One of the most powerful aspects of the call of the wild is the incredible sights that await us. Unfortunately, we aren’t really able to enjoy the beautiful vistas of the world when the night inevitably comes. Even stargazing can get blocked by a few clouds or some fog. So, how do you stave off cabin fever before you can fall asleep? We have a few great nighttime activities for camping you can plan to do for your next trip! We never want any of our readers feeling bored or restless in the great outdoors.

 

Games – More Than You Thought Was Possible

If you’re not connected to the indie board-and-tabletop scene, you’ll likely be floored by just how many incredible new games exist. Board games and card games are traditional camping fare, but we can only play so many games of Go Fish or Uno before we’ve had enough. There are hundreds of inventive, easy-to-transport, and incredibly fun games on the market, and they serve as fantastic nighttime activities for camping, especially if you’re the type that loves a new challenge. While board games usually won’t keep you entertained while solo-camping, you’d be amazed by just how much fun you can have with new-era board games with your campmates.

 

Pre-Downloaded Music

While some like to keep digital indulgence to a minimum while enjoying fresh air, music tends to transcend the digital. Our phones and tablets are incredible tools for helping us keep our inspirational tunes at our fingertips, no matter where we are. While many music services have moved to subscription-based streaming services, many of them also have an offline option. With just a little bit of planning, you can have a playlist with thousands of songs ready to go without any need for cellular data or wi-fi.

If you’re going to be on the trail for a long time, you can make stops at lodges, restaurants, or rest stops with Wi-Fi available to update or supplement your playlist. Having the music that inspires you on hand means being able to relax to beautiful music and the sounds of nature or celebrate the wilds together with high-energy tunes as you prepare for the next day of camping.

 

Old-School Meets Modern

Nightime activities for camping are as old as camping itself, and one of those includes the fun and thrill of classic skill-based card games like poker. If it seems like mountain towns are commonly the ideal location for casinos and the like, it’s because hikers, mountain climbers, and trailblazers love a challenge and love fun. The modern era has made the fun of casino games more available than ever, in fact, thousands of casino games can be played by on any online casino via mobile apps available in app stores. Once you have downloaded one of these apps, you can then easily kick back by the fire and play some games with your friends. Sometimes, the digital and the natural blend nicer than we ever thought possible!

Are you going hiking? Have you planned exactly where to go? Hold on with that thought and check out this little article first. When going camping, there are many ways to approach the whole idea. You can choose to go for a 2-4 day hike/camp in the summer and bring a knife, but you could also try a more hardcore hiking trip – The King’s Trail, 440km (273 miles) in the ice-cold winter of the Swedish north. There are also Via Ferrata trails, paths where metal parts and strings are assisting you throughout the hiking trip. Here I have listed 6 of the best hiking experiences, but it’s worth mentioning that I am a nature lover who appreciate a majestic obstacle of nature more than a physically heavy hiking trip. It’s all about having a great experience. A great thing about the Scandinavian countries is that they have a law called Allemansrätten; Every Man’s Right – which allow people to camp at the same place in the woods for up to 24 hours. Anyway, here are 6 of the top camping/hiking trails in Scandinavia (randomly listed).

Höga Kusten

Höga Kusten means The High Coast in Swedish and the hiking is taking place in an area where one of Sweden’s highest bridges is located. This hiking trip takes 3 days, but it is possible to stay behind and do your own hiking/camping as long as you’re prepared with equipment and did your homework on the weather. The Every Man’s Right law allows you to move around in the woods and seeking shelter in different locations as you please. Taking a hike at the Höga Kusten will offer some grand views over a massive river and beautiful green pine & spruce woods.

Trolltunga

Trolltunga translates to Troll Tongue in Norwegian. Trolltunga got its name from its looks! A picture of Trolltunga shows a rocky tongue pointing out from the mountain rocks, 700m above the Ringedalsvatnet – a lake in the Bergen area, a rocky landscape of the southern Norway. You can actually do this mountain hike up and down in one day, I’d say that it takes you around 10-12 hours on a regular summer day. But don’t get me wrong, you can do this hike in winter too! There are guided tours in both winter and summer time. There is even a Trolltunga zip line, visit Trolltunga-active.com for more information.

