The five scientists, all specializing in some form of science of the brain, are divided into two groups. Two groups which you could probably classify your peers within. That is, skeptics and believers.

The skeptic group thinks that the merits of a vacation are obvious. Vacation is a time of restoration. A time where digital interruptions are the last thing we’re waiting for, expecting, or wanting. Up until here, the believers would agree with the skeptics. Where the skeptic differs is in the idea that an outdoor retreat not only has the power to restore, but to physically change our brains.

David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, argued that the brain is refreshed by nature.

Our senses change. They kind of recalibrate – you notice sounds, like these crickets chirping; you hear the river. the sounds, the smells, you become more connected to the physical environment, the earth, rather than the artificial environment.”

David Stayer is a professor of Psychology from the University of Utah

By the end of the trip, no one could deny that they’d felt renewed physically and mentally. You (the reader) have likely experienced this same post nature outing calm. The drive home is quieter, though maybe its because the kids are zonked out in the back seat, but things just feel different.

Some of the good scientists involved in this little experiment went home to study this feeling a bit more. Hopefully we’ll hear more about just what is going on in our complicated brains during this time. I have no doubt that they’ll find something significant occurs from some exposure to nature. Us? We don’t really need the scientists to confirm something we already know. Just call us believers.

The Lean-To Shelter – Wooded Areas

The lean-to shelter is one of the easiest shelters to build yourself. It will provide you decent coverage from the wind and rain, and give you an extra barrier of defense against wild animals. To get started, you’ll need to find a downed tree. If you can’t find one, get the largest branch you can lift and brace it up against a standing tree at a 45 degree angle. The tree, branch and ground should form a triangle. The branch will act as the center beam of your lean-to shelter.

Next, gather smaller branches and lean them up against the center branch. Depending on how long you plan on staying, you may want to dig the branches into the ground and push them up against the center branch for increased stability. Lean up as many branches as you need to in order to form the combined roof and walls of your lean-to shelter.

Once your walls and roof are completed, you’ll want to add some extra coverage to keep out the elements. Look for smaller branches that still have some leaves on them, or any sort of brush you can find. Weave these pieces into the walls of your shelter until it looks like you have enough coverage.

This simple shelter can provide some great insulation and serve as a nice camping spot for one or more people, depending on how big you make it. It’s ideal in a wooded area where branches and leaves are readily available. It can also be a great project for you and your family or a team building exercise when trolling through the woods.

Beach Shelter

If you’re stuck on a beach, you’ll be surrounded by lots of sand, but will also likely have some access to driftwood, small bushes and maybe even some trees. Since sand is easy to dig in, you should be able to handle this one on your own. Start by digging a trench large enough to lay down in and build up 3 walls around it.

Lay any driftwood you can find across the top to form a roof. Make sure the sand forming the walls is compacted enough that the beams can lay comfortably across the top. Gather any sort of leaves or shrubbery you can find and lay it across the roof beams. You can also use the foliage to make the ground inside the shelter a little softer for you to sleep in.

Since you can be exposed to lots of sun on the beach, this shelter is especially important to providing you with shade. Staying out of the sun will keep you hydrated longer and conserve your energy, as well as protect you from a potentially bad sunburn and debilitating heat stroke.

Desert Shelter

In a desert, you will find your access to trees and foliage much more limited than on a beach. You’ll have to make due with what you have and pay special attention to your surroundings to find natural shelters to help you out. Look for rock outcroppings that form natural trenches so that you have a base to build from.

Pile up sand around the rocks for more insulation from the elements. If you have a poncho, canvas or any other sort of liner, use that as your roof. Secure it with rocks or sand on the edges, making sure you leave enough room for you to easily get in and out of the shelter. If you don’t have any materials with you, you’ll need to start foraging for supplies. Use anything you can find to form a roof – leaves, brush, sticks or any of nature’s gifts. Without a roof, your shelter is all but useless.

Deserts are known for their extreme temperature variations – blazing hot during the day and cold at night. A desert shelter will help insulate you from these temperatures and prolong your survival.

Snow Shelter

Due to the extremely low temperatures and sometimes-fierce winds, survival in snowy conditions can be particularly tricky. Shelter is absolutely essential in a snowy region and even more so during a snowstorm.

