Most of us have memories of camping with our family and friends as kids.
For Brett, they were happy recollections of idyllic holidays.
For Matt, well let’s just say they called Dad “the rainmaker”, many a drought was broken by our family camping trips, usually ending with a strategic retreat to a cheap motel.
Brett of course has always been keen to camp, a near new (used once) tent has sat idle in our garage for more than 15 years.
For Matt, the idea of camping came with some concerns, mostly around comfort, and comfortable comes with an array of requirements for Matt including a watertight bed, decent amenities, opportunities to be active, free flow drinks and close proximity to good food and coffee.
For some, this may seem like an impossible list of demands (sorry, ‘requests’), but Brett doesn’t shy away from a challenge.
Over a series of months, he sourced a cheap van and kitted it out himself to include a comfortable bed, roof racks for our kayaks and a side awning.
He researched places close to home that were near the beach and walking distance to a choice of cafés and restaurants.
For some, this may seem like an impossible list of demands (sorry, ‘requests’), but Brett doesn’t shy away from a challenge.
Matt
Long story short, a few weekends ago we went camping for the first time since we used that tent over 15 years ago… and we both loved it.
We only travelled about an hour from home.
We stayed right on the water, an easy walk to good food and coffee.
We spent a morning on our kayaks and over the weekend had a good stab at emptying our esky, sitting under our awning relaxing.
Oh, and most importantly, a good night’s sleep was had.
After our success we thought we would share a few simple things we’ve learned from this experience to help you out if you are dealing with a reluctant camper.
Find out their barriers to camping and then satisfy those needs.
Keep it close to home, easy and fun.
Also, don’t overcapitalise on your investment (well, at least not until you are on the same page).
So, can we all be happy campers?
Maybe not, but we’ve had a win in this household.
For more lifestyle stories:
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- The ultimate Newcastle Gig Guide
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