Organized camping

Even when my husband and I go camping, I try to keep our campsite and gear as organized and decluttered as possible. We bring only what we really need, plus a few personal items for our own comfort, like a book, soft pillow or socks, or our small camp hammock. Each thing has its own place and its own container. This is what we usually bring:

1. Tent
2. Sleeping bags, mattresses and pillows
3. A backpack each for our clothes and personal items
4. A cooler for cold foods
5. A dry box for our dry foods
6. "The Kitchen Box" which is a rugged plastic bin that holds our cooking pans, utensils, clotheslines, matches, tablecloth, oven mitt, soap and other things. Everything just gets tossed into the box (no need to be anal on a camping trip) and then immediately gets cleaned out after each trip.

We also strive to keep our campsite organized. Making sure the tent zipper is closed keeps out bugs, closing the lids on our food and kitchen boxes keeps out the birds and squirrels and keeping everything organized means we are able to find everything right away.

I have noticed other campsites in our area that are strewn with kids' toys and clothes, food is left out, and garbage piles up. If you do this in your home, no one can see it unless they come in, but in a campground your site is open to the world. No one likes to see that kind of mess, especially out in nature.