Your first overnight camp

The hardest part of your first camp is deciding to come. Everything after that is easier than you think.

You do not need to buy anything

This is the single most common reason people tell us they can’t come, and it is the one we have already solved. We keep a store of tents, sleeping mats and cooking gear that any community member can borrow, free of charge. Tell us what you need when you book and it will be there.

What is worth having of your own: a sleeping bag, warm layers, and shoes you can walk in. Op shops are excellent for the first and third.

What a camp actually looks like

We arrive mid-afternoon on Saturday. Tents go up first — someone will help you, and nobody minds if it takes three goes. Then there is usually a short walk, a shared dinner, and a fire.

Sunday is slow. Breakfast, pack up, and home by mid-afternoon.

There is no schedule you have to keep up with. If you want to sit by the fire and read the whole time, that is a completely legitimate way to spend the weekend.

Staying warm

Being cold at night is the thing that ruins first camps, and it is almost always fixable:

• Insulate underneath you. A sleeping mat matters more than the bag. The ground pulls heat out of you far faster than the air does.
• Change into dry clothes before bed, including socks. Even slightly damp clothing will keep you cold all night.
• Wear a beanie. Unglamorous, extremely effective.
• Eat something before sleeping. Your body needs fuel to generate heat.

Toilets, showers, and the questions people are too polite to ask

Most of our sites have drop toilets. Some have showers, many do not. We will tell you exactly what is available before you book, every time — this is on the event page, not something you have to ask for.

If you have specific access needs, tell us. It changes which site we pick.

You will not be the only new person

Roughly half the people on any given trip are on their first or second camp with us. Nobody is assessing your technique.