Lessons learned from my camping trip and how to enjoy camping - when you hate to camp

Camping has never been my thing. In fact, I always hated camping. All my camping experience was a disappointment to say the least – it was either too hot or too cold, tons of mosquitoes, no sleep and too much noise. Still, this past summer I decided I wanted to be more in touch with nature and camping seemed like the best option.

But even if nature was one strong reason to go camping, what I was also looking for was a new perspective. My ancestors were pilgrims and I wished to feel a little how it is to live in a tent and I needed to do it by myself and know how it feels like to assemble my own shelter.

Although I signed up for the adventure, I still wanted some level of infrastructure, at least considering my beginner status, so I made a reservation in a campground by a lake in Bavaria (also because in Germany it’s illegal to do wild camping). What I could not foresee when I made the reservation three months before my trip was that it was going to be raining – a lot. Still, I decided to try, as I could always pack and go back home if things turned bad. Surprisingly though, I managed to stay 12 full days, leaving only a few days earlier because besides the constant rain, the view of the lake had been covered by another tent and the school vacation started for the children, so I figured it was time to let the others enjoy the lake and head back home.

I took some notes during the first days because I thought my lack of practice was pathetic and the days were so eventful that I thought this experience would one day make a good blog post ;)

This is a summary of the events, enjoy:

Day I: setting up the tent and tarp was quite an embarrassing personal moment, but I eventually finished. I also managed to cut myself with my brand new 5 knives + bottle opener + Ax tool and there was blood all over my first aid kit, but thankfully it was not a bad cut.

Tent all set, time for a lake swim, barbecue and beer. ‘Not too bad’, I thought and I felt I was in for a good start, until evening came and there was an apocalyptic summer storm. Haze, wind, water, thunder… we had it all. I’m not sure if storms are always this bad or if I never acknowledge them because I’m usually indoors, but the fact is that I found myself inside my tent, praying and thinking ‘this was a pretty fucking stupid idea!’.

To my surprise, my tent survived I don’t know how and all the stuff was dry by what I can call beginner's luck. At least I could confirm my tent is good and the montage was ok. But that was not the only storm I would have to endure...

Day II: lots of conversation between camp goers around “how was it for you” and “is all your stuff dry” and lots of tree parts fallen all over the park. There was a family near my tent place with a three-year-old child and a smaller baby + a dog in a tent just a little bigger than mine. This family was either very hippie or very clueless. They decided to leave after the storm because the kids went berserk. I could totally relate with the kids to be honest, especially when the second storm started: “is it going to be like this every damn day?”

Tent survives another storm, stuff dry, hooray!

Day III: Sunny. It’s like our Father gives a present after the storm. It was also my birthday. Amazing day at the lake and my battery got a good charging with the solar panel. But there was another storm on the way, so I decided to have dinner at the restaurant. I stayed there during the storm, which was not as bad as the previous ones. The evening was clean and pleasant. This was the first night I managed to get a decent night sleep. I don’t know about you, but whenever I sleep somewhere new it’s like I need to get used to it, go figure.

Day IV: The sun was shinning from the early hours for the first time since I arrived and it was a glorious day. Sun panel pumped my battery real good and I had several cold beers. The sun stayed with us the whole day and it was a beautiful gift. First dry night and my camp neighbors invited me for a chat with drinks. I met this old German man who played bagpipes for us and we sang 'die Gedanken sind frei'. Great day!

Day V: rain (again) and a few hours of sun before more rain. Rainy day but at least no storm, so all good (you learn to appreciate the lesser worst case scenario very quickly) I stayed most of the day in the tent reading and watching movies. By this time it makes no difference whether the weather is favorable or not, I was feeling at home.

Day 6-12: Aftermath: A lot of rain, but still with a few hours of sun every day and the bad weather also kept the occupancy at a lower level at the campsite, which I appreciated. There was one more horrendous storm during my stay with winds of almost 80km/h that had me resettle my tarp, but at least it did not fly away!

Another funny episode worth mentioning was when a hedgehog woke me up with his noise messing with my trash. I was startled but I had never looked at a hedgehog so close and it was so cute! They like yogurt leftovers, BTW! (seriously, don't be a dumbass like me, keep the trash closed and high up).

I did not expect to stay so long in such rough conditions, but the truth is that I had a lot of fun! One thing I was not expecting at all was to find so many nice people at the campsite. There was constantly people stopping by my tent to chat, people engaging in all sorts of conversations and even offering food and drinks. It made me feel part of a community and I never felt alone.

The simplicity of having much less than you have at home and still enjoying tasks such as fixing the tarp or protecting your stuff from the rain was far more satisfying than I anticipated. My mind was constantly busy with either improving the shelter, or protecting the stuff, checking the weather or thinking about energy and ice for my fridge. It may be a silly thing, but I felt closer to my forefathers by having a very, very small glimpse of how they lived and I can say this vacation changed my heart about camping. As you can see in the pictures below, the landscape was well worth it!

Nevertheless, for my next experience, there are some things I will pay attention – maybe it’s nothing new to you, but if you’re a clueless camper like me, these are some of the things I learned this summer:

• A bigger tent is important if you will stay longer. It should have a part that allows you to stand up and a front cover in case of rain

• Rain gear (I forgot mine and I regretted it every day)

• A decent medium size camping table is important!

• Light! I took two good lamps, but I could have thought of lights for the outside of the tent as well (I underestimated how dark it would get at night)

• Good and big trash plastic bags are a must

• Wire, lots of wire and clothes clippers – you use that all the time

• Bringing my silver tape was a touchdown

• Store food in a closed box (I had the food in those open plastic boxes and I don’t know what I was thinking, luckily I had my big trash plastic bags)

• Keeping your stuff dry is crucial – think ahead

• Term bottle is a must

• Give instant coffee a chance – but if you really like coffee, bring a small French press as well ;)

• I missed a 5 liter water container to reduce trips to the tap

• Big plastic basin to bring dishes to the kitchen (for a campground this is important)

• I missed an additional tarp in front of the tent – I ended up using the trash bags, but it’s not as efficient as a one piece tarp

• Plan for rainy days - entertainment, cover, a place to sit and have your coffee / wine