Beginners Guide to Weekend Warrior Camping

We enjoy being a weekend warrior camping family. Do we wish we could camp more…shoot yeah! But for the time being, we are your typical weekend warriors.

What is a weekend warrior you ask? It’s a fancy name for the weekend camper! Who usually only camps on the weekends, or holiday weekends or schedules a long 3-4 day weekend. That’s us!

This is your beginners guide to weekend warrior camping. I’m going to walk you through how to change your perspective about camping more often on the weekends. You are going to go from…this is not fun and hard, to… I got this!

So let’s dig in on how you are going to make this work!

What is your weekend warrior camping goal?

Well you clicked on this article, so you are curious on how to do more weekend camping. What does that mean to you? What does that look like?

Are you trying to get out and camp at least once a month from Spring to Fall? Are you just trying to go on more family adventures?

How many times a month are you trying to go camping? Maybe you already get out once a month and are trying to make it twice a month. That is GREAT!

Our goal is to get out and camp on the weekends more. We want to camp at least once a month from March to October. As of this writing we have booked camping spots in March, April, June, July and August. In July we are camping twice that month.

How are you going to pay for the party?

I follow a family blog called Mama Says Namaste. They say this saying frequently. I can even hear Nathan’s voice saying it. How are you going to pay for the party?

How are you going to afford to go camping more often? Where is the money going to come from? How much is a reasonable budget to go camping for the weekend? Can you figure out how to take a 1/2 day on Friday so you can leave when the kids get home from school? How can you make this work?!

What is the budget for a weekend warrior camping trip

What is the going rate, near you, for a weekend camping spot? Is it $90 at the fancy KOA? Or is it $36 for the State Park close by? How much is gas? How much will it cost to fill up the truck? We had some gas shortage problem here in Colorado. So our gas is going to be high until the Fall “They say!”

Do you want to eat out for a meal or two that weekend? How much do you think that’ll cost? Do you like to have fun treats while you camp? Will that be a cost in addition to your regular food budget? Or do you think you can squeeze in the fun food and still stay on budget?

What about any fun activities at camp? Do you plan on renting kayaks, paddleboards, or water toys? Do you need to get your fishing license for the weekend and any tags?

If you are staying at a park, is there an entrance fee? Do they charge extra for kids or dogs? Do you have to board your dog for the weekend?

So many things to think about and what they cost for a camping weekend. All of this isn’t to frustrate you. We just want you to be prepared financially, as you are trying to get out and camp more often.

Where is that money coming from

So now that you know what the weekend trip will cost… where is the money going to come from?

I’m going to use us as an example. I’m sure you will fill in your unique needs as I explain our process.

I look at my monthly budget. I figure out what expenses cannot be eliminated or changed. Like my mortgage, utilities, insurance and such. Then I look at the items that I have more control over like groceries, amazon purchases, extra spending, clothes and the kids school stuff.

Well groceries cannot be lowered. WHY… cause eggs are $7 a dozen. And I have tried to lower it, that is just something that keeps going up instead of down. The next step is Amazon and extra purchases. Can I skip one or 2 items in our save and subscribe items on Amazon? Can I lower our spending money? I guess I don’t NEED to buy the cute shoes at Target this month. Can I cut out any school items for the kids? YES I can!

We now have about $175 of “extra money” that we will use for our camping budget. Now I MAKE that money work.

Do I like staying at the fancy KOA, yes I do. Will that work with my $175 budget, nope. I guess we aren’t staying at the KOA for a weekend warrior camping trip. 😉

NOW… if you can come up with more money, then stay at the fancy KOA campground. If you have less money, then a State Park or dispersed campsite might be a better fit for you.

How far can you go for a weekend warrior camping trip?

Make a list of all the places that you want to go… but are close. No more than 2 hours away. Close enough to leave work early after lunch (or when the kids get home from school) & get to camp by dinner on Friday.

If you can’t take a half day then keep drive time to an hour.

Or you can base your list on a tank of gas. Which can be a pooper I know. How far can you go on a tank of gas? That can mean 1/2 a tank there and 1/2 a tank back. Or a full tank of gas there and a full tank back.

Drive time

How many campgrounds are about an hour or 2 away? If you leave your house at 6, can you get to that campground by dark?

If you are only staying at camp for the weekend, how far do you want to drive? Is 3 hours too far for you? What about an hour and a half, is that more of a reasonable time?

What if you can’t leave work until 6? Then when you get home, eat and hook up it’s about 7:30. Would it make more sense for you to stay closer to home? Maybe about a 30 minute drive would be better.

Gas tank

Trying to make the budget work for you, will also depend on how much money you spend on gas. Now let’s do some basic algebra. Your tank is 20 gallons. Gas is $4 a gallon. When pulling your trailer you get about 7 miles to the gallon. This means that you can go about 140 miles to one tank of gas. Which will cost you $80.

If you stay at the State Park that is $36 a night. You stay 2 nights. That’s $72 plus $80 gas. That’s $152, which is in budget.

But if you use a tank of gas there and a tank back, that puts you over budget at $232.

Create the time…It’s not going to show up!

This is a big one. It’s just as important as the budget. You will need to MAKE time to get the laundry done, grass mowed, grocery shopping done and gas in the truck BEFORE you leave on Friday. The extra time will NOT just show up. You will need to make these things a priority in order to get them done.

