There are different fun ideas for different individuals. There is no better way for individuals who love outdoor life to have fun as a family than camping. Camping is a means by which individuals leave their homes’ comfort to spend weeks, sometimes in the open space. It especially appeals to individuals who have quite the adventurous spirits in them.
As much fun as camping could sound, it can also end up disastrous if not done properly. Some families have even needed a personal injury attorney before they even get to their destination. Proper camping requires adequate planning to ensure that enjoying that timespan does not flop down the drain.
If this is your worry, you do not need to fear that you are not alone in this state. Adequate planning for camping includes various aspects. These can range from things such as; the safest places to go camping, the type of camper trailer to use, and the things to pack, feeding arrangements down to the last point of getting back home safely.
Camping trailers come in different forms and can be for different specific purposes. As such, it is important to weigh your options properly before deciding on the one to get. Also, another very important consideration, among many others, when planning your camping adventure is where you will be staying. Below are some guidelines that could help you decide what trailer type to get.
Purpose for Camping
A major determinant of how long will be spent on the road can be what camping means to various people or the purpose they are going camping. Regarding a trailer’s durability, the length of camping stay is a major factor to consider before deciding on one to get. This is because the more durable a trailer is, the longer it can be used.
Aside from the basic adventurous spirit, which sets almost everyone down the camping route, different people have different reasons for camping out. For some, the city’s hustle and bustle when undergoing everyday affairs could get a little overwhelming. As such, camping to these people serves as a getaway period to relax in anticipation of a new week. This getaway period might not involve any concrete plan other than just staying out in the open, gazing at the open sky, and counting the stars in them, literarily. Basically, to such people, camping is just a form of little ‘exercise’ they undergo whenever they do get a chance to, which comes occasionally.
For some other people, camping serves as a full-time business. They do not do it out of necessity but rather out of love for it, and as such, they regularly undergo it. These people regularly camp out with family and loved ones, as it serves as a form of bonding time. They could spend as long as weeks to months on the road camping.
These reasons serve as the backbone for determining the best type of trailer suitable. If you do not plan on spending so long on the trailer, opting for a smaller, less expensive, and just a few amenities trailer is best. However, if you are the type that will spend a lot of time on the trailer with family, choosing a bigger, more durable trailer with enough amenities to suit your needs and preference would be the best option.
Frequency for Use
How often you will be stepping out to the road should also be a factor to be considered when thinking of getting your trailer. Would you be on the road for the better part of the year? Or do you want to get it for occasional times when you need a fresh breath of air, after which you will take it back into storage till when next you feel like it?
When considering this factor, you should also consider the available space to store it. If you are hardly using the trailer, you will need a more secure and safe place to store it. In such a case, getting a smaller trailer would be the best bet since you will not spend so long a time on it, in addition to the fact that it is easier to store smaller loads more effectively than the bigger and heavier ones.
Investing in a higher quality trailer is most especially necessary for campers who will be on the road for weeks at a go or even longer. This will help to plan against the inevitable wear and tear of the trailer. It will save much trailer maintenance and repair costs.
Off-Road Capacity
Suppose you are one individual with an amount of spontaneous streak in the adventurous spirit you have. In that case, getting your family trailer will involve you making careful deliberations without just rushing into decisions.
Suddenly finding yourself in the middle of a vast space without regulated campsites and prior expectations can be a lot of fun, but only if you are not caught off-guard and ill-prepared. As such, when getting your trailer, you should consider the trailer’s off-road capacity.
A question such as ‘if you suddenly have a cause to camp off-road where there are no regulated campsites in view, would your family be safeguarded against rough terrains and even rough natural factors such as winds or rain?’ becomes a major question to ask.
Trailers are specifically made for various situations. Some come with a higher level of durability and protection against any hardship. As such, they are very useful for addict campers who go camping at every opportunity. Although they will require more investment, there is an assurance of safety.
Set-Up Time
Setting up and packing up can be very tiresome, especially when it takes too long to achieve. However, doing these for a short time is more stressful, taking more of your time.
This is also true if you will be visiting multiple places within a short period, time spent packing, and unpacking can be better spent taking in the uniqueness of that place before having cause to move to another site. A trailer with reduced set-up time will be more functional for this purpose.