With any snow shelter, be prepared to dig and use up a lot of energy. If you don’t have a shovel, use whatever you can find to do the digging to avoid using your hands. Start by clearing out a circular area around 8 feet in diameter. Pile snow on top of that until you get to a height of around 6 feet. Make sure you mix the snow in the process – mixing snow from different layers helps to make it stronger because of the different temperatures.

Once the snow has sufficiently hardened (typically an hour or two), start digging out a cave from one of the sides and into the middle. Hollow it out until there is enough room for you to lay down with a little bit of extra space.

Make sure you poke some ventilation holes throughout the shelter so that a sufficient amount of fresh air is getting in. Mark the shelter with sticks, ski poles or anything else to keep it visible. If you leave your shelter and it continues to snow, you can easily lose it if it’s not clearly marked.

A few feet outside of your entrance, build up another pile of snow to form a wall. This is known as a “wind wall” and will help keep the wind and any other snow from blowing inside your shelter.

Sources:

• Lean-to Shelter image – graymalkn
• Beach Shelter & Desert Shelter images- Survival Junction
• Snow Shelter image – Uncooped

1. Poisonous Plants

Poisonous plants can pose a threat to anyone in the great outdoors. For the most part, as long as you avoid contact with them, you won’t be in any danger. The most important thing to remember is don’t eat or even touch any plant that you can’t readily identify. It’s especially important to watch little kids in the outdoors, as they have a tendency to put things in their mouth. According to Live Science, these are the top 10 most poisonous plants. Poisonous plants are relatively easy to avoid if you know what you’re looking for, just watch out for the rest of your group.

The Web Ecoist is also another great resource for identifying deadly plants. Check out the following article to learn more: Cute Killers: 16 Unassuming-but-Lethal Poison Plants.

2. Dehydration

Dehydration is a leading cause of death all around the world. It’s difficult for people in developed countries to fathom this, but millions (if not billions) of people around the world do not have access to clean drinking water. When on an outdoor adventure, whether it be hiking through a long trail or just camping out for a few days, it’s extremely important to drink lots of water. If you’re not getting enough water, you may start to experience mild symptoms of dehydration such as:

• Chills
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Dry mouth
• Loss of appetite

More serious symptoms of dehydration can include vomiting, shortness of breath, confusion and dulled vision. If you or any member of your group experience these symptoms, start getting some fluids into your body asap. Make sure those affected avoid the sun and moving around as much as possible, and get to the nearest health facility as quickly as you can.

3. Wild Animals

Everyone has a great camping story about a bear stealing their food or just “visiting” their campsite. For the most part, bears will not attack unless provoked. The best thing to prevent bears from visiting your campsite is to not leave any food remnants lying around. If possible, wrap them up in a canvas and hoist them up over a high branch on a nearby tree. This is an effective deterrent for bears.

Depending on where you’re located and what type of activities you’re partaking in, other dangerous animals to be aware of include:

• Snakes
• Wolves
• Scorpions
• Sharks
• Crocodiles
• Spiders

Outdoor.com has a great article for some more information on avoiding wild animals while camping.

4. Weather

Weather can be your best friend or your absolute worst enemy. We all love the the sun shining and calm waters on a beautiful, clear day. But weather can quickly turn on us and you need to be aware of the warning signs. Simply looking up into the sky for dark clouds can guarantee a storm is coming. It may just be a quick thunderstorm, but it could also signal a coming tornado.

Lighting strikes are a particular danger in the woods, especially if you don’t have a nearby car to hop into and ride out the storm. Your best bet is to stay clear of trees and bodies of water as much as possible. Make yourself a small target by curling up into a ball, and stay out of your tent.

There’s a great in depth article over at How Stuff Works on how to survive a lighting storm in the middle of the woods.

Floods are another big danger when camping. Avoid camping in the low grounds and most definitely avoid any sort of valley. These types of locations are nature’s canals. In a downpour, water can come rushing through these areas and sweep away your entire campsite.

5. Nature!

Nature is another thing you need to watch out for when milling through the great outdoors. You need to respect your surroundings – bodies of water, mountains and steep inclines, trees and anything else around you capable of causing harm. Always use the proper safety equipment when climbing and if possible, make sure to have at least one other person with you in case of an emergency. Another good rule of thumb is to tell someone else who isn’t present where you’ll be and how long you plan to stay. This way, if they don’t hear back from you after a certain time, they can have the proper authorities go looking for you.