The King’s Trail

This old trail has earned its name by its length, a 440km trail starting from Abisko going all the way down to Nikkaluokta after passing through Kebnekaise – Sweden’s highest mountain top (~2100m). As you start off from Abisko, you can see the majestic Lapponian Gate. It consists of two mountain tops merging together as a u-shaped gate for all animals in the Scandinavian lands. If you have lots of hiking experience and don’t mind spending time on your own, you can do the King’s Trail on your own but you need to be prepared with the right equipment and a good attitude. There are tours to take too and they can be a wise choice for someone who lacks hiking experience but is thirsty for a long walk with a ton of massive views along the way.
https://www.keadventure.com/

North Cape

The North Cape is a plateau in the most northern part of the whole Scandinavia. It’s a lookout post which offers panoramic views over the Barents sea, 307 meters above sea level. It is the perfect place to watch the midsummer sun but also the incredible Aurora Borealis. Although Nordkapp offers marvelous views in a stunning landscape, it is a limited experience. I do recommend travelers to go here at some point in life, but mainly to see the views rather than to have a hiking experience. Maybe a weekend at North Cape would be interesting?

Storforsen

Storforsen is a Swedish name of one of the biggest rapids in Europe, the name translates to Big Rapids and is an incredible thing to witness. On average, 250 cubic meters of water is passing through the rapids per second. The number is however increased to 900 cubic meters during Midsummer, an annual Swedish tradition taking place in the middle of June. There are several mountains in this part of Sweden and you can walk from mountain to mountain in hours while the massive Storforsen is shaking the grounds in the near area. You can stay how long you want, as long as you continuously move your tent every day. In most cases, however, you can keep your tent at the same spot for a longer period unless someone tells you to get going. A tent might be wise to have and more important – something to fight off the mosquitos with! If the weather gets crazier than what you can handle, check out Hotel Storforsen.

Rovaniemi – The Heart of Lapland

Rovaniemi is a historical place where many things were settled throughout the history of Scandinavia. The Sami people are recognized as the most indigenous people of Lapland but there is proof that Karelian tribes came from the east as well as Häme from the south. Rovaniemi is a hiking resort with many historical highlights, so it offers more than natural views over majestic sights. Rovaniemi had its natural resources extracted in the 1800s, allowing the city to grow quite a lot over a short period of time. The second world war affected the city as well, 90% of the town burned down from Finnish troops in attempts to blow up enemy forces by exploding a train. The city of Rovaniemi provides a huge amount of history and should definitely be visited during the winter when the Aurora Borealis can be seen painting the sky. Rovaniemi is also accepted worldwide as the home of Santa Claus.

So, it’s time. The day you have been waiting for is finally here. Your kids are going to join you out to the woods for a camping experience. It’s super important to stay safe on every family trip but it’s equally important for us to teach our cuddly and loud kids to respect nature in order to survive in it. Keeping 100% track on your kids is not possible; you’ll just end up agitated. So it’s good to teach your kids some healthy perspectives which allow them to try things out while respecting nature.

The mind of kids

Try to encourage a “learning by doing” way of thinking for your kids while they are picking up ideas from what you do as their parent. Always pick up all of the things that you bring on the family camping trip, you need to make sure to take it all back and throw it for recycling when you get back. The recycling process is important to involve your kids by asking them to help you clean up the camping site before you leave if they start to complain and make a fuzz about it – explain the importance. Kids usually want to do good things, especially if they know why! Don’t underestimate your kids, they will run the world eventually and need thorough preparation throughout every day of life.

