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As my son and I ate our dinner at the Lake Oauchita State Park campsite I had booked, I felt proud of myself for successfully camping as a single parent with a toddler. Not only that, but as we ate, another single parent camping with his child pulled up in the spot right next to ours.
Watching this single dad and his little girl build their tent, make their dinner, and do all the usual camp stuff gave me all the feels. Admittedly, I’d been feeling like a bit of a loner with just my son and I at our campsite. It made me happy to see I wasn’t the only single parent crazy enough to take my kid camping on a solo trip.
We made eye contact, and the single dad and I said hello and waved to each other. That was the extent of our interactions.
I love camping. But when I think about the amount of preparation, on site work, clean up, and drive time I feel exhausted. Just from THINKING about it. How do you do it all and leave time to actually enjoy the experience?
Here is my checklist to take some of that weight off your shoulders so that you can have a successful experience camping as a single parent with your child.
Choosing Your Campsite
With all of the available options choosing your campsite could be its own blog post. The important things to remember are to choose a place close to home – no more than 2 hours driving is best for your first time. Look at reviews of the campgrounds as well. We once went to a campground where the mosquitos were so terrible, we couldn’t hike comfortably and ended up running back to the campsite.
Consider how close you want your campsite to be to the bathrooms. The closer you are the more noise from other campers you will encounter. If you’re not comfortable peeing in a bush or your child needs to use the bathroom a lot it may be convenient to be closer.
Research the campsite you are going to if you aren’t familiar with it already, look at hiking trails and note the ones appropriate for your family’s ages and fitness levels, print a map of the overall campsite so you aren’t completely lost upon arrival.
Preparing for the Trip
Train your kid to help with setup and tear down by practicing at home. I bought an old tent at a garage sale for $10. It had a small rip but was otherwise fully intact. My son loved to play “camping” and would help me set it up, and later tear it down, in our backyard. He loved filling it with pillows, blankets and toys and playing in the tent.
Reach out to family, friends and neighbors to see what camping equipment you may be able to borrow. Camping equipment costs can add up quickly. If this isn’t a regular thing for you best to borrow or buy used.
Let kids help pick you the menu. Easy to prepare stuff is great here and will keep you from being overwhelmed.
We eat healthy at home and I like to keep it consistent on trips. If you’re like me it’s worth it to take the time to prepare food before you go. Make things that are easy to serve with minimal cooking and cleanup. Some of my favorites are pasta salad, mason jar meals, sandwich fixings, reasonably healthy muffins, burritos wrapped in foil, chilli or stew that you can reheat, homemade lunchables, or sliced meats and cheeses for a charcuterie board. Search online and you’ll find countless recipe ideas. I recommend preparing as much food as you can before you leave to minimize cooking and clean-up on site.
Plan ahead of time what you would like to bring. Make a list and start packing the week before you leave – checking things off as you go. This way you’re not saving everything for the night before.
Camping as a single parent can be draining when you’re underprepared. The more you can prepare the easier things will be for you during the trip! You will be grateful you did. More prep beforehand means more time to play and bond with your kids!
What to Bring
Organize what you’re bringing into marked plastic bins with lids if possible. Boxes would also work if you don’t want to invest in plastic bins. Find sizes that will stack well in the trunk of your car. Have separate bins for clothes, toys, dried (non-perishable) foods, and kitchen and cleaning equipment.
Start with the essentials:
- First aid kit
- Tent
- Sleeping bags
- Food and Ice Chest
- Bug repellent
- Kitchen items both for serving food and clean-up
- Toiletries.
- Fire building supplies – if fires are allowed where you’re camping.
Entertainment Ideas
Bring toys for getting dirty. Both my son and nephew will happily spend an afternoon building their own world along the shore with beach toys in hand. Toys such as balls, rackets, pool floaties, bikes and scooters are all great to bring. Make sure to bring a combination of things that you can play with them and that they can play with by themselves.
I also suggest bringing items that will encourage calm play, maybe some crayons and a coloring book, or a favorite book for your child to flip through. There will be times when you need your child to sit calmly and safely while you get things done, such as packing or unpacking.
Some of my favorite non-essentials to bring:
- Bottle of wine
- Speakers for music
- Solar charger for electronics
- Duct tape
- Wet wipes
- Kindle or similar backlit reading device.
- Download movies onto your computer the night before. Cuddling in a tent is a great way to spend a quiet evening after a long day in the sun.
When you Arrive
My son and I are both the kind of people that once we arrive at the campsite, the first thing we want to do is go run off and play! I can tell you from experience, that’s not a good plan. Set up first, get the tent up and all of your blankets in there, put all of your food into the designated area, and explore a bit to make sure you know where bathrooms and water faucets are located.
Include your child in the set up by giving them age appropriate tasks. Here are some ideas:
- Carry pillows, blankets, or their own backpack into the tent.
- Unpack the food box and place items in the bear safe cabinet.
- Carry firewood piece by piece to the fire pit. (Even if you could carry it all in one go – this is a good activity for making little one’s feel like they’ve contributed.)
- Unroll sleeping bags.
- Help with tent building.
- Collect sticks and twigs for kindling.
Once you are set, go explore and play!
Packing up
Usually when I am packing up to leave, I will take the night before we leave to organize as much as possible and make it easier for myself the next morning. I will lay out clothes for the next day and pack up all the others, leave out what I need for breakfast (and lunch if staying late enough), and try to leave myself with just the tent to put away in the morning.
In the morning when I have everything put away, and the car packed up, I will take my son to his favorite spot or for a small hike one last time to get out some energy and say goodbye to the campsite.
Clean-up
Do it as soon as you pull into the garage. Bring everything in. Put stuff away. Throw the sleeping bags in the laundry. Seriously. I know you’re exhausted. But if you leave all the camping stuff in a dirty pile, it’ll nag at the back of your mind as another to-do-list item and add to your stress. If you can make it work with your allotted vacation time, plan a whole day at home for when you get back just to handle clean-up.
Final Thoughts
Camping as a single parent is a lot of work and it can be exhausting. In my experience it has been worth it every time for the memories I’ve made with my son. If you can find family, friends, or a community group to go camping with it will make your trip that much better. I recommend giving it a shot even if it’s just you and the kids. The memories your kids will have make all the extra work worth it.
For more advice on traveling as a single parent, check out these other posts:
What a valuable post!
I recently took up camping with my 2 kids, and oh how I wish I’d found a constructive post like this one before embarking on that mission! You’ve described the reality of it perfectly, it’s a major operation, but it is so very rewarding. My 2 kids slowed down to such a chilled rhythm, and we had nothing to distract us from following our most basic need impulses.
I look forward to having another go at camping with the kids soon, and I’ll definitely be refering back to your post when I do!
100% agreed. It’s so nice when you can camp long enough to slow down and get into that rhythm. I’ve always thought it would be awesome to find a group of single parents to go with – both to spread the work around and so my son has playmates. Glad you found the post helpful (for future trips).