10 Top Glam Camping Tips

What can you fit into a vehicle, go on vacation, eat great food, and sleep in the beautiful outdoors? Today I’m sharing my 10 top “glam camping” tips because camping is still going strong in Oregon, especially with Labor Day right around the corner!

This summer we’ve been out and about, camping in our 1987 Westfalia Camper Van, which is a little nicer than the camping I did as a kid.

I grew up camping over in eastern Oregon, in tents, and using our own handmade outhouses. Basically, out in the dessert (but so beautiful), where the wild horses would run through our campsites. Scary for a young girl, but exhilarating at the same time. I have very fond camping memories.

Beauty. Hiking. Creeks. Wildlife. Campfires. Tents. Food. Singing. Stories. Heat. Cold. Mountains. Dirt. Dust. Barbies.

Yes, I’d bring all of my Barbies and my sisters and I would play for hours down by the creek. By the end of the trip, we’d have very dirty Barbies.

The memories made camping as a kid are some of the greatest in my life. It was a sacrifice for my parents, all the work they put into our campouts, but they loved it, and it was cherished family time indeed.

Now, with a few extra touches, we’ve decided that camping can be glamorized a bit. For us, this doesn’t mean it has to be elaborate tents or fancy outside beds. Camping has changed some, as a food blogger, I now want to cook and enjoy GOOD food. And I want my family to enjoy it.

Times have changed since I was a kid, and we recently bought a new Camp Chef oven and cooked some fabulous dishes while traveling the Oregon coast.

Seriously, food never tastes as good as in the great outdoors or around a camp fire. It was that way when I was a kid, too.

Here are my favorite top 10 “Glam Camping” items that every camper needs, especially if you love food like our family does:

1. Camp Oven. We recently bought a Camp Chef red stove/oven. It runs off of one small propane bottle?, is easy to pack, and you can make amazing food.
2. 1 Le Creuset 9×13 pan. Nice and sturdy, perfect for brownies, casseroles, breakfast casseroles, beef and potatoes.
3. REI French press for coffee. Coffee is always best around a fire or when it’s cold outside.
4. 1 Ball jar and a pretty tablecloth. Adding the foliage from the elements around you, and brightening up the table, makes it more special and fun.

5. Smaller cooler. Forget the gigantic coolers. Bring one small one and pre-cook some of the food ahead of time. (Above meat already marinated from Trader Joe’s.)
6. Bedding. Comforters and sheets are far more comfortable than sleeping bags.
7. Lights. Ambience is everything, so make your own party lights.
8. Cot. Make sleeping more comfortable for the kids (we borrowed from Grandpa) and we love The North Face.

9. Side-by-side dishwashing kit that folds up. Add a small bottle of basil-scented Mrs. Meyer’s Dish Soap.
10. A very cute dog. (Haggis, our Cairn Terrier, above in the VW.) :)

And a bonus #11: Now’s the season to stock up on camping sale items!

You’ll find camping gear at most stores on the discount or clearance aisles.

Don’t forget the citronella, firewood (you can usually buy at the camp site), and to make your reservation early, especially during the summer months. (We put in our own new wood floors – pretty!)

We learned that making our reservation on-line saved us a lot of worry and headache if we’d get a place in advance of our arrival, especially on the popular Oregon coast. We used Reserve America.com.

I also want to share another product made by Camp Chef, and that is their Artisan Pizza Oven. For extended camping trips, this (larger) item can fit right on top of the double or triple burner stoves. It’s a fun way to glamp up camping for sure, by making your own wilderness gourmet pizzas!

I hope you enjoyed my savvy and simple ways of enjoying the great outdoors. Even if you’re tent camping, and not VW camping, you can glam camp in style! In Oregon, there are quite a few weeks left of beautiful camping weather!

What’s your favorite must-have glamping or camping item?