Your guide to staying clean and healthy during camping

Outdoor activities can be enjoyable and adventurous, but it takes some time to prepare for such events. You don’t usually pack your bags and your camping equipment and just leave the house and head on to an unknown journey. Well, to be honest, you can do that. However, if you don’t think and plan some things through, you might end up with some serious consequences.

Let’s talk about your hygiene and health during a trip. Are you careful when it comes to traveling? Do you tend to do a previous research regarding the weather, the water conditions, the humidity, etc.? Well, if you don’t do this then it’s time to start.

Taking care of your hygiene when you go camping is crucial for your health. The organism works in a way that whenever you go on a trip, and you meet different weather conditions that signify some change to your body, the immune system seems to drop which makes your organism weaker when it’s supposed to fight back. That is why you should be careful not to welcome any bacteria in your body that can cause a temporary damage or a total collapse of the immune system.

So, where should you start? What’s the very first thing you should do to protect yourself?

Do a proper research in advance

As I mentioned before, partially planning out your trip and doing a previous research on the conditions can be useful. Just imagine: you live in a hot place, but you plan on camping in the mountains. You’re not aware of the temperature, the chances of rain or snow, the source of water and many other things. These are some things you have to take into consideration when you’re going on a trip, especially when you’re going camping and not in some private accommodation where everything is previously arranged for you.

If you’re going to be adventurous and decide to eat the fruits of nature, you have to take into account that some plants may look edible, but are not something you should consume. Just think about the poisonous mushrooms – if you don’t know exactly how they look and what are their key features, you can easily confuse them with edible mushrooms and then suffer the consequences. Things like this should not happen just because you haven’t been informed properly.

Dress adequately and pack up some extra stuff

If you’re going camping, then I suppose you’re not taking a big suitcase with you on the road. For campers, it is perfect to wear a big traveling rucksack where you can fit in everything you need for the trip. Now, besides the camping equipment which I assume you’re familiar with already, you have to make sure that you wear some proper clothes and shoes. Don’t forget to take several extra pieces of clothing that you can change in case you get wet, dirty, sweat or damage the clothes. Also, consider the normal temperatures that you have come across during your research and dress according to them. Never forget the fact that the weather forecasts can sometimes be wrong, so pack up a piece of clothing for unexpected weather conditions. Also, remember that during the nights the temperature tends to drop and you don’t need to get sick during your sleep when the temperature of the body also tends to drop due to no movement and physical activity. Take a blanket and a waterproof sleeping bag and stay warm and dry, just try not to overpack since you want to enjoy the trip and not feel like a prisoner of your possessions.

Clean up and take care of your hygiene

When you’re going on a journey, especially when you’re going camping, you become too excited about the journey you’ve stated that you seem to forget about your hygiene. This should not be the case. In fact, when you’re traveling, you have to remember that you’re going to places and you’re meeting people that you haven’t met before, so you interact more with the unknown, and you tend to touch much stuff that might have been full of bacteria and dirt. That’s why you have to pack up some quick disinfection products that will help you clean up your body and your hands from time to time, especially when you’re about to eat.

On the other hand, when you’re going camping in an area that is not an organized camping place, but rather just pure nature, and you’re staying there for a few days, you will probably want to shower. Now, having a lake, river or some water streams in your vicinity is an excellent source of water to clean up, but sometimes this is not the case, or the water is just too cold. For this purpose, it’s good to consider buying a solar camping shower that can easily be carried around, filled with water and heated with solar energy. It’s a great way to stay clean in the outdoors.

Consume healthy and energy boosting products

When you’re going camping, and you need to walk in the sun and climb some rocks, you will need some energy that will keep your body moving. That is why you need to consume a lot of fruits and vegetables that will boost your energy, keep your stomach full and help you stay healthy. However, as I previously mentioned, it is always better to take some products from the store and inform yourself about the ones that you might find on the road. If you think that they are safe to be consumed, then take them but don’t forget to wash them right. Also, don’t forget to take some chocolates, peanuts, walnuts and other energy boosting snacks that can quickly get you back on track if your sugar level starts to drop.

Other than food, don’t forget to drink a lot of liquids so that you can keep some balance in your organism and stay away from becoming dehydrated. Also, pack up some medications just in case you feel like you’re going to get sick or catch a minor fever.

Don’t throw around your garbage

Camping in nature is always fun, but some people seem to forget that they’re responsible for keeping the environment clean. And dirt always attracts bacteria and diseases. That’s why you need to take care of your garbage, keeping it in one place rather than throwing it all out in the wild. Just think about the following situation: you camp next to the river, and you’re throwing a plastic bottle into the river. Then, after a while, the plastic decomposes in the water, and the fish eat it, thinking it’s some food. After a few days, you run out of food, or you need some fish for lunch, so you go fishing into the river and catch some fish you see as potential lunch. You prepare and eat the fish, not knowing that inside the fish there are tiny pieces of plastic that can be destructive for your organism. It somehow really seems that what goes around – comes around, so try to behave and don’t mess with Mother Nature.

Taking proper care of your health and hygiene during camping is more than necessary and if you do it right – it will just make you enjoy your trip entirely. Traveling can be exhausting even if you don’t perceive it that way. That is why you need to follow these tips and prepare decently. Adventure is out there so make sure to have a great experience, rather than some bad memories.