Solo Camping as a Woman: My First Experience Camping Alone

I went camping alone for the first time, and it was both peaceful and empowering. Here’s what I learned from my solo camping experience as a woman.

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Why I decided to go camping alone

If you’ve been a follower of my blog, you’ll know that I love camping. And it may not be something that you what you would expect from this site. But I have always connected to it. I used to go camping growing up, it’s the only thing we would do for vacations. The camping we did as a family, though, was almost like glamping. There would always be electrical hookups and many other comforts from home.

It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s when I would go camping in provincial parks (not private campgrounds) and explored backpacking into the woods for 3 nights. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me feel very connected with nature.

Once kids were in the picture, I would take them camping by myself but then I upgraded to an RV rental which was much easier and more comfortable to have more access to the comforts of home.

Now that the kids are older, I feel like I have to force them to go camping with me. That’s how it was this summer. We went camping and they seemed to really enjoy it but they wanted to get home faster than I wanted to. I’m not sure if it was the lack of cell service (there was none) or it’s just not their jam. They are teenagers so this doesn’t surprise me. But overall we did have fun. Especially when this critter came into our camp site and stole a marshmellow!

This summer, there was a man in the camp site next to us that was camping by himself. The kids said, “Aww mom, that’s so sad!”. And I had an epiphany, what an amazing idea!

Why don’t I go camping by myself?

I can go on the hikes I want to go on and do all the things I want to do by myself.

I started to get very excited about the idea and wasn’t upset that the kids wanted to end our trip early. I was just excited about the thought of going on my own. As soon as I got home, I found a cancellation spot for the week after and booked it.

It’s not so much I wanted to spend time alone – don’t get me wrong, that is a major component – it’s that I love cooking outdoors, sleeping in a tent in the fresh air and connecting to nature. And when I’m with the kids, I feel like I’m just doing what I’m doing at home but in the woods. I’m sure most moms can relate. Why bother camping when I can just do this at home? Well, we do it for the memories, right?

When you camp by yourself, you are doing it for different reasons. You are connecting with nature, you are ‘hanging out’ with yourself, you’re having the best sleeps in fresh air, you’re enjoying a cup of tea in silence without anyone having to rush you, you get to journal or read or hike or swim…just fill in the blank here…without worrying about anyone else.

Camping with the kids versus camping by yourself

Not that most moms need this, but here are some examples of what it’s like camping with the kids versus camping by on your own:

1. My kids can be picky with what they eat so camping on my own is easy. I just brought whatever leftovers I had in the fridge.
2. I love sleeping in a cozy bed so I brought extra blankets to make it super cozy (I’ll explain more below). Because I’m limited on space in my SUV when camping with kids, I have to bring minimal blankets. When it’s just me, I can bring more!
3. Want to read a book by the ‘fire’ (propane fire bowl) all night? No problem! Don’t need to entertain the kids. They hate reading anyway.
4. Want to go to bed early? No problem…you’re by yourself and can make the rules.
5. Want to go on a hike? Want to go swimming in the lake? Want do do anything number of things that you feel like you have to force your kids to do? No worries! You get to do what you want!
6. You know I’m a super organized person and when I put all my camping stuff away, I want it all relatively clean and organized. When I’m with the kids, their help is great but they just shove things here and there and when I get home, it feels like I have to reorganize and clean things properly. When I’m by myself, I can take my time tidying and packing up. For me, this makes camping more enjoyable.

The Experience: What It Felt Like to Camp Alone

A big reason I wanted to go camping alone was to be disconnected from the world and be able to tap into my inner self and do some reflection and journaling. I told friends and family I would be unreachable for two nights, three days and my phone just automatically went out of service as I drove into the woods. It’s a wonderful feeling to have no distractions to anything and just journal.

At first, it was a bit unnerving. What if something happens with the kids while I’m gone? What if something happens to me and I can’t reach anyone?

First of all, this is a provincial campground so there is a ranger booth and many rangers and families surrounding me so it’s not like I’m completely alone but alone in the sense that I don’t know anyone. So if anything were to happen to me, I could contact someone or just drive 20 minutes out of the park to reach civilization.

The first night I was a bit nervous like what if something happens to me? But then I thought something could happen if I were camping with my kids too.

I went to bed that first night with my Kindle so I had the same routine at home and had the best sleep. I thought I would be waking up at 5 or 6 am when the sun rose but I ended up sleeping in until 9 am! Unheard of for me.

For a moment I was embarrassed that I was emerging from my tent when everyone surrounding me has already made breakfast and cleaned up and here I am just waking up. Then I had to remind myself – I’m by myself, who cares!? Also, the camp sites are not that close for anyone to even notice. So I had a very slow morning getting breakfast ready, cleaning up, and figuring out what I wanted to do for the day.

Typical Day

I made myself some breakfast and afterwards took a cup of tea along with a camp chair in its carrying bag over my shoulder and went to the lake to enjoy my tea by the lake. That’s something I haven’t done before. Usually camping mornings with the kids are busy with cooking breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast, and plans revolving around the kids.

