The Best Camping Little Luxuries

In this post, I share with you the best camping little luxuries for tent camping. My husband and I used to be minimalist campers. A tent, two lightweight sleeping bags and inflating mats (Thermarest), a fold-up (Whisperlight) stove, and the basic camp dish set was all we packed. We didn’t have a food shelter and we didn’t bring any of the comforts of home. Our purpose in camping was to experience the natural environment. And it was great, although sometimes, like when it rained or the mosquitos were bad, we wished we had brought just a little more gear to put some distance between us and nature.

If you’re a first-time camper or want to learn more about essential gear for camping, you can check out my post, First Time Camping Basics. In that post, I go over all the essential gear and basic camping skills. I also have a post dedicated to fall camping here.

Camping Evolution

After we had children, we continued to camp, this time lugging along all the baby gear we needed. We brought strollers and packable high chairs and diaper bags. We even brought a complete pack and play when my oldest son was a baby since that’s the only way he would sleep. When our three boys were young, we limited our camping to one or maybe two short trips a year. As the boys grew up, we started camping more often, and we realized that we never fully relaxed while camping. We were always heading to the beach or walking to a park program. We went camping with friends who had a camp shelter and camp chairs. They even brought board games and novels with them! Their campground was so much more welcoming and ours now seemed unnecessarily uncomfortable.

From that point on, which was about six or seven years ago, we have been steadily investing in items to add comfort to our camping experience. Have you ever seen those types of campers that have welcome mats and string lights and a sign that says Welcome Fellow Campers? Well, we’re not quite there yet.

The Best Camping Little Luxuries

I’m going to assume you have all the basic camping gear. The items I’m featuring here are the extras that take camping to the next level. Some of the items are useful for even a two- or three-day trip, while others become more useful for longer trips. 

Shelter and Comfort

Dining Shelter

The number one item I’d recommend in this category would be the picnic table shelter. This will keep your dining experience bug free and dry when it rains for three days in a row. It also provides a cozy environment for playing board games, writing postcards, and drawing or crafting. Make sure to choose one that is roomy and has removable rain panels. We are very happy with our Eureka Hex Screen House.

Air Mattresses

If you’re over the age of 30 and value your sleep, you will likely want an air mattress under your sleeping bag. Not only will you have a sleep experience more similar to that of a bed, but you will also be insulated from the rough and sometimes cold ground. I recently learned that if you inflate your air mattress a little less than full the mattress will have a squishier and more comfortable feel. Overinflated mattresses can feel rock hard. Choose the mattress size that fits your tent. In the tent I share with my two older boys, we have a double and a single. You’ll need an air pump and a power converter that plugs into your vehicle’s cigarette lighter. We have a Coleman double-sized air mattress. For two adults, I’d recommend a Queen size if you want to up the comfort factor. You can even choose pillow-top and extra comfort air mattresses.

Blankets

A basket of cozy blankets is particularly important for spring and fall camping trips, but even in the summer, the evenings can be cool. It’s lovely to be able to grab a blanket from a basket to sit around the campfire in the evening. You can use any kind of blanket suited to the season. Fleece blankets are great for warmth, price, and washability.

Picnic Table Accessories

For our picnic table, we bring a picnic table cover and blankets to put on the seats for extra comfort. I use vinyl tablecloths for camping because they can easily be wiped down and don’t require laundering.

Folding Chairs

Comfortable folding chairs (with cupholders) for around the campfire are also essential for encouraging lingering around the campsite. They’re great for enjoying a morning coffee, reading in the afternoon, and sitting around the campfire. Much more comfortable than sitting on a rock or log!

Hammock

The least expensive little luxury I now cannot live without is a portable hammock. Our hammock gets used 100% of the time we are awake and at our campsite. It’s the favoured spot to sit and when you have a large family it allows family members to escape from the group for a while and have some alone time. Our Braoses hammock is a compressible nylon design with a mesh bug screen attached. It’s absolutely perfect.

Food Preparation

Camp Kitchen

For the ultimate in camp comfort, pick up a camp kitchen for your next extended trip. I wouldn’t bring this unless we were camping for at least three nights unless we were hosting a large group. A camp kitchen is a work surface, sink, stove area, and storage shelves all in one. This year was the first one using a camp kitchen and it was great to have all our cooking gear in one place. I was able to prepare food, cook, and wash dishes easily. As a result, I was a lot more adventurous with cooking on this trip. I made seared Mahi Mahi with Greek salad and green beans, apple crisp, and even cornbread muffins! We purchased the Cabela’s Deluxe Camp Kitchen. I recommend hanging a tarp over the kitchen so you don’t have to fold up your kitchen if it rains.

Mini BBQ

A mini barbeque is another great camping accessory. It’s perfect for all manner of meats and vegetables and surprising good at baked goods! If you don’t want to invest in a mini barbeque then I’d recommend getting a cast iron pan and lidded casserole. These will allow you to grill food over the fire or camp stove and bake items like crisps and breaks in the campfire coals. We have a Weber Q Series BBQ and it is of excellent quality.

Extra Dishes

I can’t believe it took me so long to bring extra dishes and food prep items. I used to bring one plate per person, one spoon per person, etc. Extra plates are needed for serving food and extra cutlery is needed for food preparation and dessert of course!

Pantry Ingredients

I also recommend bringing a container full of pantry basics like salt, pepper, chilli powder, cinnamon, sugar (white and brown), flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda, oats, ketchup, mustard, molasses, soy sauce, maple syrup, oil, and vinegar. And don’t forget your favourite assortment of tea and coffee. Insulated mugs for hot and cold beverages will help you linger over breakfast or in the hammock.

Recreation

Water Equipment

Inflatable water floats (with cupholders) are great for playing and relaxing at the beach. This year I purchase some that sit above the water. These are great if the water is cold or you don’t want to get too wet. I spent a glorious afternoon reading and floating around by our campsite this summer. We own a couple of water tubes and a couple of water loungers, both by Intex. We also bring our canoe and kayak camping with us, but I wouldn’t refer to these as little luxuries as they are costly and not little in size!

Sports Equipment

I recommend bringing one outdoor sports item like a Frisbee, beach ball, or volleyball and net. There are also outdoor games like cornhole that can be a lot of fun.

Entertainment

Musical Instrument

A musical instrument (guitar, ukulele, ocarina) is the perfect campfire accompaniment. There’s nothing more comforting than guitar and singing by the campfire. We don’t have space in our vehicle to bring a guitar but my son brought his ocarina on our last trip.

Board Games

A selection of board games is essential if you have kids or are travelling in a large group. I try to pack games that don’t take up much space, like card games. A couple of other campground favourites are Exploding Kittens and Love Letter. For more board game recommendations, see my post Our Favorite Family Board Games.

Books

If you regularly read books, then camping is a great chance to get caught up on reading. There are so many spots at a campground to read.

Hobby Items

If you’re going on an extended stay or know there will be rain, then why not bring along a hobby such as knitting, whittling, writing, and sketching.

Décor

I don’t really decorate while camping because nature is all the décor that is needed, but I do bring a few small touches. Candles, a nice tablecloth, and mini string lights all add a simple touch.

Summary

I hope you have enjoyed my post, The Best Camping Little Luxuries. Ok, some of them might not be little, but they are smaller (and less expensive) than an RV or a cottage. My boys joked that we were glamping and there may be some truth to that. I’d love to hear about your camping luxuries.