Camping Memories and Family Outdoor Adventures: Why I’m Officially Addicted

A personal letter about camping memories, family outdoor adventures, and the beautiful, smelly, s’more-covered reasons I keep going back.

Originally wrote July 28, 2012

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Camping memories and family outdoor adventures are some of the purest joys in my life — and this is one thing my dad and I never did together, which I genuinely wish we had. But there’s a silver lining to that: camping is something my mom introduced me to, and it’s become one of the most treasured things we share. At an early age she was traveling the country from campground to campground, and on the trips I was part of, I loved every single moment — the regulars, the social activities, and yes, even the genuinely terrible vegan food. Those early camping memories and outdoor adventures planted a seed that has never stopped growing.

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How My Love of Camping Memories and Outdoor Adventures Took Root

I am officially, completely, and happily addicted to camping. Some of my best adventures have happened in a tent — especially when that tent was perched directly on a beach. I’ve traveled the entire Florida east coast that way, sleeping to the sound of waves with nothing between me and the outdoors but a layer of nylon. There is nothing like it.

Now, with two boys of my own, camping isn’t just something I love — it’s practically a parental obligation. Most of our family outdoor adventures have been to nearby campgrounds, but proximity doesn’t diminish the experience one bit. The magic of camping memories is the same whether you’ve driven two hours or twenty minutes to get there. Camping with kids creates a specific kind of memory that sticks — unfiltered, unplugged, and completely real.

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The Things That Make Camping Memories and Outdoor Adventures So Unforgettable

Here is my definitive list of everything I love about camping — the things that make me start planning the next trip before the current one is even over:

The serious campers. At least nine out of ten people at any campground are genuinely hardcore, and I deeply respect every one of them. The personalized wooden name signs. You are not officially a camping family until you have a carved wooden sign listing every member of the household staked outside your site. We are working on this. The college football takeover. Tents, chairs, tricked-out golf carts, flags, t-shirts — a campground on a fall weekend is a tailgate and an outdoor adventure rolled into one, and I am completely here for it.

The bathrooms. Enough said. Moving on. Becoming a gourmet campfire chef. There is something about cooking outdoors with improvised tools and no real measurements that brings out a creativity I don’t find anywhere else. The daily activities — trail hikes, tie-dye making, ice cream socials, game nights, and the undisputed crown jewel of any campground morning: the pancake breakfast. Outdoor cooking and campfire meals are genuinely one of the great joys of the camping experience.

Meeting people at those activities. Campgrounds produce a specific kind of instant community that is unlike anything else — strangers become friends over a shared s’more and a bad joke, and it happens every single time. Trying to get your kids to sleep in a tent. A rite of passage for every camping parent, and an exercise in patience I recommend to everyone. The camping wish list that slowly takes over your birthday and Christmas requests — tents, portable toilets, camp showers, gear you didn’t know you needed until you desperately needed it.

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The Camping Memories That Are Messy, Uncomfortable, and Absolutely Perfect

S’mores. Always. The mess is non-negotiable and completely worth it — the perfect s’more is one of life’s simplest and most reliable pleasures. DJing by the campfire. This is my natural habitat and I will not apologize for it. Smelling like campfire for approximately three days after returning home. It is a badge of honor. Sleeping on a half-inflated air mattress that somehow deflates further every single hour. A core part of the authentic camping memories and outdoor adventures experience. The middle-of-the-night bathroom situation. Every camper knows. No further elaboration needed.

The wildlife and insects that remind you, gently but firmly, that you are a guest in their world. The picnic table that serves as dining room, card table, craft station, and everything else for the duration of the trip. The rain — because camping in the rain builds character, creates some of the best stories, and makes the sunshine afterward feel like an absolute gift.

And above all of it: the memories. The camping memories and family outdoor adventures that pile up trip after trip, year after year, are the ones my kids will carry with them long after they’ve forgotten most everything else. Research on outdoor experiences and childhood development consistently shows that time in nature builds resilience, creativity, and connection — and I believe every word of it.

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There is nowhere I would rather be right now than exactly where I am — camping as we speak, smelling like smoke, completely happy.

From the tent, Angel

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Learn more about Angel Holmes and everything she’s passionate about at sipindipity.com/angel-holmes.