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What is the definitive guide to Hilary Erickson's camping experiences and tips?

Updated March 28, 20264 min read

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Hilary Ericksoncampingtipsexperiences

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From Hilary Erickson

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Hi, I’m Hilary Erickson from The Pregnancy Nurse and Pulling Curls. Love this question because camping has been a whole “late-in-life conversion” for me.

From what I’ve shared so far, here’s the closest thing to a definitive guide to my camping experiences and tips, all in one place:

  1. I came to camping late: I’d done girls camp as a teen and “camping” on my in-laws’ land (which felt more like sleeping in a tent near a house). Real, drive-away-from-home camping with my own family happened much later, after years of baby-trying, pregnancies, and a personal rule that I won’t camp with a non-walker.
  2. Why I fell in love with it:
    1. No (or very little) wi-fi, so we actually unplug
    2. Tons of together time without everyone disappearing into screens
    3. Shared work setting up camp and cooking
    4. All the simple magic: flashlights, headlamps, fires, owls hooting, everyone sleeping in one “room”
    5. The fire at night is a built-in gathering place for talking, card games, and even a little truth or dare
  3. My big-picture “mom philosophy” on camping:
    1. It’s cheaper than hotels, and those dollars can go to more important long-term goals (I literally joked that ASU can have the hotel money)
    2. It forces us to slow down and be together in a way we rarely are at home
    3. Shared experiences (snoring, owls, kids crawling into our sleeping bags) become family stories
  4. My top practical essentials (from my camping checklist):
    1. Water containers
      1. At least one insulated jug for drinking
      2. A separate container for washing hands/dishes (I’ve used cheaper jugs or thrifted containers so I don’t stress about them)
      3. “Running water” at camp is huge for my sanity and feeling clean
    2. Playing cards
      1. They’re tiny to pack and give you hours of entertainment
      2. We play Speed, Mormon Bridge, War, Hand and Foot, etc.
      3. Teaching kids card games is sneaky parenting: you learn a lot about what’s going on in their heads while they’re relaxed and talking
    3. Flashlights and headlamps
      1. Every kid gets their own (which they love)
      2. Headlamps are especially good for little ones who would set a flashlight down and lose it
      3. My rule: no shining lights in mom’s eyes
      4. I keep extras because I do not like being in the dark without one
    4. Treats we never buy at home
      1. Cheetos (my “gateway drug”)
      2. Little Debbie/Hostess-type snacks
      3. Fun s’mores variations
      4. Camping is when I let them eat “crap” with a few carrots thrown in for good measure; nobody’s zoning out in front of a TV, they’re running around and climbing rocks
    5. A decent cot
      1. After pregnancies, my hips hate the ground
      2. Blow-up mattresses can shoot out from under me (hilarious in theory, not in real life at 2 a.m.)
      3. Quick-set-up cots for the adults are my compromise between comfort and not spending forever setting up camp beds
    6. Sunscreen and bug protection
      1. Sunburns or bites will ruin a trip faster than almost anything
      2. I’m in the “Valley of the Sun,” so I’m pretty intense about skin protection and skin cancer risk
      3. A good broad-spectrum sunscreen and something for bugs are non-negotiable for my family
  5. The emotional “wins” I notice:
    1. Kids learning to work (even if they hide in the van a bit during setup, some work is better than none)
    2. Holding hands on the way to the bathrooms/playground, siblings helping each other
    3. Long conversations around the fire that we almost never get at home
    4. Kids learning flexibility when we forget something and have to improvise (or overpay at the camp store!)
  6. Real talk: what still makes me nervous:
    1. The prep and packing lists feel long and a bit overwhelming
    2. I still kind of miss the comfort of a hotel room and TV
    3. I worry about what might go wrong (bugs, weather, kids and the fire)
    4. But every time, once we’re actually there, we have a genuinely good time and I remember why it’s worth it

So, if I bundled my “definitive guide” into one core idea, it would be:
Camping is about trading convenience and screens for connection and simple, shared experiences—plus some strategic gear that keeps mom from losing her mind.

If you’d like, I can turn this into a super simple, printable camping checklist broken into: “must-have for sanity,” “fun extras for kids,” and “nice if you’re older/tired/sore like me.” Would that be helpful?

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