I swear, the reporters who say that camping vacations are people who have never been camping. It’s cheaper than going to Europe, but it’s not really that cheap. Boyfriend and I own a lot of camping gear. We acquired all of it separately before knowing one another. In the course of dating, we’ve started consolidating and coordinating our purchases.
For Labor Day weekend, we decided to head out on another trip. For a while, we’ve been planning on buying a chainsaw. We had an aborted attempted with an electric one, but that didn’t work out too well. (Blown inverter on the Jeep. Total mess. Don’t ever do it unless you’ve got a power cord into an outlet.) So we got a gas powered one this time. (It was ~$110.00 at Home Depot.) Honestly, I don’t know why we didn’t get one sooner. It was pretty awesome and there was a lot less time gather firewood than on other trips.
Sidenote: We have to cut our own firewood because you cannot bring firewood from outside the forest because of pests that are destroying the trees. You can only burn local wood. Outside wood costs a lot of money to buy and transport anyway, so in the long run this saves money (esp during late autumn camping trips. You can’t truck in enough firewood.). And boyfriend looks pretty manly wielding a chainsaw.
We also hated our little camp table so boyfriend threw it out. (It was his.) We also splurged on a huge aluminum camp table this time. ($65.72 at REI, so I will get a small dividend back) Total was $175.72 on new gear.
There was also a moment of terror when the Jeep wouldn’t start, so that’s another ~$70 on a spare starter motor. We didn’t need it, but eventually, boyfriend will use it, or else he’ll return it. There were two bottles of overpriced coolant for $17 at Sheetz (no lottery ticket or tasty M.T.O.). Total was $87 for the car.
Gas was $98.23 in the Jeep. We drove probably 3 hours outside of DC to reach the campsite, which was free, but it was $15 to get into Shenandoah National Park and cruise down Skyline Drive. It’s pretty, but actually very boring. Now that I’ve done it, I never have to do it again. (I did it once as a kid on a trip to Luray Caverns. I’d definitely go to the caverns again because I can recall distinct details about that trip.)
All the groceries, beer, ice, etc. turned into $146.22. There were some other things like lunch on the road and some vegetables we bought at a roadside stand for <$15.
Grand total for a 3-day camping trip was $534.47. Just the consumables alone were $259.45. It would have been cheaper just to stay at home for the weekend, but at least a I have a shiny new table we can use as patio furniture for our deck.
This go around, the weather was FREAKIN’ PERFECT and we found a very secluded campsite with enough traffic going by for free entertainment. (Next to a mud pit the Jeepers like to crawl around.) Every day was sunny and warm with cool, dry evenings allowing us to sleep without a rain fly up. The mosquitoes were a lot less aggressive than the ones in DC so I probably got bitten much less than if we stayed at home.
It was a great trip and we’re hoping to go back out one more time this season. And yes, we’ve already started a wish list of just a few more items we could get. (Like camp chairs that won’t break on us. Sucks to sit on a cooler by the fire because it defeats the purpose of a cooler. Though the beer is much closer.)
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I think that camping is as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it. My BF and I often go camping with about $20 worth of food for 2 nights and have had a wonderful time (and great meals). Plus about $30 in gas, and it ended up being about $25 total for each of us.
But I’ve also gone camping with friends and had it cost over $100 per person!
Camping was expensive for you becus you did none of the things that veteran campers do. You bought a chainsaw, a fancy new camping table, you needed a new starter for the car (that’s not a camping expense, that’s a car expense) and you bought all your groceries instead of bringing them with you.
What the heck did you eat for $150?
First off, skyline has to be my favorite place in the world. I’ve been there too many times to count! But I’ll let you off the hook for that one. Where do you camp overnight for free though?
I think that what you are hinting at is that the equipment costs for camping are very difficult to make up for the number of times you get to use it. And I agree. A few times a year you will need to own it for a long time for it to even out.
Yes, $ 150 for grocery? Even on the high end, when I go on an ultralight backpacking trip, I will stock up on those dry food, ie
the ones sold in REI…the fancy ones ranges from $ 8 to $ 10. I usually get the Jamaican jerk chicken and rice (feeds 2 person), and
Chili Mac (for 2 person). Plus I got the scrambled egg and bacon – prep food for breakfast. I would say the whole fancy meals run to $ 50-$ 60 for 3 days, 2 nites meals
You may want to check West Virginia, ie Dolly Sods, Canaan Valley, Spruce Knob. They are 3.5 hours away from DC. Those are pristine. Primo view for the Fall season!
SNP gets pretty crowded in the Fall…
…eh, camping might be a tad pricey – but it is so worth it!
$150 sounds pretty reasonable to me for food and beer for two people.
Hi. I have a blog at http://www.picturecamping.com where I feature people’s posts about camping, and I would like to send my readers your way. Of course I would give you credit for quotes and would link back to your site.
Thanks for considering this,
Jean B. in SC
WOW! I spend less then $150 per week on groceries for a family of 5!!
Try shopping around at yard sales and flea markets for camping gear. You can find some gems that way.
DH is a scout master and we plan “budget” camping trips all the time.
It can be done – you just need some fore-thought and be willing to improvise!
I think your analysis is off. Not all the costs you mentioned were camping costs. Furthermore, a lot of the things you purchased still have resale value to them (or you can keep re-using them) whereas once you pay for a hotel, you’re out the money forever.
Reading this made think of a recent post on “Stuff White People Like”
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/
Dear Sean:
You win Commenter of the Day!! I haven’t been to that site in months, but that camping post is on the money. (The site makes me laugh and cringe at the same time since bf is white and I’m #11. hahaha)
Wow, you must really live it up when you go camping! We just have the basics – small tent, two cheap camp chairs, some dishes/cookware, a cooler, a water jug to wash dishes, and we splurged and got a couple of hammocks. I do have to admit we usually get our firewood for free though. My fiance’s dad is a logger and we go camping not far from them, so he just comes by and drops some off while we’re putting up the tent.