Stay Warm & Safe from Wind/Rain

If you are planning to be outside, you definitely need some sort of tent. It doesn’t have to be a classical tent but it should be able to keep wind, water, and cold out from the temporary family residence. Hypothermia is a killer and very easy to underestimate, it can give you a fever and make you really bad in just hours. Hypothermia is a physical state where you usually start shaking and your body temperature goes to dangerously low. So it’s wise for everyone to have a pair of extra clothes in case of emergency, it’s also recommended to have multiple fire solutions ready. You should try to bring a lighter and a kindler/flint in order to always have a source of fire. A fire can be placed outside the tent’s entrance (not too close) to keep animals away from stepping into your tent.

Setting up Camp

A Laavu or a big Lean-to camping hut can allow you to keep the fire very close the exit of your new forest hut. It’s wise to intertwine wooden sticks to create your own BBQ grid, it will also assist you when drying potentially wet clothes which can save you and your family from the notorious hypothermia. Equipment is important, but a clever and down-to-earth approach can be twice as effective as equipment. Make sure to have a plan of how your family will reside and how to acquire fresh food/water in the wild nature of Scandinavia. Most streams/rivers have clean water but it’s always wise to boil water before drinking – so once again, fire proves to be very valuable. One or two cooking pots can make your life seem simple if you find a good source of fish for example.

The Geographic Scenery

The clothes and mutual equipment of your family can allow you to focus more on the actual experience of being out in the cold Scandinavian nature. However, you should read up on general info about the region where you are planning to camp at. How would the worst weather conditions affect your family if you would be unlucky enough to experience it? What animals inhabit the region and where is the densest area of the different animal populations? Although you should have big respect for all animals, they are usually just as scared of us humans as we are of them. So making noise in the woods around your camping area is not a bad move. Most bears sleep throughout the winter only to wake up starving when the spring has arrived, newly awakened bears are extra agitated bears that in many cases have small cubs to protect.

Food & Nutrients

The spring is a time to be cautious in areas where bears are common. Bears, for example, have an extremely good sense of smell. Any food stocks should, therefore, be tied up to a tree branch, out of reach from any potential bear that caught the smell of your tasty human food. Will you be camping near waters? Then you should definitely look into when the fish come to play in the stream/river. And every lake has fish to find out what fish there is and in which quantities they are. By looking at a map, you can easily estimate where the sun will rise (east) and set (west) – allowing you to choose a camping spot with as many sun hours as possible.

Trustworthy Clothing

Warm clothing is not always about thick material. A thin wind-resistant jacket can prove more valuable as long as you have a long-sleeved shirt under it. Thick clothes will stay wet longer than the thin ones and hypothermia is too dangerous to gamble with. The gear that you use should be as wind and water resistant as possible. The first brand to cross my mind is Fjällräven, a Swedish brand who have been making sustainable outdoor clothes for over 50 years. As pioneers of the extreme clothing, Fjällräven has chosen to only use fluorocarbon-free impregnation in of all their products. Regardless if you are going hiking, hunting or exploring – Fjällräven will help you get there. This quote comes from Åke Nordin, the founder of Fjällräven;
“We’ve been trekking for the past 50 years. Hopefully, we will never get there.”

There are many ways to camp outdoors in nature, you will be able to find your personal niche by simply spending a vast amount of time camping. Nobody was ever a professional after one attempt, so start off light – pack light and don’t stay too long. The chances of forgetting something essential are very big, especially on your first time. So pop that cherry and go camping!

There are tons of companies who offer good quality camping equipment for campers world-wide and Fjällräven is definitely one of the best. Here are some of the greatest perks about outdoor camping.

One with Nature

Slow but steady, we are shifting to disconnect ourselves from nature which might have catastrophically effects on our human potential. Being connected with nature gives a healthy perspective on us as a species and on our surroundings. To know where you originate from allows you to have a deeper understanding of how our life came to be and how extraordinary we humans really are. We have accomplished everything we have decided to overcome, including leaving the planet to land on other places throughout our galaxy! Being one with nature allow you to be aware of your full potential as a fellow human. Never forget where you came from.

