Elevate Your Basecamp (Indoor Camping Tips)

This article is part of HOME: YOUR NEW BASECAMP – a new Kuju Journal series providing you tips, ideas and inspiration to help you Cultivate Rejuvenation at home during this new shelter-at-home era. #ForWhereverYouWander

Sheltering-at-home has kept us indoors, and to further encourage social distancing, majority of county, state and national parks have closed their gates to camping. But that doesn’t mean your camping adventures need to wait until everything returns back to normal. But how can you go camping when everywhere you might go is closed?

Turn your home into a campsite and elevate your basecamp for an indoor camping trip! Not sure what to do this weekend? This guide is a sure way to make the weekend special with your friends or family without risking coming into close contact with others.

Plan Your Adventure

When you head out on a weekend camping trip or outdoor adventure, you often set a time for when to leave. You plan your Friday around the planned departure time, and when that time comes, your weekend adventure is officially underway!

Elevating your home basecamp is no different. To set out on a weekend adventure, albeit an indoor one, we recommend setting a time for when your adventure begins. When that time comes, put the computers and phones away, turn everything on “do not disturb” and set off on your weekend adventure with your friends, family or kids.

Along the same vein, we highly recommend planning your indoor camping weekend at least a week ahead of time. Why? Because the suspense of being able to look forward to weekend adventures, makes them feel that much more special. By the time the weekend arrives, you’ve been waiting for days of work and taking care of the family, and you’ll be fully ready and mentally prepared for a good time. The same goes for turning your home into basecamp. So plan ahead and take the time to get excited.

Pick Your Campsite

During the planning stage, you’ll want to have a rough idea of where you might set up your campsite, but don’t spend too much time fussing over the details. Part of the fun of weekend camping trips is not knowing exactly where you’ll be sleeping, choosing where to place your tent and spending a little bit of time going through the different possible campsite configurations.

So when the time comes for your indoor camping “trip”, head over to your designated location, whether it’s your living room, bedroom or even basement, and move your furniture around. Not only does this create space for your basecamp, but it also changes the scenery around you to make indoor camping feel special and different from the day-to-day configuration of home.

Pitch Your Tent

Now comes the fun part...setting up your basecamp! Get out your gear, pitch your tent and set up your space to be optimal for an indoor camping adventure. Pitch your tent facing a window to let a cool breeze in and get that perfect #tentview photo. Fill your tent with comfy pillows and blankets so that you can sleep like a baby. One of the benefits of indoor camping is that you can bring as much sleeping gear as you wish! No need to limit yourself to a foam sleeping pad and sleeping bag. You can use your favorite pillows or maybe even throw a blow up mattress in your tent. The sky’s the limit when setting up basecamp.

During set up, don’t forget to create a lounge space with camp chairs and an eating area that is ideally not your usual dining table. Make it special! Set up a camp table or convert a coffee table into a camping table. After all, you’ll need a place to brew your cup of Kuju Coffee.

Eat Like You're Camping

As part of setting up your campsite, you can take it one step further: plan your weekend meals as if you were actually out in the wilderness. That means plan your meals, shop for groceries beforehand and keep everything in your cooler! Pulling an ice cold beer out of a cooler feels way cooler than pulling it out of the fridge. It’s all about the little details to really elevate your basecamp when you are indoor camping.

Also, we recommend choosing meals that you might cook while out camping as well. If you’re really into it, freeze-dried food can make for an authentic experience. Some of our favorite camping dishes are beef stew, chicken soup or tacos! When you’re cooking, you can even use your camping kitchen tools. Skip the coffee machine and take out those Kuju pour overs you’ve been waiting to use.

However, please don’t use a propane gas stove indoors, as it can be a dangerous fire hazard. Use the backyard, deck or simply cook in the kitchen.

Simulate The Night

Outdoor camping trips get really special when the sun goes down and everyone gets out their camping flashlights. Turn the night into a night under the stars by installing glow in the dark stars a few days before and keep the lights off throughout the night. It will feel like you’re camping in the stars and you can tell stories around the “campfire” which can be the classic flashlight shining into a bottle of water.

You can even take your flashlight to the bathroom when you brush your teeth, to the cooler for a late night drink and into the tent when it’s time to go to sleep.

That’s it! Those are our tips for elevating your home basecamp for an indoor camping adventure. Even though we’re sheltering-at-home, it doesn’t mean we can’t have camping adventures with friends and family for the weekend.