For those who love nature, but still need to come home to flushing toilets and a hot shower, I feel your pain. The idea of camping where you’re fully immersed in the wilderness means a nice change of pace and a relaxing getaway. Deodorant in place of a shower and the unfaltering smell of campfire in the air, your clothes and your hair make this experience a challenge with your more elegant lifestyle choices. That is why I’ve started to work with a solution: glamorous camping, A.K.A. glamping. Here are some ways that you can make camping less drab and more fab.
1. World Market Snacks
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Gone are the days of hot dogs over the fire and family size bags of greasy chips. For the foodies with a taste for the finer things in life, World Market answers all of your extravagant worldly cravings, but can provide more than just your typical evening meal. World Market has a part of its food section that offers smaller quantities of conveniently packaged foods, and I’m not talking about Lunchables or 100-calorie packs. You can purchase a few snack-sized smoked sausages, salami or canned lobster pate -- even better, they don’t need to be refrigerated. Accompany this with a $6, ready-to-go cheeseboard and a “petite” bottle of rosé, and you maintain the portability and convenience required when camping without sacrificing the standard sophistication of your meals.
2. Mattress Pad
Camping may elicit some vivid images of sleeping on the cold, hard, dirt ground, leaving you sore and more tired when you wake up than when you went to sleep the night before. If a sleeping bag doesn’t cut it for you, do not fret -- glampers don’t judge. You don’t need to sleep on the ground to enjoy your night in nature. Remember that mattress pad you had to buy for your dorm bunk? When rolled up, it doesn’t take up much more room than sleeping bags would and it makes all the difference for a comfortable night’s sleep. Better yet, drag your whole damn mattress off its frame and into the back of your car. Add some pillows, and maybe a throw blanket and you’ll have a scene straight from Pottery Barn in the middle of your campsite.
3. Citronella Candles
If Martha Stewart camped (which she doesn’t) I think I could say with utmost confidence that she would put candles out at her campsite. These candles that come in a variety of stylish containers (my personal favorite is re-purposed wine bottles) will make your temporary outdoor home smell amazing, and keep bugs away, which may make them the most glamorous items of all.
4. Morning Coffee
A company called Nature’s Kettle offers pouches of coffee or tea that eliminates the need for you to brew these with a French press or kettle. All you need to do is add water to the pouch and it brews your morning tea or coffee in the bag. It may not be your grande soy vanilla cappuccino, or iced chai tea latte, but any coffee or tea is good coffee and tea, and when it is that easy to make, you have that much more time to take some stellar Insta pics of your glampsite (or nature, or whatever).
5. Glamping Outfits
You can’t truly glamp without looking fabulous. Yes, camping is easy when you get to sleep on a mattress and snack on brie, but the hardest part of camping is maintaining your flawless and trendy ensembles without having your entire wardrobe with you in the woods. To get the most out of this experience, you know you’re not going to have fun unless you’re looking and essentially feeling glamorous. Luckily, boho lumberjack chic is in right now. Throw on your ex-boyfriend’s flannel and that $45 beanie you got at Urban Outfitters with some Timberlands and you will have both a fashionable and functional glamping outfit. For a warmer camping environment, think Coachella: High-waisted shorts with a crochet crop top, and some hot-pink Teva's.