Randomness

The Scandinavian winters always offer snow and cold winds, but the weather can also be incredibly versatile. A massive snowfall can make it close-to impossible to continue navigating through some regions. The weather has always had ways to affect our lives, for better or worse.

There are however more random factors out there. The fish streams might be empty or delayed for various reasons and your food might get eaten by bears if you ignore the appropriate measurements such as hanging up your food in a tree (a few hundred metres away from your camping site).

During storms and strong winds, bird nests and dead branches might fall down from the trees so look up in the trees before you set up your camping spot. In the winter, enormous amounts of snow can fall down from trees and cover your tent completely – resulting in a waste of energy in order to clear it and sometimes you might have to change your camping spot!

No Sound or Light Pollution

Many of you are probably trying to find out what sound and light pollution actually is, it does sound like made up words. They are real words though; they refer to the sound/light from humans in general. It is a known fact that it’s harder to watch the moon and the stars from a city than from the countryside which is because of the light pollution. The sound pollution from cars and industries in the city are constantly buffering which affects us more than we think. But don’t take my word for it, discover it yourself on your next camping trip instead. Try to sit down with a book of your choice and enjoy the silence of the Scandinavian woods, or even better – try to hear nothing. It will surprise you.

Relaxing

Neither phones nor electricity should be used when camping. It’s smart to bring a mobile phone in case of an emergency, which is why you should keep it off at all times in case you really need to use it later on. The extent of app usage and internet services in general has expanded massively in the past years, but we are not used to it.

We originate from animals in the wild who are supposed to be in nature without beeping notifications from a “smart” phone. The smart phone is becoming smarter than us – a huge problem in my opinion. Allow yourself to rest during your camping trip as it definitely is time well spent.

Create a little lounge area if you go camping in a group. You’ll discover how neat a lounge area can be for you and your friends, you can all sit down together and communicate without buttons and sound notifications. Marvellous!

You can get inspired and read about more relaxing things to do while camping.

Gratitude & Appreciation

I always feel gratitude towards life after coming home from a camping trip, most trips for that matter. I consider myself being an atheist, but I still feel an immeasurable appreciation to the earth and life itself after a proper camping trip. Everyone who is struggling with depression should definitely spend some time out in the nature.

The gratitude towards nature inside of us grows over time after some time out in the wild. The Scandinavian wilderness offers many mountain paths, valleys and some of the biggest rapids in the world. Storforsen is a perfect place to go in case you want to experience the earth-shaking presence of one of the world’s biggest rapids. The great wonders of nature exceed every other experience that you might have “in the city”. Nature also serves as one of the best medicines against a depressed soul.

Economy-friendly Vacation

Camping is done without restaurants, cafés and other establishments. Instead, you bring what is necessary on your journey while using every available food source to keep yourself full. Try out fishing in a lake/stream, pick (the eatable) mushrooms and other eatables if you have done your homework.

Many Scandinavian streams contain mussels and rainbow trout, as well as playing salmons that travel up and down the streams during specific seasons of the year. Always refrain from setting traps, unless you are close enough to end the suffering for the animals that are caught. Please be aware that traps aren’t allowed to use everywhere in nature, so make sure to do your homework on your upcoming camping region.

It’s important to have an idea of why you are going camping. Are you going to get some peace of mind or are you going for the physical challenge it might offer? Will you be gone for long or are you planning on getting back in a few days? There are different types of preparations to make depending on what you intend to get accomplished during your camping experience.

If you are going for a few days, lighters are probably a sufficient fire source and you basically just need some sort of sleeping bag or thick clothing to manage the cold Scandinavian nights. A longer trip however, requires mental preparations but you also need to bring other items. So, first of all, make up your mind on what you plan to accomplish with your camping trip.

