What do I need to go camping?

We only ever go camping for 2-3 nights so we try to take the absolute bare minimum.

For us, camping is only ever something fun to do for a nice weekend, it’s never really been our main holiday so this list is the absolute bare minimum I would recommend taking for 2/3 nights away.

• Tent (we have a two man pop up tent, it was fairly cheap but it meets our requirements for somewhere to sleep and literally goes up in 2 seconds and we can climb straight in)
• Self inflating mattresses (X2) – we bought the cheapest ones available but they’re a vast improvement on a ground mat.
• Sleeping bag – a big double one which goes over the three of us.
• Pillows (X2)
• Washing up bowl
• Washing up liquid
• Sponge
• Plates
• Bowls
• Cutlery
• Rubbish bag
• Cool box and 6 ice packs (a good one can keep drinks cold for a whole weekend).
• Lantern (for inside the tent)
• BBQ utensils (tongs/skewers)
• Portable charging device (for charging up my phone).
• Chairs
• Bottle opener
• Wash bag – a waterproof one to hang up on the door to stop all my clean clothes getting wet.
• Flip flops (for the shower)
• Warm clothes for evening
• Wet wipes (as everyone seems to get filthy camping).
• A ball/bubbles/glowsticks for the little ones to play with
• Marshmallows and biscuits for making s’mores.
• BBQ food (which we buy daily).
• A gas burner (if you’re going to want tea/coffee)
• Tin kettle
• Saucepan/frying pan if you’re going to want a hot breakfast/sides for your BBQ.
• Face masks for anyone over 11 – essential in the UK as of 24th July if you’re going in shops using public transport. We were very lucky to be gifted some from ACr4ftyLyn on Etsy and would recommend them for anyone looking to purchase quality reusable masks.

We try to keep our camping equipment all stored together during the summer so we can go last minute if we know the weather will be good.