TIPS FOR YOUR FIRST CAMPING TRIP

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She rented a campervan and planned his first camping trip to Utah (it is a lot easier to find someone into camping every time a comfortable queen-sized bed and a fully-equipped kitchen come along for the ride). He lived the trip, and Katy was nice enough to compose a guest site on hints for getting those less experienced folks out into nature by campervan. Thank you, Katy!

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Fifty years old and never camped a day in his entire life! I know...

For the past four decades, I've been suggesting (bordering on rough ) a campervan trip to finally rid my husband of the camping virginity.

Ultimately, we corrected that this gaping error and took Mr. Clarke camping. In Utah. In March. If you are going to do it, you gotta really go for it.

Rookie camping suggestion #1: Make friends with other campers.

We picked up our van in Las Vegas, and our first task was to stock up to the weekend. I had a record of provisions, but the van gods were smiling on us. We were checking in as an awesome couple was coming from by a 3-week outing. They gave us all of their excess stuff, which was pretty much everything on our list. Things were looking up before we set out.

Hint #2: Respect your partner's limitations (even if they don't match your overly romantic vision of your trip).

I had this vision of really going for this. You know, hitting the street, driving until we found this cool from the way place, then setting up camp for the evening. But this trip was already stepping WAY from my husband's comfort zone. He is a man that thrives on plans, order, and spreadsheets (bless him). As we often have in our marriage, we compromised.

We reserved campgrounds on the way, a first for the two of us. This ended up being a good thing because while performing so, we understood that the one street through Cedar Breaks (our first planned stop) was closed until May. We re-routed through Nevada's awesome Valley of Fire State Park.

Hint #3: Know your own camper and bribe consequently.

I am no dummy. As we were driving from Vegas, I'd strategically located the northern-most In-N-Out Burger therefore we could hit the road with full bellies. Everybody's got their"item," and if we are out west, that is ours.

Hint #4: Regardless of how clear, consult your rookie to make sure they thought through this camping thing.

I'm not going to lie. The first night was a little rough in the ole-Clarke van. Facing a big group of unknown was a bit overwhelming for the bad man. A little example: Mr. Clarke is normally a boxers-to-bed kinda man, and he did not think through the logistics of what happens when he has to wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Usually not a big deal if you are in the midst of nowhere, but we were at campgrounds. With folks.

Tip #5: Occasionally they have just got to figure it out.

I moved to get myself cleaned up, and that I came back to find a husband at a completely different mindset. He had figured out how to assemble the cooker and make us coffee.

From this moment forward he was all in. Moral of the story, we learned a lot, saw some unbelievable scenery, have full confirmation that java heals anything, and came back talking to each other.

I'd do it in an absolute heartbeat. When I ask Mr. Clarke if he would do it again, he doesn't say no. Rather, he begins making a list (of course) of how we will do it differently next time. That is a complete win in my book.