A handy guide to being a better camper

Make the most of your trip without taking the piss.

As a community of campers, adventure lovers, road trippers and weekend warriors, we’re all about looking after the people and places we love. Nobody wants their experience to be tainted by an ill-prepared camper, and as caravans and campers become increasingly popular, we all have a responsibility to educate and keep each other in check. To help, we’ve put together a list of ways to be a conscious camper, because nobody wants to be ‘that guy’.

Leave no trace

Leaving no trace is all about considering your impact on the environment, so those secret spots you love so much can continue to be enjoyed by future generations. Your site should look the same when you leave as it did when you arrived, whether you’re in a National Park or a car park.

When you’re on holiday, it’s easy to forget that your impact doesn’t stop at you - everyone around you, and everyone else who comes through after you, is affected. Your actions reflect on the camping and caravanning community as a whole, so make sure that impression is a good one. Here are some steps you can take to leave no trace:

• Take everything with you. This is a fairly straightforward one, given nobody wants to arrive at a site full of rubbish. And yes, this includes human waste. No toilet? Should’ve brought your own!

• Choose an appropriate site. If you’re in a larger caravan or van, find van-specific sites and book ahead. If one van rips up the dirt, imagine what 10 or 50 vans could do – your van is heavy, so tread lightly.

• Keep wildlife wild. This is hugely important in Australia. We love wildlife encounters when out and about, but we want wildlife to stay curious and not get too confident around campers. All sorts of problems arise when wild animals get too comfortable, so don’t feed the wildlife and enjoy from a distance.

Respect the locals

If we look after locals, the locals will look after us – and that doesn’t mean your campsite neighbours. It’s about respecting local communities and their expectations when it comes to camping and vans. As the popularity of campervanning and caravanning is on the rise, it’s up to us, as a community, to be respectful and keep our impact to a minimum.

Every local council takes a different stance when it comes to free/wild camping camping, so it’s our responsibility to be aware of the rules before arriving. Out bush and further inland, they are very accommodating of free campers, but on the busy east coast, you may well get a knock on your window if you overstay your welcome. Consider the impact on the people who live where you’re planning to spend your time. To say it again: if we look after them, they will look after us. But what does this look like in practice?

• If there’s a sign prohibiting camping, it’s probably there for a good reason. As much as we love to embrace spontaneity and our wild side, rules are rules, and we’re not out to flaunt them.

• Some people are fortunate enough to live in these places, and nobody really loves to have a campervan parked out the front of their lot. Be mindful of how you spend your time, and if you do decide to free camp (legally), leave no trace, keep it brief and move on early to keep the locals happy.

Don’t be a hero on the roads

Whether you’re in a van or travelling with a caravan in tow, driving is a big part of the journey and the camping experience, so we have to be mindful of our impacts on the road. Admit it – we’ve all been frustrated while stuck behind a slow caravan on the highway. We get it, but when you’re in holiday mode, or driving an unfamiliar vehicle that you’ve just picked up, it’s all too easy to let our normal road senses slide when it comes to etiquette on the road. And forget how different a larger, heavier vehicle might drive.

We love encouraging people to try out all sorts of campers to find what works best for them, but also want people to be safe and respectful out on the roads while doing so. So, what should we be doing to keep it respectful on the roads?

• Plan your route. This is SO important if you’re caravanning. You’d be surprised how many roads around Australia aren’t caravan friendly, so don’t get caught out. It’s very difficult to do a u-turn with a caravan in tow!

• Keep left. Chances are you’re in a larger, heavier, slower vehicle than the family car you’re used to, so take it easy, let people pass and keep left as often as you can.

• Let people pass. Moreso for caravans – if you’re crawling up a hill or more comfortable at a slower speed, be mindful of other drivers and pull over to let them pass if you need to. If other drivers are kept happy, you’ll arrive on time and stress free.

• Treat a hire vehicle like your own. If you’ve hired through Camplify, drive as if the vehicle is your own. We love our RV owners – we wouldn’t exist without them – so be sure to respect their vehicles and treat them as your own.

You’ve had a chance to familiarise yourself with ways to be a better camper, so now comes the fun part – going on an adventure. The first step? Choosing a van through Camplify.