Step 3 of 5: Choose Your Style

A quick weekend camp setup at a bush site with a packed car nearby

Weekend Camping

The Art Of The Easy Weekend Camp

The best campers aren't the ones who do epic two-week expeditions — they're the ones who slip away for a night or two, often, without it being a big production. Here's how to make weekend camping so easy you'll actually keep doing it.

I camp most because I made it easy. The trips that don't happen are the ones that need a week of planning and a full pack-out every time. The ones that do happen run off a permanent camp tub, a short drive and a simple meal plan. The whole skill of weekend camping is removing the friction so that 'should we just go away?' on a Thursday turns into actually going on Friday.

— Hard-won advice from the Easy Camping crew

A pre-packed camping tub loaded in the back of a car ready to go — A permanent packed tub is the secret to leaving on a Friday without the stress.

Step 1

Keep a permanent camp tub ready

The single biggest unlock for frequent weekend camping is gear that lives packed. Keep a tub (or two) with everything non-perishable always in it — stove, cookset, lantern, cutlery, first aid, matches, tarp, pegs. Restock it the moment you get home, not the moment you leave. This turns departure from a half-day of hunting through cupboards into ten minutes of loading the car and grabbing food. People who pack from scratch every time slowly stop going; people with a ready tub go on a whim. The tub is the difference between camping being an event and being a habit.

Keep a tub permanently packed with all non-food gear
Restock it as soon as you get home, not before you leave
Loading the car should take ten minutes, not half a day
A ready tub is what turns camping into a regular habit

Step 2

Build a shortlist of close, easy sites

For weekends, distance is the enemy. A site two hours away you can leave for after work beats a spectacular one five hours away you'll only manage twice a year. Build a personal shortlist of half a dozen reliable spots within easy reach — ones you know have space, decent access and the facilities you want. Knowing exactly where you're going removes the biggest planning step. The familiar, close site you can reach by Friday dinner is worth ten 'amazing' spots that are too far to bother with for a single night.

Favour sites you can reach after work on a Friday
Keep a shortlist of half a dozen reliable close spots
Knowing the site removes most of the planning
Close and easy beats spectacular but far for weekends

Friends unloading gear from a car for a weekend camp — A pre-packed tub means you're on the road in minutes.

Sign in to read the rest of this guide

The remaining steps and insider tips are free once you create an account.

Create free account Sign in

Step 3

Master the Friday-night arrival

Arriving in the dark puts people off weekend camping, but it's a skill you can nail. Have a tent you can pitch in ten minutes (practise it), a head torch each, and a no-cook or one-pot first meal so dinner isn't a project. Pitch, eat something simple, and leave the proper setup for the morning. Once you've done a couple of Friday-night arrivals you realise it doubles your time away — you wake up already there on Saturday instead of spending the morning driving. The dark arrival is a hurdle worth getting over.

Practise a ten-minute pitch so the dark doesn't matter
Plan a no-cook or one-pot first meal
Do the full setup in the morning, not on arrival
A Friday night arrival nearly doubles your weekend

Step 4

Keep the meal plan stupidly simple

Two nights doesn't need a menu. Pick a few reliable, low-effort meals you can almost do on autopilot — a one-pan dinner, wraps for lunch, eggs for breakfast — and keep a short standard shopping list you barely have to think about. Pre-prep what you can at home so camp cooking is assembly, not cooking. The aim is to remove food as a planning burden: when the meals are a known quantity, the whole trip feels effortless. Save the ambitious camp cooking for longer trips; weekends are about ease.

A couple pitching a pop-up tent for a weekend getaway — Quick-pitch tents get camp sorted so you can start relaxing.

Step 5

Pack the same, every time

Develop a repeatable routine and a packing list you reuse rather than reinventing each trip. Same tub, same clothes system, same loading order in the car. Routines remove decisions, and decisions are what make a trip feel like hard work. After a few weekends you'll have it down to muscle memory — you'll know exactly what goes where and what you actually use. Keep a simple checklist on your phone so nothing gets forgotten, and refine it after each trip by noting what you wished you'd brought or never touched.

Step 6

Lower the bar and go more often

The mindset shift that makes someone a regular camper is treating a weekend away as no bigger a deal than a weekend at home. It doesn't have to be perfect, remote or photogenic — a single night at a familiar local site still resets you completely. The people who camp constantly aren't more organised or better-geared; they've just stopped treating each trip as a major undertaking. Say yes more, keep it simple, and accept a 'good enough' trip over waiting for the perfect one that never quite comes together.

Insider Tips You Won't Find In A Search

Little things that make a big difference

Keep a permanently packed camp tub and restock it the day you get home — departure becomes a ten-minute job.

Build a phone shortlist of close, reliable sites so 'where should we go' is never a planning blocker.

Practise pitching your tent until you can do it in the dark — Friday-night arrivals double your weekend.

Keep a standard, reusable shopping list so food shopping for a trip takes five minutes, not an evening.

Pre-cook the first night's dinner at home so arrival is heat-and-eat, not cook-from-scratch.

Leave the car loading order the same every time — muscle memory means nothing gets forgotten.

Freeze a couple of water bottles as esky ice; for a short trip they keep everything cold the whole weekend.

Keep a small 'forgotten essentials' kit in the car — phone charger, headache tablets, spare pegs, lighter.

Refine your checklist after every trip: note what you never used and what you wished you'd packed.

Aim to leave Friday and be home by Sunday lunch — a buffer afternoon at home makes the weekend feel longer.

Unlock the insider tips

The Extras Worth Packing

Beyond the basic checklist

A permanently packed camp tub

Turns leaving into a ten-minute job and camping into a habit.

A fast-pitch tent (practised)

Makes Friday-night arrivals easy and doubles your weekend.

A reusable packing checklist

Removes the decisions that make trips feel like work.

A standard, simple meal plan

Five-minute shopping and effortless camp cooking.

Frozen water bottles

Free esky ice that lasts a short trip and becomes cold water.

A car 'forgotten essentials' kit

Chargers, tablets and spare pegs so nothing derails the trip.

A pre-cooked first dinner

Heat-and-eat on arrival instead of cooking in the dark.

Two head torches

Easy setup and moving around after a late arrival.

A relaxed weekend campsite with chairs around a small fire

Keep it close and simple, and a weekend away becomes something you do monthly.

What catches people out

Packing from scratch every time. It's the friction that slowly stops people going — keep a ready tub.
Choosing sites too far away. For one or two nights, a long drive eats the whole trip.
Fearing the dark arrival. With a fast pitch and a simple meal it's easy — and it nearly doubles your time away.
Over-planning the food. Weekends want known, simple meals, not an ambitious menu.
Reinventing the packing each trip. Reuse a checklist and a routine so it's effortless.
Waiting for the perfect weekend. Conditions are rarely ideal — a good-enough trip still beats staying home.

Ready to turn this into a plan?

Build a packing list tailored to your trip and step through the rest in the right order.

Back To Beginner Hub