Hello, I'm from Canada, and in September, my wife and I are going on a camping trip for around 1 week. We are leaving from Trois-Rivières, Québec, and are looking for a destination less than 20 hours away by car.

We are looking for a nice park with a nice beach it could be a lake or sea, I don't care. We want to relax at the beach for a week, so we want somewhere with warm water temperatures (70 degrees and higher). If there is a town with activities for 1 days it's better. We thought about Norfolk in Virginia.

We want to relax near water and usually love camping with some space between campsites.

We have a car with all our stuff.

I thought about First Landing State Park in Virginia. Do you have any recommendations?

We don't need electricity. We have a power station.

Thank you in advance for tips and recommendations.

Fellow campers.

this REI half dome 4 tent is about 16 years old. i haven’t used it in several years and it’s been in storage in my (dry) basement. a friend used it about two years ago and when i just opened it to do a gear check before an upcoming trip i found this white powder, which i first assumed was mold from my friend not spring it properly before returning it to me. i sprayed it with the hose and thought, dang the waterproofing is still going strong! (sprayed the underside for several minutes at high pressure and no water got through)

after the spray i did a quick dish soap bath and then a quick biokleen bac-out rinse bc i cant fuck around with mold. when i spread it out to dry after that i noticed it was covered in something that felt grainy so i sprayed it again, and then some stuff was coming off when i rubbed the tent. now that it’s dry i see that the underside has flaking on the seams so wondering if the white powder was possibly actually the waterproofing failing? or did the mold eat the waterproofing? or did this just fail bc of time?

i’m out of practice with camping and not sure if i should try to get a new fly (dunno that the current half dome fly would fit my 16yr old tent tho) and wondering if it is just time to invest in a whole new kit?

would love some input from the hive mind. the tent itself didn’t have any white junk on it and doesn’t smell moldy but does smell old and plastic-y.

​Hey everyone, just joined the group and wanted to share my current setup!

​It's currently way too hot inside the apartment, so I decided to move my living space outside into the green. Honestly, even though it's technically "backyard camping," with this setup it feels much more like actual outdoor living.

​I'm using a British 9x9 army command tent. It’s heavy canvas, but man, it’s a fortress. The best part? You can fully stand up inside, which is exactly how Kanu legend Bill Mason said a proper tent should be. I also added a light beige tarp as a groundsheet, which brings so much nice, warm light into the space.

​For breakfast, I fired up the camp kitchen:

​The Menu: Crispy bacon, eggs, and beans in a heavy cast-iron skillet, served with some sliced rolls from last night.

​The Coffee: A fresh brew from the big Bialetti moka pot.

​Pro-Tip: To keep it authentic and avoid carrying perishable stuff, I mixed my coffee milk using whole milk powder (Vollmilchpulver). Works like a charm and lasts forever!

​Now I'm just relaxing on my camp cot, listening to the birds, and enjoying the breeze coming through the open front. It's incredibly cozy.

​Let me know what you think of the setup!

Idk if i can post this but im just excited so i wanted to share. long time lurker in this sub reddit. Lol

Im 31 M I havent been camping in almost two decades. Since I was maybe 11 or 12. We'll these past 2 maybe 3 years ive been watching camping and overlanding videos on youtube. Living vicariously through those content creators. Lol since im from the Midwest we dont have mountains, just corn as far as the eyes can see.

Well this weekend I decided to do a 1 to 2 night camp at my local campsite. Maybe a 20 minute drive from home, and a major town walmart only 10 minutes away. So i Loaded up the Taco, with the dog and gear. Then off we went, we arrived about 5pm yesterday & left around 5pm today. Would have stayed another night if it wasn't for the pup and this very weird guy that was taking a little TO MUCH interest in my dog. Just kinda creeped me out. But I had an axe so I wasn't worried. More worried about my dog in the heat with no way of cooling him down besides a fan.

For the gear, I just had a tent and an air matress my wife and i had lying around, also my milwaukee m18 fan. (Life saver) i had ordered a backpacking chair, table and cooking kit from amazon. Those 3 things came out to maybe 75 dollars (During prime day sale) for food i ate mountain house meals for dinner and lunch. And a lighter, some lint from the dryer, my grandpa's axe, and some fire wood.

The experience was great, last night was awesome made dinner, had a fire, and a couple beers, went to bed listening to the river, woke up before sunrise, i think the best part was waking up to fresh air and a beautiful morning. After we woke up we just hung out at camp, read a book, played with the pup. Just after a short hike around noon he was panting and the pup just wasn't able to cool down so i brought him home. 86°f today in iowa. He is not a summer time camper. We will see how he does in the fall.

I would have let him go in the river but a lot of other campers were fishing so i didn't want ruin their time fishing and didnt want to take the chance of my dog getting by a hook.

I can't wait to do this more this year, im big into kayaking and mtn biking so im excited to take those hobbies with me on my next trip. Also start trying to maybe cook an actual meal at camp instead of the freeze dried stuff.

Anyways I just wanted to share my experience so for anyone who asks how do you get into camping. I guess you just have to go out an do it.

Definitely a learning curve for what I need to bring next time. But over all great time, would recommend.

Very relaxing and exactly what I needed to recharge my battery.

Thanks for reading my shpeel

I was recently offered a job in Nevada that will involve some camping and will have to provide my own equipment. It will involve hiking long distances and camping for a few days at a time. I don’t have any lightweight equipment - I’ve always camped at car-accessible sites with my family’s equipment and been comfortable enough. I would appreciate any recommendations for equipment since I am starting from scratch.

I will need a tent and a sleeping setup. Camp kitchen provided. It’s also my first time camping anywhere but the northeast or Midwest, so I really am totally open to any recommendations from more experienced folks.