Camping is all about getting back to the basics, but it’s easy to spend a lot on everything you think you might need to get away from it all.
To keep costs down, lifelong campers recommend starting small, and not getting too focused on the gear.
“At the heart of it, when you’re going camping, you’re going to be simple, you’re going to go to be in nature,” said travel writer Kathryn Dickson.
“You need maybe a folding chair or a hammock, and you just need some trees. And a book.”
A reliable tent is of course a key piece as well. For bigger-ticket items like that, it helps to buy used, at season-end sales or clearance websites like The Last Hunt, said Dickson….