Prep the week of the trip

This means do the laundry, mow the grass, grocery shop, meal prep, remember to take the trash cans to the road, clean the house… you get the idea. Let me show you how to make all that nonsense less stressful. The trick, do something extra every day, not Thursday night!

House work

UGH! Just thinking about cleaning the bathroom makes me want to start whining like my kids do. Everyone needs to get on board with the house chores before you leave. Mom doesn’t have to clean the whole stinkin house Thursday night. Give everyone a job/responsibility/chore, whatever you call it. Then designate a day, to that said responsibility and it must be completed by that day.

Laundry

Do a load every day. I have scheduled days where I do laundry. My oldest does her own. She is scheduled for Tuesday. The boys are Wednesday and Saturday. David and I are Monday and Friday. But, if we are going on a trip I make sure all the laundry is done by Wednesday. Then on Sunday when we get home, it’s back to back to back laundry.

Grocery shop and meal prep

Meal plan on Tuesday. What camping meals does everyone like? What do you normally cook when you go camping? Are you going to try a new foil packet recipe? Do you even have foil to bring with you? On Tuesday make the meal plan and grocery list. Then, if you online shop, place your grocery order for pick up Wednesday. If you go into the store, make time to grocery shop after dinner that evening (or whenever it is convenient for you).

**Related Post: RV camping menu plan

We live in Colorado. And for some reason, the grocery stores NEVER have groceries on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday! NEVER! So out of necessity, I HAVE to grocery shop on Wednesday, or we won’t get food. It is now convenient to grocery shop on Wednesday to better prepare us for the weekend camping trip. That way if Walmart doesn’t have lettuce and the substitute is more expensive or they just ran out, I can go to Target and get lettuce. Maybe you are smarter than us and just shop at a better grocery store to begin with… we should be friends. I could use the help.

Getting the camper and packing it

I’m going to assume that you have your camper in storage and you will need to get it before you leave. If this isn’t the case, you have my permission to skip this section. If you are like us, and have your camper in storage, then read on friend.

Pick up the camper a day or 2 before you leave, which I’m sure you already do. Pack the camper a little each night, if you have to. We have most items in the camper. Usually the only things we are packing are clothes and food. Or the items I forgot to pack the last time we took it back to storage.

My in-law family are camping ninjas and keep extra clothes and tools and blankets and all kinds of extra things already in the camper. Now all they have to do is pack the food and leave. We are not camping ninjas. And my kids do not have that many clothes. So we take longer.

Sample week of how to get it all done:

• Sunday (before you leave): Clean bathrooms, mop, vacuum, typical cleaning day
• Monday: Laundry
• Tuesday: Meal plan and order groceries
• Wednesday: P/U groceries and get camper (maybe more laundry?)
• Thursday: Pack camper (and pick up last minute items at Target that Walmart didn’t have. 😉 )
• Friday: Leave ASAP
• Sunday (when you return): Clean up/out camper, laundry, dinner take out or freezer meal, take camper back

Have a freezer meal or order delivery for when you get home

Make dinner on Sunday easy. Have a freezer meal ready to pull out and cook when you get home on Sunday. Or order delivery for dinner. If you pack everyone’s lunches then make sure you have everything you need for Monday’s lunch before you leave on Friday. That way at 9pm on Sunday you aren’t running to the store because you don’t have bread.

When you get home EVERYONE helps

So many families do this part different. Some families will pack up the camper at camp and just bring the camper back to storage before they even get home. They will put everything that needs to go back home in a tote in the bed of the truck.

Some families, like us, unpack the camper at home. Do all the laundry then repack the camper to go back to storage. We do all that before dark.

Some families will unpack the camper, take it back to storage. Then when it’s time to go camping again, repack the camper at home. If this is the case then a drop zone is needed for everything that has to go back in the camper. Which leads us to the next step…

Have a drop zone for the items that have to go back in the camper

Y’all… I have the best memory, so I think. In reality, I forget a lot. More than I care to admit. I ALWAYS think I will remember something…and NEVER do!

In order to remember to put another stove lighter, set of tongs, or whatever, in the camper, we need a “drop zone”. A tote that will go with you in the camper. It can be in the basement, garage, laundry room, hall closet, wherever. But don’t put the tote in a place that you won’t remember, or in a room you never go in.

Have Fun!

What can you do to make the weekend fun? Bring the kids rollerblades, hiking poles or pool noodles? How can you make food easy? Eat oatmeal cookies for breakfast? Eat out for lunch and foil packet meals for dinner? I’m not saying make hot dogs if no one will eat hot dogs. Make simple foods that your family loves.

I am the queen of “complicated meals” because I don’t like hot dogs or PB&J sandwiches. So I make fun food for our trips. I premake as much as possible the week before so we can have fun meals on our trip. Usually the meals that we have are our “camping meals” that we have at camp and not at home. (I say usually, but sometimes I make camping meals at home for dinner, you know, to be the fun mom)

Wrap-up

Prepare throughout the week. Keep basic, everyday stuff, in your camper, as much as possible. Always come home and clean it out, do laundry and pack it back up. Have it “camping ready” as much as possible. Your RV is your second home.

So to wrap-up your beginners guide to weekend warrior camping:

• What is your weekend warrior camping goal
• How are you going to pay for the party
• How far can you go for a weekend camping trip
• Create the time, it’s not going to show up
• Have fun

How do you get out to the campground more often?