It's been years since the one and only time we've gone camping as a family and my kids have been begging to go. Well, today we finally did it. We were visiting a beach town as we do every year and decided to take a detour and go camping at a nearby beach camp ground that I've known about for a few years.
My kids and I took the city bus to get here and paid $5.30 for the bus and then just walked to the camp site. My husband is coming with some more relatives by car and most of our stuff, all things we frugally bought at a grocery store and other discount stores, none at expensive beach front stores. We could have brought everything with us by bus, no car actually needed to get here. Once here we discovered that there's a large supermarket within walking range so we could have just bought all our groceries there.
The plan here is to stay tonight and if that goes well stay tomorrow night as well. There's a beautiful nature reserve near here with animals that can only be found here from my whole country and we may hike there tomorrow, we'll see. And since we only brought food for one day we'll stock up at the grocery store as needed.
How much did this cost? Well as I said the camp ground is free, if you're with no car. Since we came by bus that's free. There's water, showers, bathrooms, and of course the awesome beach. My grocery costs for the entire week which includes fast foods like gluten free bread and cold cuts etc with out specifically trying to be frugal was 200 dollars, a bit more than I'd usually spend for a weeks groceries but not preposterously more and that includes the food for our camping trip. We are using a tent I bought a few years ago on a budget website for 25 dollars.
Not sure how much access I'll have to my blog while we're camping since I only have my phone and a spare battery pack, but wanted to give you a heads up on what's going on with us.
I'll update more either tomorrow or when I get back to civilization.
Are you fans of camping? How much does it cost for you to go camping locally? Ever try to camp with no car?
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We like camping. Sort of. It can be a lot of work. There's really no free camping in California unless you find BLM land.
ReplyDeleteA developed campsite (with bathrooms, showers) will be $35-50 a night at a state park. And you'll pay for showers. May be cheaper on a bike.
A national park will be less...$14-25 a night is what we've paid at Joshua tree or grand canyon. But that doesn't include park entrance fees. ($20-30 per car for a week)
We are actual camping in a few weeks. Two nights at a spot about 2 hrs North. A beach. $78 total including reservation fees. It looks like a campground that caters to RVs, like many do now. Just a flat grassy spot with no trees or shade. It's hard to find nice tent camping spots. You have to reserve six months in advance.
We are going to be camping lite. If we take all the sleeping and cooking gear, our small car is packed to the gills. This time, no cooking. Cold food only.
where might one find this beach? sounds perfect!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time! Camping on the beach sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteDid you take the dog along on vacation?
ReplyDeleteWe were going to but the camp ground didn't allow dogs so we have a sweet woman dog sitting our dog at our house.
DeleteI love to camp and beach camping sounds perfect. Have an amazing time-
ReplyDelete