12 Life Changing Benefits of Camping with Family

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Updated March 31, 2024

Camping with family has many life-changing mental and physical benefits for family members of all ages. And, more families than ever are experiencing these benefits.

According to The North American Camping Report, the total number of households that identify as campers in the U.S. is now estimated at more than 98 million households and 58 million households camped at least once last year.

It appears that more families are discovering that camping provides the perfect opportunity to break away from normal routines. And by doing so, they are experiencing many healthy life changing benefits. Below are some insightful findings from the NACR that show many benefits of camping among different groups of campers.

So, how is camping with family good for you? It can promote good health, lower stress and anxiety, build strong relationships and increase self-esteem.

It seems like camping can do a lot for a family, and we agree. So, we have organized our 12 Life-Changing Benefits of Camping with Family into 4 main categories.

• Health
• Lower Stress and Anxiety
• Relationship Building
• Developing Self Esteem

So, read on to learn about the life-changing benefits of camping with family. Some benefits may even surprise you!

12 Benefits of Camping with Family

Health Benefits of Camping with Family

1. Increased Physical Activity

In today’s world, many of us lead a sedentary lifestyle. We sit at work or school, we sit down to do homework, we sit down to eat dinner and then we sit down to watch TV or play video games. Physical activity has actually become a planned activity to force us to get out of the sitting position!

But recreational activities associated with camping provide the perfect opportunity for increased physical activity. The four most popular activities while on a camping trip are hiking, biking, fishing, and canoeing or kayaking. Plus, camping requires us to move around more in general.

For example, we have to set up the tent, set up a canopy, gather firewood, or organize the campsite. The point is that almost every activity while camping requires us to move.

2. Deeper Sleep

Increased physical activity leads to a night of deeper and more refreshing sleep. And a deeper, more refreshing sleep pattern makes our minds sharper. And this health benefit is true for people of all ages, not just the kids.

3. Fresh Air

There is nothing really healthy about breathing fresh air. The real benefit is that we are not breathing stale air full of pollution from car and school bus fumes. So, when we go camping, we remove ourselves from the environment where we breathe unhealthy air, and we go to areas that have fresh air. And you can really feel the increased energy and mood lift from breathing fresh air!

4. Sunshine

We all know that the natural light from sunshine provides vitamin D. But how is Vitamin D a health benefit? According to Web MD

“Your body must have vitamin D to absorb calcium and promote bone growth. Too little vitamin D results in soft bones in children (rickets) and fragile, misshapen bones in adults (osteomalacia). You also need vitamin D for other important body functions. Vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, weight gain, and other maladies.”

So going camping and getting some sun, rather than constant exposure to artificial light, can be a huge health benefit to family members of all ages too!

Camping with Family Can Lower Stress and Anxiety

5. Time Away From Technology

Unplugging from technology leads to less stress and anxiety. If parents avoid checking work email in the evening and kids stay off of social media, it will remove much of the stress and anxiety many people feel every day.

In a study by the University of Maryland, researchers discovered that when students unplugged from technology, they reported an improved quality of life. Researchers from Kansas State University found when adults unplug after work, they can experience a big difference in their quality of life, health, and happiness.

In fact, according to the NACR, 96 percent of teens say they notice and appreciate that the adults in their lives are more relaxed while camping. So unplug and relax! It can make a huge difference to your kids.

6. Increased Focus

In our modern society, we have so many distractions it seems impossible to stay focused on any one thing. We no longer go about our normal daily routine without multitasking.

For example, we don’t just get up and prepare for school or work. We check emails, check social media, watch TV or listen to the radio for traffic and weather, listen to music, and many other unrelated activities all at the same time. Just typing the sentence made me feel overwhelmed!

So, if all of this multitasking creates stress and anxiety, and stress and anxiety reduce our ability to concentrate, then no wonder we suffer from a lack of focus.

But camping is a great way to escape from life’s distractions. And so we find ourselves able to experience an increased level of focus. This increased level of focus leads us to truly being present and living in the moment, which can lead to forming better relationships with one another.

