Electronics For Camping Am I Wrong?
I have to admit, I have really become attached to my electronics. So you can imagine my shock as my husband told me he was going to give me a quick start challenge to go cold turkey without any electronics for camping. Now this is not saying that I cannot do it, I mean growing up I literally felt like all that I had to play with was the old ball on a stick that you had to get the ball in a cup. So I quickly thought this was going to be something that I was going to be able to get away from my electronics and never have to worry about the fact that I was going to miss them. Granted, I would miss some of the things, like the ease of picking up my phone and playing games or calling someone, but that was easy to overcome I thought. That is when I started to discover it is actually a lot more difficult to drop the electronics than what I thought it would be. Since I was so shocked, I decided to look at some of the electronics to be used with camping that can help you keep yourself up to date with what is going on in the world, but that is not the point of this, the point is about the electronics that you can bring with you on the trails or even to the campground to help out. Here are some of the categories that I have found helpful for me.
Navigation Devices
Now, I have to admit, my husband loves his maps and the paper kind at that. However, I have to admit I am particularly fond of the GPS systems. These are a great item to have and I really like them. The downside is if you are not looking at the GPS systems that are going to feature trails, you need to realize most of them will not have a trail map guide or even have the trails that people are going to take marked on them. So you need to make sure you know about the GPS system and if it is going to be updated enough to include the trails that you are planning on taking or not. I know for me, the trails my husband likes to go on are barely marked on the trail maps, let alone a GPS system. However, it is important to note that the campgrounds, which you could be staying at, are usually well marked on the GPS systems and can update to help keep you on the right road to the campground.
Lighting And Lanterns
Being able to see outside is important for me. I do not know why, but I really enjoy getting the chance to look outside and know what is going on. However, when I am going camping my husband tends to rely on the lanterns that are available and always makes fun of me for wanting to use more than just that for the light source when I go outside. This is when I am tempted to remind him that I am able to find quite a few items in the dark if I have the right light and this includes the cookies that he likes to snack on at night, but constantly forgets to bring outside with him, until it is to dark. So what could have been a sticking point for us when we go camping is a battle that I actually win quite a bit because I have pointed out to him time and time again that we need the light to be able to see and if he wants his cookies he better let me bring something more advanced than a gas powered lantern.
Entertainment Items
This is one item that my husband and I can both agree upon. While sitting in the middle of the woods and listening to the trees and the creeks is nice, it does nothing for the kids who get bored easily and even when they have played all day are not tired yet. So we have come to the conclusion that we have to bring some type of electronic game for the kids to play, which is the case. Something else that we have decided to bring with us all the time for camping is a radio, which will allow us to keep up with the news, but also makes it easier for us to know what kind of weather we can expect to see while we are camping. All of these items allow us to have a better camping trip, but also makes it easier for us to enjoy the trip as a family, without getting at each others throats.
While most people think they can go camping and still bring all of their electronics with them, this is not always the case. In fact I have found that when you are camping you need to make sure you know about the electronic items that you should be bringing with you and which ones you should be leaving home. I know that I covered three of the basic categories of what I like to bring with me and I am sure that you have items that you enjoy as well. In the future we will be addressing each of these areas with some additional reviews of products and how they are going to help you in your camping trips. I am sure that we will even add in new items as well, which will make it easier for you to know if your camping trip is going to be a good one or a bad one.
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