Tent Camping Tips: Update to Our Camping Gear and Site - 2022

It's been a while but I'm back with an update to how we tent camp! In this video I share with you what we've added/changed to our gear and campsite. Hope it helps!
✦ Camping Essentials (My Amazon Store): a.co/7sZwZEK
✦ My Camping Videos Playlist: • Tent Camping Tips
✦ Links to Google Docs for Packing Lists (These are pretty specific to my family, but after clicking on the link, you should be able to download the doc to your computer and then edit it yourself so you can tailor it to your own needs. These are also my Master lists so we don't always bring everything listed on them; I use them more as a reminder of items to bring so I don't forget year-to-year what we have brought in the past. I hope they help you!):
*Camping Food Shopping Checklist: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
*Equipment/Clothes/Personal List: docs.google.com/document/d/1A...
*Kids' Equipment List: docs.google.com/document/d/1-...
✦ Find me on Instagram @saradottweston ( / saradottweston )
#SaraWeston #TentCampingTips #TentCamping
✦ My Amazon Store: www.amazon.com/shop/influence...
✦ For all Business/Collab/Partnership Inquiries: [e-mail]
✦ About Me:
I am wife to my husband of 15 years and mom to five kids (four girls, ages 12, 10, 9, and 2 and one boy, aged 6 years). We are in our 9th year of homeschooling and are also a part of a public charter school that supports homeschooling parents while also offering elective classes for the students. We love Jesus and our family and are striving to instill those loves in our children. On this channel, you will find me talking about homeschooling, mom life, and travel tips. Basically, anything I'm interested in is what I'll be sharing with you :)
✦ FTC Disclaimer. This is not a sponsored video. Any products shown in my videos, so far, have all been purchased by myself or the public charter school we are a part of. All opinions are my own. If there are any Amazon links in the description box, they are affiliate links. Clicking on an Affiliate Link does not cost you any more money; it simply supports my channel :)
✦ Music in this Video:
Hoedown by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Artist: audionautix.com/
Other Music: www.epidemicsound.com
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Costco Haul WITH PRICES - Family of 6 - March 11, 2019: • Costco Haul WITH PRICE...
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[@aprilriley2381]

Girl you are my spirit animal!!!! I am a mother of seven. I have a 17-year-old a 15-year-old a nine-year-old a seven-year-old a three-year-old and twin 20 month old. My husband and I both grew up loving to camp however having so many children we have not embraced the camping world the way we want to😞 but after Covid and quarantine we have fallen back in love with it. I am an organization junkie. I love your list!! I am a list person too. I have fully enjoyed your videos they are all inspiring. thank you so much for taking the time out of a busy mom life To create these for other moms to encourage and inspire and Lend helpful tips. ❤️👍🏕

[@SaraWeston]

Thank you for your kind words! I'm so glad my lists are helpful for you! You have quite the range in kids' ages and I do not envy you the younger age group but how fun for your family to get back into something you love!

[@brittany8124]

Soooooo glad to see you back. I love your channel so much! ❤

[@SaraWeston]

Thank you so much!! I'm definitely not "regularly" back yet but I'm working getting there 😊

[@amylegg49]

You are seriously the only youtuber that even comes close to how we camp. I love your videos! Happy to see you back. You have my first aid box! I use the bottom for first aid and the top for medicines. I have a full supply, every trip. I have never seen any first aid list that matches mine. Congrats on the van! We use a trailer. Hopefully we will be building a custom trailer next spring. We camp with my adult children, grandchildren and my 2 teens. I organize the whole trip.

