What about a camping family vacation this year? If you’re American and you leave it to the kids to decide on your family vacation, chances are you’ll be heading to Disneyland or Disney World. There’s nothing wrong with that… those magical lands on both coasts of the U.S. are great fun for kids of all ages.

And there are plenty of things to do nearby to both, but what about something different….maybe getting back to basics and a camping family vacation? Ah-oh. Camping? Where do you go? What do you do?

If you’ve never camped before, you might want to start close to home… so you can bail out if you have to! You can save the beautiful park far from home for another time, once you know you’re all going to like the camping experience. Almost everyone lives within an hour or two of some public forest or park, no matter what part of the world you live in. It’s a great place to give a camping family vacation a try.

Think about practicing at home. A week or two before you load up the car, set up the tent in your backyard (or even the living room if your tent doesn’t require stakes). If you’ve set up the tent once or twice, you won’t be as apt to fumble and get frustrated once you get to the camp ground. Let the kids sleep in their sleeping bags and get used to the idea… though they may be even more receptive to it than you are.

Plan simple meals and make the food fun. Complicated meals will only make more work for you, and the kids will be whining — wanting to know when dinner will be ready. On the other hand, the kids will love roasting marshmallows or better yet making that traditional campfire treat… s’mores!

Barbecue burgers, roast hot dogs, or make “hobo stew” in aluminum wraps over the campfire… a couple of beers or a bottle of wine will make those good for parents too.

Maybe bring two coolers and keep one for snacks and soft drinks so the kids can grab something when then need it. It’ll keep them from getting hungry and cranky between meals.

Get the kids involved right from the start. Let them help set up the tent… roll out the sleeping bags. And let them help with the meals. Cooking around the campfire can be a great bonding experience.

Enjoy the “nature” part of that camping family vacation. Take walks together, see if you can identify wildflowers, trees, and birds. Swim in that lake, wade in that river. Some kids have never been in the water unless it was a bathtub or swimming pool. It’s fun to know there might be fish in there!

Use your imagination. If you make it enough of an adventure, your kids will be glad you all decided on that camping family vacation and they won’t miss Disneyland or Disney World at all — this year!

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