This post is brought to you in collaboration with HEX Performance, all opinions are my own. 

I love to share our adventures with you, like our current 70 day camping trip, but just like real everyday life, it isn't always rainbows and butterflies. There are downfalls to taking extended trips with kids or even alone, especially when those extended trips involve camping. I thought I would share my top 10 downfalls of extended camping trips for those of you who might be thinking of taking one yourself.

The Dirt!

There is so much dirt. If you are thinking of going on an extended camping trip, you can know that it will be dirty and plan for it being dirty, but there is really no way to truly prepare for it until you experience it. There will be dirt everywhere. In clothes, on the floor of your tent or camper, muddy shoes, dirty socks, grass stains in clothes. etc. If you are like me and only pack a week's worth of clothes for each person, that means you are going to need to backup in the clothes cleaning department. Check out these moms trying desperately to get the stains out of their kids' clothes. They feel my pain.


I will definitely be trying out HEX Performance when I can locate some on our trip, because somewhere along the line I thought it would be a brilliant idea to pack white clothing for some of my boys on this trip, and it isn't going so swell! You can find out more about HEX Performance too on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

No Showers, Flush Toilets or Running Water

As campers, we stay in a variety of different places. Some have free warm showers, flush toilets and running water, and others have none of those things. At Great Basin National Park last week, we had no running water, no electricity, no flush toilets, and no electricity, even in the bathrooms at night. You go with the flow though, but after 4 days of not being able to wash your hair, you might find yourself dunking your head in a bucket of cold water just to feel clean.

Lack of Sleep

There is a certain amount of lack of sleep you will likely encounter on an extended camping trip. Things happen, you get up early because of noisy neighbors, loud birds, or sun in your eyes, and you can be kept up late by some of those same things. You underestimate a drive and end up setting up camp in the middle of the night. Just be prepared for it and it isn't so bad. In fact, I usually don't notice it until I get home from a trip and sleep for three days.

Unforeseen Events

Things that would be easy to deal with if you were at home can cause huge problems on the road. Remember my bout of food poisoning in Mississippi? If I had been at home, I would have crawled in bed and slept it off. Instead, it was a big ordeal that ended with me needing to spend money to stay at a hotel for a night. Rolling with he punches is something you have to be good at when on an extended trip.

While there are some downfalls to an extended camping trip, especially with children, the memories you make, sites you see and experiences you have are more than worth it. Have you ever taking an extended camping trip? If you have any tips, tricks or anecdotes to share, I would love to hear them in the comment section below.