A Smart Head

In order to stay warm, you need to take multiple factors into consideration. You need to consider the potential effects from wind, rain and cold. You also need to bring a pair of extra clothing, your clothes can quickly get wet from a simple mistake or by the harsh powers of nature. It’s worth mentioning that it’s quite easy to get holes in clothes from just walking around in the wilderness.

Especially if you are collecting firewood or other pointy items that could pierce the clothes. Take all the required measurements to stay warm at all times, including a sensible way to act in nature. It’s very easy to stress out over every small little incident, but remember that you went on your trip for the outdoor experience so remain calm and believe that you will make it back alive. Bring a sharp and healthy head.

Boots

I’ve written another article about what kind of boots you might need on your camping trip, feel free to check it out!

Ultimately, you can make the most of it if you know what you want to get out of your camping experience. Boots are extremely important if you are going on a cold winter hike in deep snow, but daytrips in the summer doesn’t really require any particular boots.

You can easily stay warm throughout the Scandinavian summer with sneakers or barefoot, as the midnight sun makes the forest so much warmer. The sun actually never sets completely if you are in the northern Scandinavia between June-August. During this period, the sun never sets fully beyond the horizon – it merely dips. The dip of the sun doesn’t result in a dark sky, instead you have a bright sky without sun. If you go in the winter, bring some warm boots but make sure that they are water resistant too.

Source of Fire

Camping is lovely, but camping without fire can cost you toes, fingers and even your life if you aren’t cautious. We humans have mastered the fire since ancient times but bringing it into the wild might be harder than what you are used to.

A regular lighter is an easy solution, but lighters tend to break on these trips. The gas in lighters can quickly be spent if your collected wood is cold and wet/frozen. Make sure to bring a kindle if you are going for a longer trip, also bring tinder – small pieces of wood that can spark up faster than cold forest wood.

Tinder is usually just needed to get a fire started, so try to gradually add bigger and bigger logs as the fire continues to grow. Potato chips works well as a substitute to tinder.

Wilderness Clothing

Being fashionable allows you to be pretty, while practical factors help you to survive. It’s very easy to underestimate the weather conditions of any geographic region; many look at average weather conditions to have an idea of what is to be expected.

I always try to set my expectations from reading up on the worst possible weather conditions of a region before I go there to camp. Camping in the wildlife is a way for me to be tested by nature, so extreme conditions are just as educational as challenging.

Preparing for the worst conditions will make you over prepared for average conditions of the region, you just found an edge against nature! How would snow storms or whipping winds affect you and your gear? Feel free to hope for the best but always prepare for the worst.

Food at camp

Good job friend, you finally found a source of food. What is the next thing to do with it? Well, you probably need something to prepare the food in a pot or similar. In case you got more food than what you plan to eat on a day, make sure to bury it or hang it up in a high tree branch.

The bears probably have the best smell among mammals, it is believed to be roughly 2100 times better than us humans. Bears will quickly find your fish and meat unless you make it inaccessible to them, in a tree for example. Try to only bring the eatable nutrients with you back to your camp as you want to avoid having meat/blood scents around your camp.

The food that you eat usually has to be cooked, regardless of what you eat. A pot can therefore be an extremely essential asset as it also allows you to boil water that you can drink on later occasions. There are multiple different ways to prepare an outdoor kitchen, although it’s far from the same thing as using a gas/electricity kitchen. In case you’d need inspiration on what types of food to cook while camping, please have a look at these 5 Food Tops for Camping and Hiking.

Small Necessities

You can pack blankets, pillows and other big items if you wish but they will take up all the space in your bag/backpack. You might consider bringing some sort of thin rope/strings and tarp to help you build up a camp quick without a tent.

Thin rope can be valuable if you want to give fishing a go too. A fishing rod is too fragile and big to bring, all you need is a wooden stick and a slim rope to tie to your homemade hook. A spoon might be a good thing to bring too, as you probably want to eat your food while it’s hot. Without a spoon, you need to wait for your food to cool off before you can start eating = less heat into your body.