Improved Family Bonds is a Benefit of Camping with Family

7. Family Bonding

People need to feel like they belong and spending time with family strengthens that feeling of belonging. Families who enjoy bonding through group activities will develop strong relationships and handle stressful situations with ease.

But more than that, a strong family bond helps kids to develop healthy behaviors and better self-esteem. And it helps parents to feel more grounded and committed to their family relationships too.

We go camping with our adult children every year, and now we also include our grandchildren. We love the family bonds and memories we create each time we go camping.

8. Creating Memories

Another reason for having family time is to make memories. Memories are the things we share with friends, relatives and each other. When we share our memories with others, we also learn to connect with others.

All too often, creating a memory is all about posting a picture on Instagram or Facebook. But family memories while camping aren’t merely snapshots in time. They are memories that can be cherished for a lifetime.

9. Finding Common Interests

Family camping provides a great way for family members of all ages to find common interests. It’s a chance to find activities that the whole family can enjoy together or that certain members of the family can share together.

And these common interests can build life-changing relationships that last a lifetime. For example, my uncle and I both love to camp and fish. From the time I was 5 years old until now, almost 50 years later, we still go fishing together every spring and fall. This common interest we share helped us form a strong lifelong relationship.

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Improved Self Esteem Can Result from Camping with Family

10. Learning New Skills

Camping requires a skill set that is not needed in normal everyday life. So, it naturally affords the opportunity to learn new skills like how to build a fire, how to cook over a campfire, how to tell stories or jokes around the campfire, how to pitch a tent, how to fish, how to catch butterflies, and tons of other skills.

Learning a new skill builds self-esteem in two ways. First, the person learning the new skill experiences a feeling of accomplishment. They feel a sense of pride for a job well done or the satisfaction of not just learning something but doing something new!

And second, the person who teaches the skill also benefits from increased self-esteem. They feel the pride of seeing their son or daughter acquire a new skill and the joy of sharing their knowledge and experience.

11. Connecting With Nature

Camping is a great way for families to connect with nature. When we go camping, we have the opportunity to hike up to a scenic overlook, or quietly sneak through the brush and bird watch, or look up and see the stars at night.

But somehow, this connection with nature actually increases our self-esteem. According to research published by Science World Report, seeing more green space by connecting with nature helps us to realize that it doesn’t matter what our bodies look like. What matters is what our bodies can do, and this change in attitude about our bodies helps us feel good about ourselves.

12. Environmental Conservation

We have all heard the phrase “leave it better than you found it” and never more than when camping. That was what my dad taught my brothers and me when we went camping and I have passed it along to my daughters, as well.

To this day, I take great pride in making sure to leave the campsite better than I found it. It makes me feel good about myself. And when I find trash others have left behind my attitude is more about fulfilling my obligation to make the world a better place than blaming others for their shortcomings. It reduces stress and makes me feel good all at the same time.

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Pro Tip:

If you want to get more involved in encouraging young people to get outside and offline, check out this video from Beyond Outdoors.

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Related Questions

1. Is it better to camp in a tent or an RV?

Either way is a great way to camp with your family. If you don’t camp very often then tent camping is certainly more economical. However, if you camp very often, a camper or RV is very convenient.

I wrote a very detailed article about The Pros and Cons of Owning an RV where I deep dive onto RV ownership. The biggest benefit to owning an RV is you will go camping more often since RVng is so easy and convenient.

And after reading the article above, I’m’ sure you will agree that camping more often is a good thing.

2. Would it be worth our time to join a campground membership?

It could be worth your time to join a campground membership if you go camping often enough. Susan of RVBlogger camped all during her childhood years and then took her daughters camping every summer while they were growing up.

She took them to one of the Jellystone Parks on just about every weekend for years. In this case, a campground membership would have made a ton of sense. Check out our article on The 5 Best RV Campground Memberships, where I review the top 5 that we use, plus a couple of other options as well.

Do you have any comments or benefits of camping with family you would like to share? Please leave a comment below.

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To see a list of our articles, check out the Blog Archive!

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