[@SaraWeston]

Oh it's so good to hear I'm not the only one who does it this way 😃 Everyone just needs to find what works best for them so I just want to share one way you could do things. That's crazy that we have the same first aid box! My husband is not a fan of it and thinks it's a bit overkill but I feel so much better knowing that we have supplies for many situations now (and let me tell you, we used it quite a bit this year, including the first day). Yes, we LOVE our van. It's a bit difficult at times around town but for trips and space for the kids, it's been amazing! It's so much fun camping with family and always makes it so much more enjoyable for everyone. We always typically have at least one set of our parents with us and another family or two. This year we had some of my cousins come up and it was so fun to get to show them around. Hope you enjoy your next camping adventures with your clan! (Oh, and thanks for watching and the sweet words 💗)

[@habituallinestepper8839]

That’s a lot stuff wow glad it could all fit. Nice setup

[@SaraWeston]

Me too! 😆

[@YY-jv4uu]

The only family camping video I’ve come across that is honest and very informative. Thank you for this I really enjoyed your planning phase with your lists. I am definitely going to borrow this idea! We always take two cars because we cannot fit everything in one car but the perks of that is that we can leave the big car at the site and use the small hatchback for day trips to the beach or wherever

[@SaraWeston]

Why thank you! That's a nice compliment. I really do try to be as open and honest and give as much helpful information as I can. I don't know what I'd do without my lists!

[@nicolereadstarot]

I have a tip that i use now. If you like having bedside tables in a tent we use milk crates to pack because they are small and stack and double as tables in the tentoh and for soace saving, all clothes, diapers and bedding we put in a vacuum bag 😂

[@SaraWeston]

Those at great tips! Thanks for sharing 😁

[@kathrenconrad8205]

Off topic but I use banker boxes in my closet for off-season clothes storage instead of bins

[@SaraWeston]

They stack so well; I can see why you would. Unfortunately, I just pulled out one from our storage that holds our Halloween decorations and termites had eaten through the whole bottom! I guess, there is a downside to using them ☹

[@Skullz2112]

I would love to know your favorite camp site at Hume Lake. I'm trying to go to different locations other than camp Edison

[@SaraWeston]

We try to get a site at Hume Lake Campground in the teens to the 40s (those are all on the same loop - sorry I can't give you exact numbers for the range but I'm not sure exactly what they are without being up there). At this campground, there are 3-4 main loops and this one is our favorite. Others will camp at Princess Campground and then drive the 15 min to get to the lake - some people prefer this as it's farther away from the Christian Camp and they can be pretty noisy at night and the sound travels well over the lake to the campground. Hope that helps!

[@brendahowell5946]

Wow! Put a bike alarm on the girls tent. Never can’t be to careful

[@franny5295]

I call it comfort camping. I would much rather have all of what we need to enjoy the time out, than to suffer through barely getting by. I bring home half a tote if snacks, every time. Because, no matter what I put in there, what my son wants changes on a whim so I make sure there's a variety of things for him to pick over. And just so you don't feel bad, my garage looks like a tornado hit it. And when we get back, a 10 x 10 canvas springbar tent will be hanging from the ceiling in there too because if it doesn't fully dry out 👀...I paid way too much for that tent to risk it not drying completely out... Comfort camping, there's survival camping, and that's fine for people who want to see how much they can suffer without suffering but that's not my jam. I like comfort. To me, camping should be a comfortable and refreshing experience. I did my "survival camping" in the military 😅 Edited to add: Have you considered getting a 12v fridge/ freezer/ fridge and freezer combo? Because honey... my nerves couldn't take it and a good quality chest is heavy. I'm widowed and my son is 7. It'll be a while before he's big enough to really help with that.

[@SaraWeston]

I like that term, comfort camping 😊 Definitely don't need to suffer if not needed while on a trip/vacation. Those ice chests are very heavy, but that's why I load them up in the car and keep them in the car for the entire trip. They don't do much moving if I can help it 😂

[@franny5295]

@@SaraWeston It took way longer than it really should have for me to figure out that loading it in the car and leaving it there was smarter than all the things I was trying to do to figure out how to drag it 🤣

[@PedroPerez-ye1wc]

Tip: So you don’t have to have belongings hitting the roof look into a cargo hitch it was a great investment for our family and saved a lot of room.

[@SaraWeston]

Thanks for the tip! Unfortunately, it wouldn't work for us cause we put a bike rack on the back - can't do both. I've been looking into how to put hooks into the roof so we can attach netting to it for a barrier, but I'm still on the hunt.

[@SaraWeston]

We used a large heavy duty net with tie-downs this year and it worked great!

[@kathrenconrad8205]

Water and vinegar mix for flies may work on yellow jackets??