 

Camping is life! It’s a great part of it at least. But before you head off towards your next adventure, check out this article to double check that you didn’t forget anything important. There are probably other things to bring too apart from the 6 listed items below, but these are the ones which I find most essential when camping for a week or more in the Scandinavian forest.

I try to be as self-sufficient as possible whenever I go out on a camping trip, that’s how I try to educate the people around me too. I generally dislike when people around me are depending on me simply because I want them to be able to live like they want to, with or without me around them.

It’s wise to bring a good friend on a camping trip, the company is important as you will affect each other more than you think. Most of the below-mentioned items can be bought at online camping hear stores, like Decathlon.

Shelter/Bedding

Are you planning to bring a tent or are you going to create your own camping site with tarp and rope? A tent might weigh too much if you’re planning on going far so it’s actually a smart move to use tarp if the weather conditions seem to allow it. It’s important to bring an axe or heavy knife so that you can use branches and wood to create your shelter.

Having a fire nearby allows you to stay warm while keeping animals away from your temporary home. You should have a good idea about how you can build a camp before you start. Paint a picture in your head before you set up the camp and only start once you know how you’re going to set it up.

A sleeping bag is essential to bring on a camping trip while a pillow is a luxury. You can bring it, but there are will always be other more vital items to bring instead.

Cooking Tools

You probably plan to catch something to eat in the wild or maybe you brought all of your food with you? Well, either way – you need to cook it. The water that you find in the Scandinavian streams are clean in general, but one can never know for sure so you should definitely boil all water that you collect before drinking it. In order to boil/cook anything, you need a pot with a handle or create some sort of handle yourself in nature. At least one spoon will be necessary for eating your meals in the wild.

You definitely need a knife, especially if you didn’t bring an axe. The knife allows you to quickly gut fish or adjust a camping site made of rope and tarp.

Clothes

If you go camping, always bring a minimum 2 pairs of everything. Why? The weather might get you wet, falling into a stream or by accident – your tent might get a scratch and start to leak water.

You need to be prepared.

Duct tape can repair most broken things, which can save you lots of energy if it enables you to stay healthy. Try to prepare a drying device so that you can dry any clothes if they happen to get wet, proactivity is very valuable in the unforgiving nature.

Your socks should ideally be made out of wool as cotton entraps moisture which oppose to warm feet. Try to use a thin layer of socks and one thick layer outside at the same time, the friction make your feet warmer while 2 pair of socks allow the friction to be present without giving you blisters.

Miscellaneous Equipment

There is a ton of equipment to use if you go out camping in the nature. It all depends on where you’re going and what you plan to do there. Binoculars are neat to have if you plan to go camping along a mountain while it might seem worthless from the middle of a valley.

A camera will allow you to save every moment while it usually allow you to zoom too, so binoculars might not be needed if you have a good camera. If you plan to go to a big wildlife area, it’s very wise to bring a map and a compass in case you get lost.

A compass and a map can quickly help you to navigate through snowfall, rain and heavy wind. A flashlight is a luxury, therefore not essential. Bring a couple of lighters and preferably some tinder bundle too for extreme situations.

Fun Stuff

It’s important to remember that you’re going camping to have fun. You aren’t going for the solitude exclusively.

Don’t forget the essential items, but also try to bring something to erase boredom with. Cards, board games, and a healthy imagination can allow you and your friends to kill time when the rain is falling down on your tent for days.

The fun stuff doesn’t have to be brought to the wild, the fun is already there and you can create your own happiness tools if you are handy enough.

Camping Bag & Adventure Bag

It’s important to pack all items in a big camping bag which is taken to the camping spot that you plan to use. However, you probably want to leave the camp every now and then for smaller trips outside your camp so it’s wise to have a smaller bag too.

The smaller bag is perfect to grab if you want to go fishing in a river, climbing a mountain or picking berries in the forest. It allows you to bring a day kit on your adventure, so you don’t end up in a sticky situation without essential survival items.