Summer Camping Invitations

While most families are heading over to hotels and tourist traps for their summer vacations, you could always choose to do something different. Why not invite your extended family or some of your close friends on a summer camping excursion? It’s fun, unique, and a great way to get in some quality time with one another while relaxing away from the crowds and over-priced souvenirs you’ll find at other vacation spots.

Putting together such a trip isn’t as difficult as you might have imagined either.

Planning a Summer Camping Party

First, you’ll want to pick a location. If most of your guests live in the same area you do, then choose something close to home. No more than a 30 to 60 minute drive is a good rule of thumb for choosing a site. If your guests are spread out, pick a location that is an equal distance from everyone so no one feels inconvenienced. If you’re not familiar with good camping locations in your area, you can go to the Great Camping Spots web site and search their database for options.

Second, you’ll need to choose and mail invitations, along with a response deadline, to your guests fairly early. That’s because you’ll need to book the campgrounds in advance, especially during the summer. Try to choose invitations that go along with the theme of your get together. In this case, Campfire Fun, Camp Out, and Camping invitations would all be good choices.

The Next Stage of Camping Planning

After you know who is attending the summer camping excursion, it’s a good idea to send out a list of everything your guests will need to bring. You might choose to provide some items, such as food and drinks, or you might simply pay for the camp site. Make sure guests know the logistics of the gathering so they won’t have any unpleasant surprises.

Tents, lightweight sleeping bags, pillows, charcoal, coolers, and other items are also necessities for a good camping experience. You might also want to remind guests to bring bug repellant since insects can be pretty annoying during the summer at many campgrounds.

You’ll also want to make sure everyone has directions to the campground. You certainly don’t want a few of your guests to end up aimlessly wandering the highway looking for the site while everyone else is roasting marshmallows and telling scary stories.

And that brings us to another part of the planning: entertainment. Camping is a great way to get away from it all, but most people will enjoy nature for a couple of hours then go crazy without something else to do. If you don’t plan activities that will get everyone involved, you’ll end up splintering off into small groups or individuals who are doing their own thing. There’s nothing wrong with that some time but it defeats the purpose of the camping trip if no one spends any time together. Plan some group events: trivia contests, board game playing, volleyball, horseshoes, fishing, etc.

Remember that even the most reluctant participant can find themselves having a good time if you provide the right activities for fun interactions.