10 Best Reasons to Go Camping

When warm weather arrives, the smell of campfires and pine trees allure many people into the woods and mountains for summer camping trips. Sometimes there's nothing better than sitting around a fire and roasting marshmallows with your best friends or your family. Omega telescopes gives you 10 best reasons to pack up the sleeping bags and head into the wilderness.

1. Camping helps with problem solving

Sometimes camping and its associated activities present you with challenges. Often these are challenges that you don’t deal with on a daily basis: where and how to set up your tent; or how to deal with scenarios where you aren’t armed with all your mod-cons or items of familiarity.

In addition, camping introduces you to new experiences – perhaps an activity you’d always wanted to try but never found time for. Whatever the case, new challenges and experiences keep your brain healthy, as they force you to think for yourself.

2. Camping is great for children’s education

Spending the night in a tent has a clear benefit for children. This is especially so in the modern age where many kids are more confident navigating their way around an iPad than they are navigating the inside of a tent.

Camping introduces children to a whole new world and asks of them an ability to overcome new problems and challenges – particularly if it’s raining while camping. Having exposure to a different set of challenges not only keeps kids’ brains healthy but leads to increased learning opportunities. A 2015 UK study from the Institute of Education at Plymouth University found an overwhelming majority of parents believed that camping had a positive impact on a child's education.

3. Camping helps you sleep better

There’s another important reason why camping is good for your health, and if you suffer from lack of sleep you should be paying particular attention. Research in 2013 from the University of Colorado Boulder found that camping can re-set our biological clocks and help those of us who find it tough to get to sleep and/or wake up in the morning.

It’s all to do with the increased use of artificial light in our daily lives and the fact that camping can help us to adjust to the natural light-dark cycle if we're given that chance. Receiving adequate sleep has long been touted as critical to our overall health and wellbeing. Plus, aren’t our partners and family members much easier to deal with when they’re not tired and grumpy?

4.The Outdoors Are Good For Your Health

The health benefits of getting outdoors could more than fill up this entire post alone. You will find that getting outdoors, camping specifically, will improve your physical health in ways you never thought of.

Boost Vitamin D – This one is simple, more natural sunshine = more vitamin D. Vitamin D increases bone health, muscle strength, lean body mass, helps skin disorders and more (check out 25 more benefits of vitamin d here).

Increase Endorphins which are natural pain and stress fighters.

5. Camping leads to increased exercise

If your daily routine entails slaving away in an office or at home with the kids, chances are your opportunities to exercise are limited. The solution? Go camping. While camping, you will likely explore new surrounds; perhaps wandering through a nearby national park or even mountain climbing.

This increased exercise has been well-documented – from the Heart Foundation to the Department of Health – as having myriad physical and mental benefits, including combatting health problems and disease and improving your mood and energy levels. This point is not limited to camping: simply escape the daily grind and hit the great outdoors. On average you can burn around 300 calories per hour when out camping if you have a moderately active camping trip.

– Rowing burns 250 calories per hour

-Hiking & Backpacking burns 500 calories per hour.

-Walking burns 200 calories per hour.

-Playing with children burns 200 calories per hour.

We could go on about the health benefits of camping and getting outdoors, but I think you get the point.

6. Camping is affordable

When strapped for cash for a summer vacation, many families can keep it cheap by heading into the woods for a camping trip. Camping gear these days can be purchased from many big box stores for very little money and the biggest cost is usually the gas to get to the campground. Keep it even cheaper by staying away from private campgrounds and heading into publicly owned National Forest lands.

7.Camping Lets You Escape the Hectic City Life

Why go camping? Well, unlike many other types of trips, a camping vacation gives you the opportunity to literally do nothing for a weekend-or even longer. Once your tent and campsite is set-up, you don’t have to worry about cleaning, laundry, putting on your best outfit for an evening out, grocery shopping or any other tasks that seem to consume our everyday lives. And it’s a chance for you to turn off the smartphone, computer and other electronics to just sit back and relax.

8.Camping Gives You a Newfound Appreciation for Mother Nature

There’s so much beauty in the outdoors and we city folk rarely get the chance to appreciate it. From gorgeous mountains perfect for hiking to freshwater lakes ideal for canoeing, kayaking and swimming, you’ll have your pick of outdoor activities to engage in. And when was the last time you laid on the grass, admiring a pitch black sky dotted with brightly shining stars? Look out for Orion, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major and other common constellations. You may even spot a falling star-don’t forget to make a wish!

9.Rekindle Relationships

With the hustle and bustle of kids, jobs, electronics, deadlines and bills, relationships can often times suffer from demanding and stressful lives. But by eliminating these distractions and interruptions you may just find it easy to spark up a slowed down relationship.The same is true for your relationships with your kids as well. As a busy parent with busy kids, we all know that it can be difficult to find time to connect with your kids. Camping provides you with that uninterrupted time and helps you to really focus on one another.

10. Camping makes you happier

That’s right – camping goes a long way to improving your mood. It’s all to do with serotonin, that wonderful chemical our body produces that helps to make us happy. We’ve already touched on some factors that help the body create serotonin: more sunlight, more oxygen, and increased physical activity. And when you’re camping, you’re likely to tick all these boxes. Happy days!