After my morning relaxation, I went on a beautiful hike to a nearby waterfall. It was a beautiful hike as the weather was perfect for it. The provincial park I went to requires a day pass for hiking or going to the lake except if you are a camper, it’s included so I wanted to take advantage of that.

Once I got back from the hike, I changed into my swim suit and walked down to the lake. It felt a bit strange heading to the beach on my own but I thought whatever, who cares. I brought a floatie with me to take in the water and enjoyed the scenery and fresh water. I wanted to bring my paddle board this trip but I didn’t want to bring too much stuff in the car.

I went back to my campsite and had some snacks and brought out my iPad to do some journaling. I made sure I set it up to use offline before I left so I opened my doc and typed away. After some time journaling, I went for a walk around the entire campsite, came back and started to get dinner ready.

We’ve taken this little Ogopogo stuffie with us every camp trip and I leave him in the camping bins. I had to bring him out on this trip too.

And after dinner, I didn’t feel like cleaning dishes so I popped those in my portable sink and into the back of my car for tomorrow. I grabbed my Kindle, turned on my fire bowl and read my book with a drink for the evening.

Magical.

One other thing I brought was a project to work on. I always organize my recipes into binders and I haven’t had time to organize them at home so I brought it out to the camp site in case I was bored. It didn’t take me long to put my printed recipes into sheet protectors and when I got home I organized them into binders. It was fun to do with some music and a drink!

I love organizer papers in my home into white binders. You can see an example here with my free School Memories Printables.

Making a Cozy Bed

Having a good night’s sleep is what it is all about in the fresh air. This is how I make a cozy bed.

1. I have a queen size air mattress and use a 12V air pump that plugs into the lighter in my car The battery powered pumps barely work. You can also get ones with USB adapters but I haven’t used them before.
2. I spread my plushest sleeping bag over the air mattress. My sleeping bag is 5 lbs. and -7 deg C. Here is a similar sleeping bag.
3. A fitted sheet went over the whole bed to keep the sleeping bag in place.
4. I topped it with a light comforter and I also bring an extra blanket in case it gets chilly.

What to Bring

I have an extensive list on my Beginner’s Guide to Camping but I’ve updated my big plastic bins to some pretty cool camping bags. They fit in the car better and love that they are smaller than a big plastic bin so I’m not fishing for everything down at the bottom.

Similar camping storage bag

Similar beige storage bag

I put some smaller plastic bins with lids for cutlery and dish washing supplies. I did use one medium sized plastic bin for my pots, pans, plates, and bowls.

I have one bag just for utensils which keeps things easily ready.

Similar utensil bag

What I ate

It’s so easy to cook when you are just one! I brought some hearty meals since I was knew I was going to be hiking. I made breakfast and dinner and had some snacks for lunch.

I brought leftovers for dinners which was mashed potatoes and fresh cut corn. I cut some chicken breast up at home, marinated it in a bag and froze it so it stayed cool in the cooler longer.

I use one of my camp plates as a lid for the frying pan. Toast and scrambled eggs were easy to bring. I have a plastic egg carton for my cooler but whisking the eggs before the camp trip and putting it in an empty water bottle is an easy way to pour eggs into the frying pan. I also only brought 4 slices of bacon in a plastic bag instead of a whole pack.

Having frying pans where the handles flip in is perfect for storage.

solo camping Tips

1. Bring two chairs. I thought just in case it’s nice for everyone to think I’m not by myself so if they are walking by they could see two camp chairs by the fire. If anything, I just felt more secure. Also doubles as a foot stool by the fire.
2. Know the camp site you are going to – are there flush toilets? Showers? Do you need coins for the showers? When you reserve your site, map out where the toilets are and the water tap. Carrying water can be challenging so my site was right next to a water tap which I was grateful for.
3. I got bit with one mosquito so bugs weren’t an issue but prepare for that at night. Going to bed early helps avoid the bugs! Also, long socks and covering exposed parts of your body is good to keep in mind, which I didn’t do the first night.
4. If you are not a camper, perhaps you could have someone help set up camp with you and then they leave and you stay on your own. Whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable getting out there!

I spent two nights camping by myself and could have definitely stayed longer. I’ve booked another camp trip this September and if it doesn’t rain, I’m definitely going again.

That’s the last thing to mention…camping in the rain is never fun. Well, it can be if you have the proper shelter. I’ve done it many times. But what is not fun is packing up in the rain. Everything will be a soggy mess. But I’m pretty sure I didn’t have to mention that.

I cannot wait for next summer when I plan more trips of camping solo!

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What do you think? Is this something you could do? If you have any more questions, let me know in the comments below!

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Check out all my other camping posts:

• Beginner’s Guide to Camping
• How to Set Up Camp and What Food To Bring
• RV Camping – Dry Camping