Reconnect With Family

You’d be hard-pressed to find an adult who doesn’t look back fondly on the family camping trips they took as a child. They usually involve stories of being crammed into the back of the family wagon with at least three other kids, no seatbelts, and a long drive to the family’s onsite van parked near the sea. And with caravanning and camping holidays now more accessible and more popular, it’s easier than ever to create those precious memories with your own children.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a family who has to rely on four precious weeks of annual leave a year, or a family with the freedom to pack up and take off whenever you want – the huge benefits of caravanning or camping are the same.

Quality Family Time

You know that feeling of relief, of all the stresses of the work week and worries of life floating away as you head off for a weekend of camping? Your kids feel that, too. A camping holiday with the kids allows the whole family to spend quality time together without the strain and barriers of daily life interrupting it. Turn off your phone, leave the computers at home and just enjoy the time you have together.

Fresh Air & Excercise

It can be hard to drag the kids away from their screens sometimes, but a camping holiday is the perfect excuse to leave the screens behind and enjoy the great outdoors. Easy family activities include bushwalking, days at the beach, hanging around the caravan park playground, collecting firewood or exploring on bikes. Whatever you do on a camping trip, it’s almost guaranteed to be outside, and the fresh air and constant activity will help the kids sleep better at night, too!

Broadening Horizons

There’s no doubt about it – travel broadens the horizons, and it doesn’t have to be a super-cultural overseas holiday to do that. By travelling just a few hours away from home, you’re almost guaranteed to encounter landscapes, people, and experiences very different to those you and your family are used to, which can be hugely beneficial to children. It teaches them to accept difference, and to appreciate just how vast and varied Australia is.

Establish Family Traditions

Having family traditions has long been proven to strengthen family units. It can be as simple as having dinner together every night, or taking a walk together on a Sunday morning. But regular camping holidays are a great tradition to start with your family, too. As adults we look back fondly on the camping holidays we had as kids – whether it was returning to the same caravan park every Christmas and Easter, or exploring new parks and parts of Australia every school holidays. Your kids will, too..

Freedom

Who doesn’t remember those carefree days camping as a child? Leaving camp straight after breakfast with a gaggle of other caravan park kids and not returning until dusk, dirty, happy and with a whole bunch of new friends and new experiences to excitedly relay to mum and dad? Usually, they were as simple as the cool trick you did on the park’s trampoline, a fun little jump you discovered on your bike, or the new flavour of ice-cream the park’s kiosk has in stock.

Camping, especially in a safe caravan park setting, allows you to give your children freedoms they might not enjoy at home and will help create memories that stay with them for a lifetime.

Cost Effective

‘Holidays at home’ and ‘staycations’ have become all the rage in the past few years, thanks to the falling Aussie dollar and perceived safety threats in travelling overseas. Domestic camping holidays are a cost-effective way to holiday with your family, as they don’t require costly flights, expensive accommodation, car hire or painful exchange rates!

Sure, you need a bit of gear to get set up – or you could borrow it from family or friends – but, once you hit the road, you’ll find your costs are not very different to staying at home.