Curious about camping and traveling as a family with young kids? Check out this exclusive interview with some camping pros!
Every time I see my friend Alea, I can’t wait to ask about her latest adventure. She and her husband Branden (a filmmaker with Spirit Juice!) do an amazing job of traveling and seeing the world with their three young boys.
My husband and I are a little less adventurous, but our daring friends inspired us to take our family camping for the first time ever this summer … and they came with us! Our families and eight other Catholic couples shared one group campsite: 20 adults and 40 kids — a little chaotic, but so much fun.
The camping pros
Alea and Branden always loved traveling and taking the kids to see new and interesting places, but their camping as a family really took off in 2020 as a way to get outdoors even during the pandemic restrictions. They’ve done three to four camping trips every year since then. Some trips are smaller and closer to home, while others are longer and involved flying with their camping gear.
Alea and Branden with their children at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Courtesy of Branden and Alea Stanley
Must-have advice
Curious to hear Alea and Branden’s advice for camping with kids? Here’s our interview.
What advice would you give to someone who’s never gone camping before, especially with kids?
Alea: Start small, and lower your expectations … then lower them even more! A backyard campout is the perfect way to ease your family into camping and start practicing all your campsite skills. You don’t have to have all the gear to get started either; use what you have and slowly upgrade.
Branden: Also, find a system that works for you. Everyone is going to have different priorities and “creature comforts” they prefer. For some, simplicity might be king, while others might prefer to have everything and the kitchen sink with them.
I’d recommend removing as many obstacles to going camping as you can. For us, that means having all of our campware organized, labeled, and stored together in dedicated hardcases. When we’re ready to go camping, we know by heart the four hardcases that need to go in the car. As long as we grab the food, tent, and sleeping bags, we have everything we need without question.
Removing the need to spend valuable mental energy preparing for each trip in this way has taken away a barrier, which limited or prevented us from planning our quick getaways. Find what works for you … and don’t let anyone convince you there’s one way to do it right.
The Stanleys’ camping set-up, complete with grab-and-go hardcases that they keep packed and ready.
Courtesy of Branden and Alea Stanley
Why is it worth it to take kids camping even though it’s a lot of work?
Alea: So many reasons! On the practical side, campsites are typically cheaper than hotels and it’s easier to fit a large family in one space versus possibly needing two rooms or a more expensive suite to fit 4+ people. As a mom of high energy boys, I love being able to give them freedom to run around, explore, ride bikes, and so on that hotel rooms can’t. And the benefits of disconnecting from technology for a while and immersing yourself in nature are so valuable.
Branden: Vacations are often the times where we get to reconnect as a family, and for us that means finding experiences where we minimize distractions that isolate. We all need a break or a solitary moment on social media sometimes, but our kids are looking for us to share in their experiences and in our busy lives, these are the most precious times for us to focus on each other and them … without distractions.
We’ve found that camping gives more opportunities for us to spend quality time with our boys, explore and learn alongside them, and teach valuable skills in ways that excite and engage them. With the right attitude (and sometimes it takes time to find that), camping can be an amazing family bonding experience, building problem solving skills, teaching wilderness survival skills and so much more.
Alea and her sons on a camping adventure
Courtesy of Branden and Alea Stanley
I think there’s a societal trend to see kids as a burden that we need to vacation away from. The sentiment leans toward “it’s not a vacation if your kids are there.” This makes me so incredibly sad. We all need breaks, but for the majority of our family vacations, we couldn’t imagine experiencing these wonders without them!
As adults, we all become a bit jaded over time. At the very least, we begin taking beauty for granted. Yet vacationing with our children reopens our eyes so much to the wonders that God has given us, by allowing us to experience them for the first time … again … through the eyes of our children.
Yes, you may miss out on some of the more daring adventures — the longest hikes, the tallest mountains. Or maybe not. In our experience, instilling a sense of adventure in our kids has surprised us with how far they will go, how high they will climb, and how much they will push themselves to grow. Sometimes it just takes the right spin. And if you do miss out on that 20-mile hike … save it for a future return trip.
Branden and their sons at Grand Canyon National Park.
Courtesy of Branden and Alea Stanley
It’s often easy to get discouraged right off the bat. You might not have the right gear the first time, your routine might not be dialed in, and your kids may not be used to the situation or the long car rides. You might even make the mistake of camping in a desert in the middle of the summer like we did! Patience and practice will pay off in the long run though, as the flexibility it has taught our kids has made them excellent travelers, who will sleep just about anywhere and bring minimal complaining. With all their practice, our kids can easily recite our three rules of vacation, especially the first one: “No Whining!”
What is the most important thing for people to know about camping with kids?
Alea: A positive attitude is the most important thing. Things will go wrong, but the kids will remember how you deal with it more than what actually happened.
Branden: And the memories you make along the way will be the ones your kids cherish … because no matter what happens, they got to adventure with mom and dad.
And today we celebrate...