While camping is super fun, you may have fears or reservations about it. Well, your worries are valid.
However, you cannot enjoy camping with such fears. This means that you will need to get rid of your camping fears.
Here are seven tips to help you get rid of your fears fast.
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7 Tips to Get Rid of Your Fear of Camping
Here are easy tips for you:
1. Baby Steps
When you want to eliminate an addiction or habit, you do not stop all at once. Likewise, you cannot get rid of fear all at once.
Take some baby steps to let go of your camping fears finally.
For example, you can start with hiking and go as far away from your home as possible in the daytime. You can try out an evening cookout and return home before the night comes.
While you are getting used to leaving your home and trying new things (related to camping), you can get more practical by trying out an overnight camping experience in your backyard.
After that, you can try your first camping trip, which should be done with a lot of people. It will help if you do not camp far from your home.
2. Camp with Mature People
One common and valid reason why people fear camping is the risk of accidents.
While you should explore, you want to be mature about it so that you do not get involved in an accident.
One very good way to prevent accidents is to camp only with mature people or people who do not forget about safety when playing. Such people will keep themselves (and you) safe while camping.
For your first camp, you want to try camping without children, as you are still getting used to the experience and cannot take care of others.
Children play a lot and need extra attention, so you only want to camp with children when you finally let go of your camping fears.
3. Always Be with a Camp Guide
It does not matter if your guide is a person, book, or resource; just make sure that you have one.
Always follow your camp guide’s instructions and ask many questions when possible. Your camp guide has a lot of camping experience and knows all about your camping location, so you can rely on them for information and safety.
What if you do not have a camp guide?
Well, just make sure you are with mature campers, and at least one of them should have a lot of information about the location you choose for camping.
4. Plan a Lot of Exciting Things to Do With Your Friends
One common reason people do not like camping is that they feel it would be boring, especially when they camp in remote places.
To eliminate boredom from your camping experience, you want to make sure that you plan camping activities for every day of the trip. Doing so will help you look forward to the next day, as you simply cannot wait.
What if you do not have friends? Well, one pro of camping is that you get to meet like-minded people, and you can make friends from camping.
If you cannot plan the activities with your friends, consider paying camping agents for your first camping experience, as they will provide more secure and exciting experiences for you and others.
5. Do Not Take Unnecessary Risks
While you may love to explore and take risks, you need to know that the woods are not as safe as the city.
The fear of a camping accident is always valid, so you do not want to take risks.
Unless your camping guide says that you can dive into a river, do not dive into the river. If the camping guide says that you should avoid certain places or plants, you want to do just that.
Remember that aside from you obeying the guide, your friends should obey the instructions too. This is why you must camp with mature people who follow instructions.
6. Separate Truth from Fiction
So many people are afraid of camping because of what they have seen in horror movies.
The truth is that camping is not as scary as the way horror movies put it. In fact, camping is not scary at all.
No ghosts are trying to take your soul. There are no wild animals that will kill everyone on the camping grounds.
If you go camping with the fear of unreal things, you will not enjoy the experience and will find yourself always getting cautious of everything.
Do not worry. Camping is a safe activity, so long as you follow the instructions.
7. Always Focus on the Positive Side of Camping
It does not matter if you are an optimist, realist, or pessimist; you want to see only the good side of camping if you want to enjoy your camping trip.
Instead of getting worried that there may be no mobile network, you should be excited that you can now focus on the real world.
Instead of getting worried that you are getting too far from your family, you should be excited that you can now make many new friends.
As you can see, most of these fears or worries can be converted into good feelings and hope, so long as you continue to be positive.
Now you know ways to get rid of your camping fears. Continue reading to learn how you can get rid of some camp-related fears.
Some Common Camp-Related Fears and How to Get Rid of Them
Here are some camp-related fears and how to get rid of them:
1. Lack of Network and Technology
Some people fear losing their phone or not being able to access Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms.
Well, you can get a lot of useful information from the internet, but if you are not too careful, the internet can become very addicting, and you may feel empty or disconnected from the world without your phone.
Instead of worrying about this, it should be the main reason you should anticipate camping. You can retrain your body and mind to learn that you are complete without your phone.
The experiences that you get from outdoor camping can never be found online, so go camping!
2. Getting Lost in the Woods
This is a valid fear because you can get lost if you are not too careful and walk far from the camp.
To prevent yourself from getting lost, you want to make sure that you camp near a city so that you can find your way back to the city.
You also want to get a map and compass to help you navigate your way. Finally, you should be with people and search for landmarks while camping.
You should teach your children and others about these safety tips so that they do not get lost. Also, every one of you should listen to your camp guide’s instructions so you do not get lost.
3. Getting Attacked by Wild Animals
This is another valid fear because there are wild animals in the woods.
If you go camping, you can only get rid of the fear of wild animals when you are prepared for them.
Here are some tips to help you get rid of your fears:
- Do not attract them: Do not leave leftover foods at the campground, as they can attract pests and wild animals. Make sure that you follow your guide instructions about food disposal.
- Do not fear them: Some animals, such as squirrels, are not dangerous, so you only need to scare them away.
- Get some repellents: You want to get repellents for bears, snakes, and other animals that are found close to your camping location.
So long as you have repellents and skilled people around you, you should be safe from such animals.
4. Camping with Drunk Campers
There can be drunk people in your campground. Some people just can’t help but get drunk while camping. These people can have knives or even guns in their tents, so your fear of such people is valid.
Well, this is why you must only camp with mature people who follow the instructions of the camp guide.
Also, you want to share your concern with such people and discuss your safety (as well as theirs) with them so that they do not drink more than their limits.
5. Fear of the Dark
Are you scared of the dark? You are not alone.
If you are scared of the dark, you’ve got enough reasons not to go camping as you will be in the woods at night. Well, do not get discouraged because there are many campers that have had this fear but got rid of it successfully.
You can get rid of this fear by camping and sharing a tent with someone that you trust.
You also need some flashlights or any source of light so that you can feel safe at night. Finally, you want to go into your tent early so that you do not need to fear the woods when it is dark outside.
Don’t worry. There is no camping fear that you cannot get rid of.
Useful Tips for First-Time Campers
Are you camping for the first time? Here are some useful tips for you:
1. Keep Your Tent in a Safe and Approved Place
You do not want to keep your tent away from the campground. Also, do not camp close to a beehive or any dangerous place.
You want to make sure you obey your camp guide’s instructions. Always remember that the position and location of your tent is the first thing that you should consider.
If you are scared of the dark or the woods, you want to keep your tent between other tents so that you will not be facing the woods directly when you come out at night.
2. Get a Nightlight
A flashlight or nightlight can make you feel safe at night because you can make use of it when you hear a sound or when you have to pee.
Make sure that you charge it when you can so that it can be fully functional when you need it at night.
3. Get a Mini First Aid Kit
Just in case of an emergency, you want to make sure that you go camping with a first aid kit. It can be helpful for minor injuries as well as other medical emergencies.
A first aid kid is very important, especially when camping with children and many people.
4. Write a List of All Your Possessions
Many campers leave belongings at the campground because of the excitement of going back home.
To help prevent losing your items, you want to write down everything on a list. Make sure you check off every item on the list when packing to return home.
5. Get Some Pest and Animal Repellents
Remember that you are camping outside, so you want to go with pests and animal repellents.
Some pests that you want to repel are mosquitoes and other insects. Also, you want to repel snakes, bears, and other wild cats.
So long as you use the tips above, you should have a great camping experience.
Final Thoughts
Remember that you are not alone if you have some camping fears. Even though your fears are valid, you should know that you can get rid of them and have a great camping experience.