There are many reasons people love camping as much as they do and one of the biggest is that it makes them happy. We see it all the time. Often, our campers arrive for their long-awaited vacation looking a little stressed and/or tired. It’s been a long stretch of work and other responsibilities and they are way overdue for some time off. Camping not only provides the time away from daily life but takes it up a notch to actually make people feel happy. And happiness is good for your health. Following are a few things that happiness can bring to you and the people you love most.
Protects Your Heart – Happiness can lower your heart rate and your blood pressure as well. It can also improve the pattern of your heartbeat. You may also be less likely to develop heart disease. All good reasons to boost the happiness in your life.
Strengthens Your Immune System – Research has found that happy people are less likely to get sick. It’s probably due to having a more robust immune system.
Combats Stress – Who doesn’t want a better defense against stress? It appears that happy people can more readily tamper the effects stress can have on them.
Fewer Aches & Pains – A higher level of happiness can ease many of the discomfort from ailments such as arthritis, and can even help us heal faster.
Combat Disease and Disability – Happy people are less likely to become frail as they age or to have a stroke. That’s good news and another reason to focus on doing things that make you happy.
Lengthens Lives – Happy people live longer. Much of that is probably due to the effects of the other benefits we mentioned above. Happiness can create a tidal wave of good things in our bodies.
You can read more about this at Six Ways Happiness is Good for Your Health. Because of these benefits, not to mention the strengthening of relationships and family bonds, we think you should consider camping, if you haven’t yet. If you are a camper, keep on doing it and let yourself benefit from it. We look forward to seeing you around the campground, all taking in a good dose of happiness soon.
Long time campers know you can spend quite a bit on camping accessories after you’ve purchased the camping vehicle. Whether you’re camping in an RV or a tent, there are a few things that most campers will love to get under the Christmas tree.
We all know the kids eat their weight in food when you’re camping but they rarely want to sit down long enough to eat a real meal. They have far too many exciting things to do and see, you know. That’s where these simple sliders can come in very handy – for the whole family. You can make them at home and freeze them to bring with you. Then simply thaw, warm, and let the kids grab what they want when they race through the campsite. They’ll be getting the nutrition they need and you won’t have to lasso them to get everyone around the table at the same time. Or, these can act as a tide-me-over for when the kids are hungry and dinner isn’t quite ready yet.
There are so many ways, these days, to capture photos of our camping trips that it can almost make saving them more complicated. And, it can be hard to get to that project once you’re back home again with home and work calling for your attention.
It’s one of those activities we all loved as a kid. We’d lay in bed and, using just our hands and a flashlight, make up all kinds of funny animals and people to form shadows on the wall.
Starting with an alligator is pretty simple or a bird. Here’s a photo of a few more ideas. The kids will enjoy it so much they may not want to go to sleep so best to start early. Or maybe give it a go if you’re inside on a rainy afternoon. You can always tuck up inside a cardboard box with a blanket over it. Kids won’t care how you set things up as long as they get to play along. Give them a chance to copy what you are doing and help them move their little fingers into the right places for making a nice animal shadow.
Most campers find having a supply of trail mix on hand for their camping trip is a quick and healthy snack for the whole family. It can provide a good source of protein and an energy boost for the little ones after running all afternoon. Buying trail mix can be expensive, though, so making it yourself is something to consider.
No one wants to run into a medical problem during their long-awaited camping trip but sometimes there are bumps and scrapes to be attended to. Having a first-aid kit on hand will shortcut the process of patching up the problem and getting everyone back to having fun. You can buy ready-made kits at most online retailers but it’s just as easy to make one of your own.
We hear parents remark all the time that they can’t believe how much their kids eat when they are camping. They can put away a lot at dinner time but there is also a lot of grazing going on during the day. That’s because they are burning energy all day as they run, play, and swim with their friends. They get hungry and you don’t want to be spending all that time in the kitchen so we have some ideas for easy foods they can grab on the run.
Most long-time RVers have an established way of setting up and breaking down their RV before and ending every camping trip. They’ve developed their own way of doing things over the years and it works well for them. New RVers, though, may not have a good system set up yet and can use some tips to help shorten their work and make sure they haven’t forgotten anything. This short list of to-do tasks will help.