Convincing Your Family to Go on a Group Camping Trip
Camping can be an incredibly eye-opening and enjoyable weekend activity for families, but managing to convince everyone to go is a pretty tough job. This is because younger children tend to find camping boring and your partner might say they have better things to do. When you compare sitting around outdoors to the entertainment you can find indoors at home, it’s easy to see what most people would pick.
However, camping brings something to the family lifestyle that few other activities can. It’s a great way to enjoy nature, discover the small enjoyable things in life, and also get together to spend time with your family. So to help you out, we’ve prepared a bit of advice that can help you convince your family to go on a group camping trip.
Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/S_VbdMTsdiA (CC0)
Put together a plan (and maybe even a pitch) before you share your ideas
Saying “let’s go camping!” one evening at the dinner table isn’t going to convince everyone. Before you share your ideas, make sure you have some kind of idea in mind because your family are going to ask questions! Let them know why you want to go camping, give some arguments for it and also try to predict some retorts from your family members. For instance, if you think your kids will complain about not having fun, give them a few ideas of fun things they can do while camping. This is one of the most important things to do if you want to convince your family!
Tell your family they can take some electronics
A lot of camping purists try to stay away from bringing technology such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. As a family, you don’t need to stick with these kinds of rules. In fact, giving your kids their smartphones while camping is a huge plus for safety reasons. The last thing you want is your kids wandering around in the woods with no way to contact you. In addition to being great for safety reasons, having smartphones and other forms of technology can increase the number of camping activities you have available. Movie nights are surprisingly fun in a tent with a projector, and you can easily bring along generators and large batteries to power your things.
Plan your expenses and put together some numbers
Some families will be fairly concerned about the costs of camping. Despite it being a relatively inexpensive activity, it’s still going to cost you a fair bit of money, especially if you haven’t got any camping equipment. If your partner shows concern about the costs, then presenting them with a detailed budget is going to help a lot. A 10 person tent can fit a large family and you can buy one for a relatively low price these days, and renting space for your camping trip is also fairly inexpensive. Put together all of these expenses so you can see just how much it’ll cost. Keep in mind that some costs, such as purchasing camping equipment, will make subsequent camping trips cheaper!
Answer their concerns one by one
Everyone has concerns when it comes to camping. Things like bear attacks, lack of a proper shower or even the weather might be on someone’s mind when they think about camping. It’s your duty to convince your family by answering each of their concerns one by one. Let them know that the campsite you’ve chosen is safe and monitored, tell them that there are showers and flush toilets on the campgrounds and give them a forecast for the weekend you want to go camping. By answering each question, you help to reassure your family that a camping trip will be a great idea for a weekend activity.
Tempt your family with fun food options
Camping food might not sound like the most appetizing thing until you realize that you can make some absolutely delightful treats. For instance, camping is the perfect opportunity to do some grilling since you’re outdoors. You can also create some lovely sweet desserts such as chocolate s’mores over a campfire. If you’re concerned about your meals, then keep in mind that you can always bring a small cooler for certain foods and cooking utensils from your home for more complicated prep. There are lots of delicious camping recipes that utilize natural ingredients and they taste just as good as food cooked in your kitchen. You can even get creative with the way you cook your meals if the campsite allows you to fish or even hunt for your food.