Camping With Your Girlfriend – 6 Easy Tips to Nail it!

You’ve been on a couple of dates, she laughs at your terrible jokes, things are looking good, and overall you could see yourself actually calling this chick back, for once!

So, now you want to go camping with your girlfriend? Easy there, bucko, you can’t jump right into this without some pre-mission preparation.

You’ve seen it, girls on IG loving the outdoors, drinking campfire coffee in their boyfriends flannel, taking alpine selfies at some picturesque mountain location.

You want that, you’re set to find that, and your new girlfriend looks promising. Follow this guide for quality tips and hacks for camping with your girlfriend and become the outdoorsman hero she dreams about.

Tips For The Best Trip When Camping With Your Girlfriend

Hold up. Does she know you love the outdoors? Does she realize your idea of a great weekend getaway is a barrage of no showers, sweaty butts, raging downhills on mountain bikes, eating with your fingers, and no cell data?

If your future partner in crime looks at you funny when you mention camping or quickly changes the subject back to the Kardashians, well, now is a good time to strategically plan your first outdoor adventure in a way that doesn’t have you both hating each other 2 hours into the trip.

The first trip camping with your girlfriend should be approached tactfully.

Now, if your girlfriend has a dual-suspension mountain bike on the back of her lifted Jeep Wrangler and a Yeti thermos covered in outdoor stickers, well, this article ain’t for you.

If not, or you’re not sure, follow the steps outlined below to set yourself up for the best chance possible to pull this off….the right way.

Step 1. Start Small When Camping With Your Girlfriend

Trust me on this one fellas. Your first trip out camping with your girlfriend shouldn’t be the epic 7 day trip into the backcountry living out of your backpack type of camping with your girlfriend. This process is best digested into smaller pieces for a newcomer.

It’s not that your girlfriend can’t cut it in the backcountry, hell, she may be better than you one day.

Like many people who didn’t grow up in this life we love, she might be really interested in it, but be a bit intimidated by the whole process and not want to let you down, did you ever think of that?

Start with a day trip to a local (easy) hike. No camping, no overnights, just a nice hike to make her feel comfortable with this type of activity. Bring the backpacks, pack a lunch and water and just go enjoy the outdoors for the day.

This will plant the seed in her head that its fun, it’s doable and something she will be more inclined to try again down the road.

Once the first-day trip is successful, give her time to digest it, then start talking about your first overnight trip, and so on, until she’s ready for the real trips.

Step 2.  Go Shopping For Camping Gear Together

Yeah, I said it, but hear me out. The goal of this trip is to start with her excited and eager, so this trip can be enjoyed right from the start.

If you’re barking orders, packing lists, and telling her what dangerous shit she should be aware of the whole time while camping, she will be over this whole thing before it starts.

The better approach would be to start with a shopping trip to get the things we need.

Let her have some control, give ideas of gear, clothes, and comfort items she would enjoy picking out. A fun intro item to couples camping is the two-person sleeping bag.

This is a great cuddle option at night that no girl can turn down. And again, your shopping in her mind, in your mind you plotting a great trip camping with your girlfriend.

Step 3. Include Her in the Camping Planning Process

Give her options. Camping with your girlfriend shouldn’t be you telling her where you’re going, what you’re doing and how it’s going to be done.

Now, I don’t think you’re being rude, it’s just that often we feel like because we’re the guy who knows how this goes, we want to lead the pack to success.

In this case, if she has no involvement in this process and is only being told what’s going to happen, it can build that intimidation factor back up and close her off before anyone enjoys themselves.

Start with a conversation a few weeks before like “Hey, where should we go for our first overnight camping trip” and break out the laptop, sit together and let her pick some areas.

On top of that, give her the option of locations and activities to plan the trip around. It could be Hiking, Mountain Biking, or National Park sightseeing.

If you do want to head to the unchartered BLM land for remote (and free) camping, check this out here on How to Find Free Public Land Camping Areas.

Step 4. Social Media Validation

Start planting the seed in her head a few weeks prior in a way that all chicks understand: Tag her in IG posts that show other couples having a good time at a location you two have planned to go see.

This will do 2 things 1. It will get her excited seeing that “social proof” of the actual location you’re going to being shared on IG…..but 2.

It will keep her involved and low key keeps her happy with her choice of where to go, because hey if IG influencers are going there, it must be great ????.