However, in instances where you will be spending a longer time in a place, you can afford to take your time rather than properly setting up things in the right order to last a longer period.
Bed
Different families come in different numbers. Camping time with family should be a delightful period for every family member to ensure maximum comfort. Sleeping arrangements, however, can be one factor that could threaten this. A smaller-sized trailer can be used for families with fewer individuals, especially when the children are younger. However, families with more individuals cannot get away with this, especially when they have older children.
In instances where you have several individuals in your family but cannot afford the large trailers, one hack that could work would be introducing bunk beds in the sleeping arrangements. Bunk beds would mean two people having equal individual spaces in a space originally meant for only one person. This way, everyone will have their sleeping beds while maintaining the trailer’s original space.
If you are starting your family and do not have kids yet or have kids, you should bear this in mind when getting your trailer, as this trailer will probably last you for a long period of years, the family will have grown in number.
Enough Space
For families with children in their teenage years and even as young adults, personal space becomes a key factor in a camp trip. To make each camping experience enjoyable with no account of misery, everyone in the family needs to have their space. Remember that everyone in the family is unique, so even if you are well assured of your packing methods to the barest essentials, how sure are you that your children and spouse have the same idea of essentials as you do?
They will probably want to pack along with all their gadgets, the favorites of their toys, clothing (even those you do not count as essentials), and the like. For this reason, it is safer to have enough space to accommodate all these. It is also important to put your family’s future in mind when getting a trailer. Getting a trailer where everyone can fit inside simultaneously with the load without exceeding your vehicle’s weight limit is vital.
Sadly, however, space in a camper’s trailer can never be enough, as it can never be equated to the space you have at home. In the quest to get additional space, it is very important not to overweigh the vehicle, which will tow the trailer, as it can be catastrophic. Each trailer’s parts and accessories have a specified limit for weight and movement, and it could be destructive to these parts and accessories if you take more than it can carry.
There are, however, several storage options provided by various manufacturers to make up for this. There are foldable drawers, hanging spaces, and hidden and retractable spaces that can help you add in additional storage while saving up space at the same time.
Bathroom
However long or short you plan on staying in your trailer, a major fact remains that you will be making use of basic amenities in the trailer. Getting a trailer with these amenities will depend on how much time you will spend on the trailer and how robust your pockets are. These amenities include a kitchen space, refrigerator, and electricity supplies. As much as these above can be compromised to suit your pocket size, the bathroom cannot and should not be compromised for whatever reason.
Traveling on the road could be so much fun and pleasure until you have to pass out the waste for hours, then such traveling becomes miserable to the person. This is even more true in the younger ones, who will have it bad for themselves and ensure the elder ones also take part in the misery. Having to stop your journey now and then due to having to ease yourself will also make such a journey quite tiresome and boring.
Also, even if the elderly can get away without having their baths, it is not the same for the younger ones, who will always need to do one thing or the other in the restroom. For this reason, the bathroom becomes an amenity that should not be compromised when scouting for camp trailers for your family. You should even try having more than one bathroom in the trailer, especially if you are more than three people going camping at a time, for easy access. At the very least, two bathrooms will be very functional. One for the adults and one for the younger ones will save everyone the hassle of dealing with a stopover at every junction of the trip.
Summary
Since camping entails staying out of your house’s comfort, ensuring that you get the best of where you will be staying then becomes essential, as this will help you create a home away from home atmosphere. As much as you choose to be adventurous, getting the most comfortable place, you can make the adventure even more fun and enjoyable.
Getting a camper trailer is not a decision to be taken on impulse. Camp trailers are not disposables you get to discard after one use; they are long-term utilities that can serve your family through all its phases.
However, it should be kept in mind that there is no such thing as the perfect trailer for each family, as the family consists of unique individuals with various needs. However, choosing the best option for a camping trailer would mean putting each individual’s unique needs together to reach a common compromise that will fully suit that family.
A good trailer that will assure you of absolute fun would require having trailer parts and accessories in perfect working conditions, such as those gotten from TOW-MAX; the more durable the trailer parts, the better your camping experience each time.