get home I make everyone strip down in the driveway and throw EVERYTHING in the washing machine. Camp fire stank is no joke. Our jackets and sleeping bags are down and I love the Granger Down Wash Kit. I can just throw them in the regular wash and tumble dry with their dryer balls and everything comes out fluffy and fresh.

I’d say round two of family camp was far more successful. Instead of worrying about my dirty toes and what may or may not be on face, I got to experience this little lady’s traditions, see her accomplishments and memories she made with her tribe of friends and hardworking dads. I’m not moving to the woods anytime soon, but I majorly stepped up my outdoor swagger compared to last year. Hope this helps some other fair-weather campers out there. Cheers.

PS. The above mentioned third child was left at home with grandparents. He is two. He is a handful. And it was an excellent decision.