Family Car and Van Camping

I just realized my son and I have gone camping almost ten times over the past four summers.  I've relied on my Facebook Memories to remind me exactly what it was I liked and disliked, and with whom we went on each adventure.  But time is flying by, my son is getting older and is starting to have opinions and memories about our camping trips, and sometimes Facebook Memories isn't enough.  Our last trip out, for example, included a super friendly cat at a local KOA.  The cat followed us everywhere, even coming on a hike with us through the woods (he stopped only to dash off into the woods, brutally off a chipmunk, and then bring it back to us so he could eat it in our presence 😣😩).  Regardless of the chipmunkicide, my son loved the cat and the cat loved him.  The cat's ear was tipped, so we knew he belonged out there, but he was a great companion while we were there, and he was the highlight of our trip. I looked around for premade camping memory books, but...

One of my favorite discoveries for camping happened during a stocking-up moment during the pandemic shortages.   I'm European by birth, and some of my earliest childhood memories include my grandmother pulling a quart of shelf-stable milk out of the pantry and serving room temperature in a tall glass.  Then the milk would go back on the shelf until next time someone wanted some or until it was empty.  Not exactly one of my fondest memories, as I was already used to cold American milk... Nevertheless, shelf stable milk was one of the first things for which I searched when the pandemic hit.  I wondered if America even had  shelf-stable milk, aside from the shelf-stable plant milks I saw in most grocery stores. Yes, yes they do.   I found those single serving Carnation half and halfs (halves??) - Amazon - and canned Mexican table cream (crema) - Target -for my coffee.  I found Horizon Organic single serving milk cartons - Target - in strawberry,...

One of the things I dislike most about camping is washing dishes.  The dishwater grosses me out (yes, I guess I am a delicate flower) and I can't get the dishes as clean outside and quickly as I could at home.   On short trips, I've actually resorted to just putting all the dirty dishes in an empty bin and then washing them when I get home. Somewhere along the way, I learned a way to (almost) avoid doing dishes completely,  and while I doubted how effective it would be, at first, it's turned out to work very well. The magical ingredient is plain vinegar in a spray bottle. Instead of washing dishes, the idea is just to spray vinegar on the plate or in the pot, let it sit for a few seconds, and then wipe it clean with a paper towel.  Then throw the paper towel in the campfire later, and all is good. Vinegar is available in gallon jugs for pretty cheap.  The one pictured came from Target at was under $3.  I put it in a spray bottle, put it in my kitchen ...

 I'm a single parent parenting an only child.  We love to go camping, and I've taken him camping, by ourselves, since he was three years old. We started out with a teardrop trailer, which I hated towing so much that I sold it after only three camping trips.  I camped in a tent several times, and then I used my trailer money to buy a minivan.  Now, when it gets cooler, we sleep in the van. Over the years, I've learned tips and tricks that have streamlined my camping to the point where I can pretty much pack up and go with about an hour's notice.  And I can take down camp by myself in 45 minutes, which is pretty impressive, by my own standards! I started writing here in the hopes of sharing family car / van camping tips and tricks to make your camping experience simpler and more enjoyable.  These ideas would work for anyone, families or people traveling alone, with cars and vans or in them. I hope you find something you can use here, and if you have ideas you...