With the beautiful season and the days getting longer the idea of trying the camping experience begins to flash in the heads of many. There are those who love it and those who hate it. Many would not hesitate to define a tent holiday as a real nightmare due to the amount of leaves and sand they found themselves living with on what was supposed to be the much desired outdoor holiday. Yet there is a way to avoid finding yourself in these situations. Witness the thousands of people who choose Garden Sharing every year for rent a tent pitch in the most beautiful nature destinations in Italy. We asked one of them, Chiara, an experienced camper, to share her experience. Here's a real one for you practical guide to organizing spaces inside and outside the tent to be saved!
Holidays in a tent with all the comforts: interview with Chiara, a passionate camper
Q: Hi Chiara, thank you very much for your availability! Before starting with the questions I'll leave you the floor. Do you have any spontaneous declarations to make for those who are preparing to take an outdoor holiday?
A: Hi Giusi, I would like to start with a premise: dear aspiring camper, when you arrive with your tent in the pitch you have chosen, before even starting to put down even just the first sheet, study the area you have chosen based on to the shaded areas and try to figure out where the sun will rise.
If you are someone who wants to sleep in the morning, position yourself so that you have shade in the morning. However, if you like waking up early and prefer to have shade in the afternoon, study the best way to get it. Then look carefully at the trees around you because you will need them to pull all the wires, both to hang out and to possibly lay a cloth over them and create a bit of privacy and obviously to put hammocks: absolutely fundamental!
Possibly you may also need them to put up a roof either to have more shade or to protect the tent and the living area from falling leaves or other. In short, in my opinion this is the very first thing.
Q. Great tip! Let's move on to the tent then. How to optimize internal space to maximize comfort and practicality?
A: I'll give you the example of our tent. We are traveling with a family which is therefore a tent in which you can stand up, consisting of a living area and a bedroom.
To make the most of the vertical areas at Decathlon we bought a wall-mounted organizer full of pockets that attaches on four corners. Here we keep the keys, the torch, the things we use most often within easy reach.
For the corners, however, we use storage containers like those that are placed inside wardrobes that close and which basically create lots of drawers. Ours are round in a circle. In this way it is possible to exploit the corner of the tent by placing both clothes and objects.
Q: Some advice on how to arrange sleeping bag mattresses for optimal rest?
A: Then it is certainly worth it first of all to buy a quality inflatable mattress because this could be decisive in determining the success of your camping experience. In short, if you sleep badly then after three days you can't stand it anymore.
In the bedroom we always position the mattress centrally, so that we can both have an empty side row where we can put our clothes bags and obviously I also put the my puppy kennel on my side.
Small bedside tables to be mounted at head height can easily be found in major shops or you can simply use the floor to place your mobile phone and the things you need to have at hand even at night. It should be considered that curtains often come with side storage pockets which can replace or complement what you normally use as a bedside table.
Q: What are your tricks to keep personal items such as shoes, torches, books and accessories tidy and within reach.
A: It is essential to think by priority. So the things you use less often will be less visible while the things you use more often you keep within reach. First of all, it's a good idea to get used to leaving your shoes outside the tent (to avoid bringing the worst rubbish inside) and putting torches, keys and everyday accessories in the pockets attached to the wall at the entrance to the tent. To organize our things we then use boxes that all have the same size and which we can therefore easily fit inside the tent.
Q: How to create a functional and welcoming living area inside or outside the tent in all seasons?
A: The living area can be inside or outside the tent, or you can decide to set up both. For example, we have a kind of internal living room that we use when we go camping in the low season. That's right, in the evening we throw ourselves in, we have a kind of inflatable sofa, we sit there and if the weather outside is bad or it's too cold we bring the table and chairs inside and eat inside. Instead of summer when we usually camp for longer periods, this internal living room becomes the place where we store everything and we set up the living room outside. Usually we place another large sheet in front or to the side of the tent that acts as a floor and above we put the table and chairs. This space can then be covered with a gazebo or tarpaulin. Once this is done you can dedicate yourself to lighting. For example, we have some lights that create a very soft and delicate environment and we place them on the perimeter of this "square" that delimits the living room. If you only have one light available, place a central one in the center of the living room.
It is also useful to use the door of the tent, buying some poles to keep it open and high so as to create a tunnel between the tent and the gazebo/living room.
We also spread a sheet in the connection between the tent floor and the living room floor to limit dirt. Walking as much as possible in an area that is clean and that you can sweep helps you maintain the cleanliness of the internal spaces of the tent.
Q. How do you keep your tent and surrounding area clean and tidy while camping?
A. So what I told you initially here is extremely useful. So a cover between the tent and the external living area because leaves constantly fall and dirty everything up and the floors because you can sweep them, even the mat in front of the entrance helps. Taking off your shoes before entering is the best way to accumulate as little dirt, leaves and dust as possible inside the tent.
Then I advise you to always have a broom and dustpan at hand because almost every day (if not every day) you will have to give it a quick wipe down so as to always have everything fairly tidy and clean.
Q: What are your favorite camping accessories to optimize space and make camping more comfortable?
A: We absolutely love the net to tie under the coffee table. Practically under the table you tie this net to the corners and you can throw all the things on it. For example, the objects you have at hand, you can always throw those there. We love it. Furthermore, it is also super useful to have an internal table, if you have the living room in the tent it is really very convenient because it will be the only support you can access without having to bow.
Q: Are there any other tips or tricks you would like to share to help first-time campers better organize their spaces?
A: Don't get too excited when you only go for two days; try not to bring everything with you, but the bare minimum to be comfortable. Otherwise you spend more time assembling and dismantling than enjoying your weekend.
However, when you go for long periods, go for it, you will thank yourself for having invested all that time in loading the car to be assembled, because then obviously the goal is to be comfortable and be able to enjoy a pleasant holiday even in a situation that may not seem like much. comfortable, but I assure you that you can be very comfortable in a tent.
So in light of this consideration, if you want to do itinerant tourism it is better, if you are a little busy, not to have to move every two days, but perhaps dedicate at least four days to each stage. This way you will make your adventure more enjoyable.
Another thing that helps us a lot is that we managed to make a pre-departure checklist which we increasingly optimize from time to time by ticking off things one by one before departure. This allows you to leave a little more carefree and not stay there making the journey with the worry of "what did I forget"? Because many times you go to areas where - fortunately - there is only you, the sea, the stones and if you have forgotten something important it can be really complicated.