[@SaraWeston]

We'll have to try that out. They are SOOOO annoying while cooking and eating; I'll try just about anything to get rid of them while we're there!

[@mailmnswifey]

Finally I found a video by someone who brings “everything”. We’re a family of 3, and completely fill our Honda Pilot and hitch rack for a camping trip. Or 4 day vacation…

[@sarac3882]

Where did you get the kitchen utensil and plate basket?

[@SaraWeston]

I got it from Costco a few years ago.

[@therusticcollectionebaysto7028]

New sub ! Liked 🙏🙏👍😆

[@SaraWeston]

Welcome! And thanks for watching 😊

[@olmcmonnie7445]

Nothing wrong with comfy camping and nothing wrong with bringing leftovers home. If you get in late, no worries about what's for lunch/dinner.

[@SaraWeston]

This is very true about the leftovers. I didn't feel like I had to run out to the store right away because we did have some food to eat left from the trip. 🙂

[@fendermustang6537]

Should have a cargo net between u and the seating area what happen if u hut brakes hard

[@SaraWeston]

Agreed. That is something we need to install before the next time we do this.

[@lorinoyes4498]

1 word....JENGA!!!

[@SaraWeston]

Good suggestion

[@nicolereadstarot]

I have twin 2 year old boys who are on the spectrum, plus a 12 year old stepson and baby girl due in July. The preteen thinks camping is boring but the twins went twice last summer and loves camping. I'm really worried about having my two little runners either with an infant or while 8 months pregnant so any tips will be really useful.

[@SaraWeston]

First, congrats on the new baby! I think you're amazing to be camping with all the little ones and without another adult. I know I wouldn't be up for it, but am super impressed with others who can. You commented on another video (I think it was the one I did about camping with babies/toddlers) and I responded over there so I don't want to rehash what has already been said. I wish I had more tips for you with your situation but I'm not sure I do. If your stepson is coming with (even though it's boring for him), could you offer to pay him to help keep an eye on the twins for a period of time each day (or some other reward that would be worthwhile in his eyes)? That would at least help you for a bit of time each day. My biggest suggestion, right now, would be to keep your food very simple so you aren't distracted with that while they're running around. I try to prep as much as possible while at home so I'm only really reheating things or pulling things that are ready-to-go out of the ice chest. I talk about this more in the video I put out last summer about Camping Food Tips & Ideas, if you haven't already watched it. I know that having food as easy as possible while camping really helps with my sanity, especially with little kids. If I can think of anything else that might be helpful, I'll be sure to let you know!

[@SaraWeston]

Oh, and let me just say, I've camped while pregnant, at many stages, but never that far along. I was never comfortable so you are indeed amazing that you will be doing it at 8 months (or with a newborn).

[@nicolereadstarot]

@@SaraWeston thank you so much. I will attempt but I can't make promises lol. If anything it will be back yard camping lol. I will try with your suggestions. The twins are on the spectrum so they are very picky. I'm going to make sure to have lots of fruit on hand though.

[@SaraWeston]

@@nicolereadstarot Backyard camping sounds perfect!

[@franny5295]

I would definitely do backyard camping first. My son isn't on the spectrum but we ran into "the outside makes my food taste funny" and he refused to eat it so you just never know how they'll do. It may be something entirely mundane and unexpected. Like refusing to poop. My son will poop in a camp potty but he been potty trained since he was two, he's 6.5 and will not use a public toilet to poop. He straight up won't do it. Turn your backyard into a campsite so if things get crazy you can take everybody inside. And your runners can't run past the fence.

[@nicolereadstarot]

Girl, do you rent a U-Haul for camping?!

[@SaraWeston]

No, but I have looked into it! We would either bring two vehicles or have one of our sets of parents help us by bringing things for us. We were never able to (until the last few years) been able to bring all our gear in just the one car. Two years ago, we upgraded to a full-size van so we can now do it all ourselves and it's been wonderful! I am definitely not a minimalist while camping and I've just had to come to terms with that 😁

[@kathrenconrad8205]

My kids always had to wear water shoes in any water activity. Just in case.

[@SaraWeston]

Great tip!

[@danpayan9468]

Somebody left milk out

[@SaraWeston]

Uh oh!