Pro Tip here guys: DO NOT tag her on some IG Female’s page who is ultra hot and alone in her pic. Find the more “family/girl next door” posts where the girl is with a guy or her family.

Otherwise, the jealous female will come out of her thinking you are only creeping on hot girls’ IG pages. Be careful with this one.

Step 5. Focus On The Adventures

I dont know about you, but I’ve been around several people camping who have this uncanny ability to focus on all the negative aspects of camping when they venture out.

I don’t know if this is some sort of self-validating dance they play for their ego about “roughing it” or what, but DONT do this when camping with your girlfriend.

Are there times when the weather sucks? Sure, but don’t use that as an excuse to complain about the rain, wet tent, and soggy sleeping bag.

Instead, make jokes of it, cuddle to get warm and sleep in the truck cuddled up and explain how it was a good thing the weather sucked.

Maybe the hike is a little longer or harder than expected? Ok, no biggie, take more breaks, give her encouraging little gestures along the way and focus on pointing out the scenery, landscapes and wildlife along the route.

Taking the edge off of a crappy situation is best served by making light of the bad parts and staying positive. Dont give her a reason to go home saying she will never do this again because things got challenging.

Step 6. Make Camp Food Fun

This is a no brainer, food is everyone’s favorite activity regardless of surroundings and it will make both of you happy (unless you’re dating a Vegan). 

When prepping for this trip camping with your girlfriend, start with a shopping trip (seeing a theme here guys?) to the grocery store. Find fun items to try cooking while on the trip, get a little creative here.

Take a new twist on S’mores, grab some steaks, or maybe get fancy and try to make a 5-star meal over the campfire.

It doesn’t matter really, what matters is planting fun ideas in her head that involve you two together in a task that she feels confident she can do. This is a great resource for camping meal ideas, check it out here.

After the food is figured out, make sure to swing by the local liquor store or MJ dispensary (hey, I’m in Colorado) to grab the late night, or early morning treats that will keep you two up late giggling under the stars. 

Step 7. Stay Cozy and Comfy

One sure-fire way to ruin a good trip is by not being prepared. Being prepared from the food we pack all the way to the pajamas we wear to bed.

Make sure when camping with your girlfriend for the first time to not show her your impressive minimalist survival skills. Most girls (all people actually) who are new to camping, are not trying to audition for naked and afraid.

They are picturing glamping, and you should help get it there. Again, you only have one chance to make a first impression, including when camping.

Speaking of staying comfy and cozy, let’s not be digging holes to poop in and using wipes for a shower. Aside from feeling gross around each other, again, we want this trip to be enjoyable.

Break out the camp toilet, a privacy tent and maybe even a camp shower. None of these are expensive and in your girls eyes, could make or break the odds of her returning with you to the outdoors.

Step 8. Remove Expectations

Seeing this as the epic plan to go camping with your girlfriend and whisk her away and impress her with your navigation, fire building, and rock face climbing skills?

Full Stop here guys, remove all expectations. This is about introducing someone into your passion without overwhelming her.

Camping with your girlfriend for the first time is about making it fun and removing ANY expectations will ensure you both feel less pressure to perform (at least while you’re dressed).

If you feel relaxed, it will help her feel relaxed. Be a team, you don’t always need to be the leader. 

Step 9. Thank Her!

Here’s the deal…If she went camping with you, she probably likes you and trusts you. Your girlfriend is stepping out of her comfort zone to share what you like and take a chance on it with you.

Make it a point to thank her along the way, including when she agrees to go, when she helps plan and of course at the end of the trip.

Conclusion

And that’s it, guys! You’re all gamed up on how to ease your girl into the great outdoors and finally take that epic trip camping with your girlfriend.

Follow these steps and you will be praised with endless sex and she will only see you from that moment on as a camping god, the only man capable of pleasing her in every way imaginable, and the envy of all women. 

Or, it will be a disaster, you will fight the whole trip and never talk again until she tags you in a pic of her with her in her new boyfriend’s flannel having her morning coffee at some picturesque camping location.

Don’t listen to me, I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m a guy writing a blog on the web.

Either way, you won’t know until you try. Get out there and go camping with your girlfriend! I’ve been fortunate enough to have a chick in my life that I’ve been married to for 10 years.

We’ve done it all, traveled all over, raised kids in this life, and overall its been the single greatest adventure there is. Find a good one guys, it’s worth it.