How To Prepare For a Weekend of Car Camping

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Even though summer has left us behind here in the Northern Hemisphere and most of you have burned through your vacation days faster your one aunt burns through mentols, you still might get the itch for another getaway. And really, fall is the best time to jump in the car and drive as far as your tank of gas allows, blasting that “road trip” playlist you made two years ago and have never used. Before you go blazing off into the wilderness that makes up this great country, there are a few things you should consider.

Planning to crash in your car on a road trip is far easier than getting ready to hike the Appalachian Trail or mentally preparing yourself for a peyote-fueled spirit quest through the deserts of the Southwest, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it any forethought. There are a number of simple things you can do to make your road trip that much more enjoyable. Also, there are many moves that you should avoid making if you want to get the most out of your journey into the national parks and beautiful recreational areas spread throughout the land. Take some time between re-reading On the Road and Travels With Charley and telling girls at the bar that “You just need to get some perspective, you know?” and take heed of How To Prepare For a Weekend (or week, month, year) of Car Camping before you take that station wagon coast to coast.

Get A Tune-Up Before You Hit the Road

 

No matter how tempting it might be to jump into any set of wheels you can get your hands on and hit the road, you might want to pump the brakes, and get them checked while your at it. Check the oil, take a look at those tires, and maybe even go as far as taking the car into the shop before you head toward the highway on ramp.

Although an AAA membership is nice, a breakdown will still cost you days and hundreds of dollars. If you choose to forgo a visit to Gus down at Precision Auto, don't come crying to us when your car stalls in the middle of Navajo Country at two in the morning where you realize that they won't have 4G until 2034.

Don't Forget Your Adapters

 

Even if the last time you lit up a smoke was when you were trying to look cool in the high school parking lot, your car's cigarette lighter is your friend. You should be able to charge any electronic device essential to your day-to-day activities [looking at porn, playing Farmville etc.] with your car's lighter, assuming you have the right adapter. It isn't going to be easy to find a lightning to USB cable compatible with your iPhone 5 at a truck stop, so you'd best visit your local big-box electronic store before you shove off.

Even if you have an aversion to staring at brightly lit screens and typing on incredibly small keyboards, there is still plenty your adapter can do for you. Everything from a flashlight to a stove can be powered from your car, provided you think about it before you hit the road.

Pick the Right Co-Pilot

 

Just because they're your best friend, or even your girlfriend, doesn't mean that they'll make the ideal car camping companion. The best way to get a sense of whether you've found the right traveling buddy is to think about how much you talk and how much you don't talk. You can't talk through every waking minute of every day, and everybody has a different tolerance for chit chat, a different preference for alternating between conversation, music, and silence.

If you have a conversational rhythm that is totally different from your co-pilot, prepare to spend the next week annoyed as Hell. Before you agree to tackle the Oregon Trail together, drive a couple hours to a concert or visit a mutual friend just to make sure you can stand each other for long stretches before you hit the road.

Plan Your Route Thoroughly

 

There is something deeply romantic about jumping in the car and going as far as you can as fast as your wheels will take you. There is also something deeply stupid about deciding to spend a week straight in your car without planning. You'll waste hundreds of dollars on shabby camp sites, terrible food, and unnecessary tolls if you don't take a look through your route before you hit the road.

If you don't bother to plan out your trip, you'll find yourself missing national parks and hilarious tourists traps that you could have easily caught by looking ahead. While you're working out your route, think about how much ground you want to cover each day. It might just work into your plans to take a break from sleeping on the shoulder of the interstate to get wasted in some college town and attempt to crash with some sorority girls. If you get shut down, you can always stumble back to our car and pass out.

Don't Pack Too Much

 

If you're anything like me, you learned to pack for vacation from parents who filled every square inch of the family station wagon with anything they could possibly need before puttering out of the driveway. Rid yourself of the impulse to pack spice racks, candles, and crock pots in preparation for a week long automotive camping trip. If you're car camping, that means you might be sleeping in your vehicle.

Even if you don't take up much room when you slumber, you'll be living out of your car, and there's no need to further cramp your already cramped quarters. Part of the fun of a road trip is being forced to buy novelty tank tops when you run out of clean shirts and having to subsist on beef jerky because you didn't pack enough food. You aren't holing yourself up in some Unabomber cabin for the week, so there's no need to pack your car as though it were a post-apocalyptic fallout shelter.

Try to Cover Too Much Ground

 

If you have an allotted amount of time to take for vacation, remember that one place can often be more than enough for an entire week. Each location has so much to see, and it's better to focus on one spot and drink it all in, appreciating the place you've actually chosen than bouncing from site to site each day, barely scraping the surface on each.

Think about what you really want to see and make sure you take the time to see it. One useful strategy is to think of a theme for your camping excursion. Are you trying to car camp your way through the Rockies? Give yourself about two weeks or more. Is your goal to see the majesty of New England as the leaves turn? Then, swerving off to go see Niagra Falls for 14 seconds shouldn't be in the plans. Sure, you might miss something you had hoped to fit in, but if you try to do to much, you'll feel like you missed it all.

Buy A Real Map

 

It's kind of pathetic we even have to say this. You've already seen more than enough examples of Apple and Google Map fails, but even if you have the most on-point GPS money can buy (hint: it's not an Apple map app), you should still pick up a map.

At three in the morning when you blow by an exit and have no idea where you are, you might just watch you bars sink low and your signal cut out. You might get lost in thought playing Angry Birds while your boy takes a turn driving through the endless plains, and use up your precious battery life without thinking about it. Technology has made getting around infinitely easier, but a good map is still better back-up than pulling into a strange town and asking some pimple-faced teenaged gas station attendant for directions.

Think Outside the Car

 

Even the most intrepid car camper can use a break from the leather interior after a while. Whenever you set out on a long road trip, it's always good to toss a tent in the trunk, so that you can do some real camping. Sometimes when you're traveling from nowhere town to nowhere town, it's better to sleep on hard ground than kink your neck trying to get comfortable in thos weird seats that fit nobody's body shape. Don't try to be an automotive purist. You're on vacation, camping deep in a national park will make for a better story than spending another night in the sedan.

Go Off The Grid

 

Just because you can keep all of your electronics plugged in and online doesn't mean that you should. If you're really trying to get away from it all and hit the open road, make sure that you don't have your boss, your school, or your roommates in constant contact. You won't find the Zen of travel if you don't shut out some of the persistant chatter that resonates throughout your day to day.

It might be worth it to hold off on the Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter updates while you're on the road, as well. Though we are waiting with baited breath to see your roadside selfies, it might not be so bad to create some memories that you only share with yourself.

Take Breaks

 

When men are on the road, a trip can quickly devolve into a contest of who can drive the longest. "I'm not tired, I'm fine," you'll repeat as your eyes become bleary and start to close involuntarily. If you feel yourself drifting to the side of the road only to be jarred awake by rumble strips, it is time switch it up or take a nap. There is no one timing your progress across the country, no reward for getting to the Kansas state line as quickly as possible, and there is no shame in sleeping. Believe it or not, we all get tired sooner or later.

No matter how badly you might want to get through Alabama's endless chain of cash till payday stores, fruit stands, and evangelical churches, you have to pace yourself. No matter how much it sucks that you have to go through the plains states to get to Colorado, you've got to drive smart. A dumb car accident will hold you up far longer than an hour nap at a state welcome center, so do everyone a favor and remember that even the King of the Road needs rest. And think of it this way: if you see an unplanned camping site or a nice wooded area that you weren't originally planning on hitting, it only adds to the stories and adventures of your trip.