6. Firearms, Knives and other Outdoor Gear

Firearms, knives and other potentially hazardous outdoor gear needs to be treated with the utmost respect. Do not keep loaded firearms around children and lock them up or disable them if possible. All knives should be kept in their sheaths to avoid accidental cuts. When hunting, take the necessary steps to avoid firearms accidentally going off and striking another member of your group, or even yourself. Here’s some more information from How to Do Things on how to handle a gun safely.

Another great feature about camping is that the whole family gets to doing things together which is a chance that you rarely get during the busy routine of heavy schedules. So plan your camping spree with care and make certain that you have some great games that you can keep your kids engaged in. Before you set out ascertain that you have packed all essential things, don’t forget to get a first aid kit!

You can actually buy camping games from department stores. Or you can even take things like marbles and balls, and the dart game that you may already be having in the house along with you. One game that you can play with marbles is to draw a circle in the mud and place a marble in the centre. Each member tries to take a hit at the marble with the marble they have in hand and knock it out of the circle. The person who finally knocks the marble out gets to keep that marble and another one is placed in the circle instead. The winner will be the one who has the most number of marbles. This is a game that is fun for adults and kids alike.

You can even carry word games with you for the trip, but what you have to make sure is that the words that you make should all be linked to the camping trip like names of animals, birds, trees, streams or rivers, lakes, mountains etc. There are loads of games that you can play.

Games like the all time favorite tug-of-war, sack race etc are still really popular whether you are at a camp or in the grounds of a school. You could even arrange a scavenger hunt. We all very well know children really look forward to expeditions, quests and adventure and what better place to carry it out than at a camping holiday? This is one of those games that exercise the muscles and kids seem to get great pleasure from adventures using maps and compasses.

One of the most exciting and eagerly looked forward to feature of a camping trip is the camp fire. Here too you can play various games like story telling game. One person start a story, tells a sentence or two and then the person sitting next has to take over, adding a couple of more sentences to the story. The most enjoyable part is that each participant can take the story any way they like and there is so much fun. Get as many people as you can when you go camping. Remember the more, the merrier!

Let’s start from the bottom – your feet. Any camping trip, especially one that involves hiking, is going to involve a lot of walking, and much of that is going to be on uneven and unpredictable surfaces. It’s extremely important to protect your feet from blisters and your ankles from twisting.

The best way to do this is to purchase a good, rugged pair of boots, particularly hiking boots. And make sure they’re waterproof: nothing is worse than wet feet, and you never know if you’re going to have to walk through a puddle or creek. A decent pair of boots is the most valuable and necessary item in your camping wardrobe. However, getting the boots is only part of protecting your feet, as you also need to get some good socks. Heavy-duty wool socks are the way to go for a camping trip, as they provide a layer of protection between your boot and your foot, helping prevent blisters and abrasion, and they also can keep your feet warm when the temperature drops at night.

Next we come to your legs. If it’s extremely hot, you can wear shorts, but the majority of the time, pants are the better decision. When walking through the forest, you never know what kind of bugs or foliage you are going to come across, and it’s best to keep as much of your skin covered as possible. Having long pants can also help keep you warm when the temperature drops. That’s not to say that your pants are going to keep you too warm–many camping companies produce pants that are extremely light-weight, but heavy duty material that won’t tear or rip while hiking. The lightweight material also dries exceedingly quickly, which is useful for when it rains or if you step in a puddle.

Moving up further, there is one key to shirts for camping: layers. When you’re out camping, the temperature can swing strongly, depending on the weather and the time. When the sun goes down, the temperature can easily drop 30 degrees. Layering your clothes helps the camper deal with this volatility. You want plenty of long sleeve shirts to protect your arms from the sun, bugs, and brush, and you want materials that are thin yet warm, like waffle thermals for example. This way, you can pack light but still stay warm or cool depending on what the weather dictates. You also want to bring a weatherproof shell jacket, in case it rains. It’s essential that this jacket is thin so that it doesn’t take up too much room.

As far as your head goes, you should always have a hat. It helps keep you cool and can prevent painful sunburn. You may also want to invest in a headlamp, as it will enable you to get around in the dark while keeping your hands free.

Camping has the potential to be a poor experience if you don’t know what you’re doing, but if you have these essential pieces of gear, you’ll be on your way to having a great time!