Went On A Trip And This Are My Thoughts About The Camping Tools App

After relying on the traditional method of camping, I’ve decided to make my life much easier by trying out the digital approach.

On my most recent camping trip, I used the CampingTools app to plan for an adventurous journey. 

And up to this point, I’m still wondering how I managed to go on trips without using this application. 

And here’s a back story of how everything went down before I started using this application:

I’m a camper who always has a hard time preparing for trips. For instance, I can’t recall the number of times I forgot to pack an essential item while going on a trip. 

Apart from that, tracking waypoints on Google Maps was getting hectic.

With the Camping Tools application, it is much easier to plan for camping trips, as every single functionality is consolidated under a single platform.

In this post, I will share my experience with the application while taking you through the different functionalities that it offers.

Let’s dive right in.

An Overview of Camping Tools

Camping Tools is a platform that makes it easier for campers to plan and manage trips. It started as a website and evolved into a mobile application with multiple camping functionalities. As a platform that brings campers together, Camping Tools has a section where users can share their camping experiences. 

Over the past few years, a community has grown around this platform due to some of the stories that are shared by enthusiasts from different parts of the world.

Is Camping Tools Free?

The Camping Tools application has a free trial period, which lasts for seven days. Thanks to the free version of this application, you can easily test out different features and functionalities of the application to check whether they suit you best. 

First Impressions

I love the fact that this application comes with a user-friendly dashboard with well-laid-out functionalities. 

Once you sign into the platform, you’ll see a ‘Trips’ section on the bottom-most left part of the screen. 

And thanks to the ‘Trip’ functionality, it becomes much easier to plan for multiple trips at the same time. 

The ‘Trips’ functionality is also complemented by other management features. Once you create a trip, additional features will be revealed. For example, there’s a media option for saving the pictures you’ll take on the trip.

Moreover, you’ll also come across a ‘lists’ section, which will help note down camping essentials you’ll need while embarking on an expedition.

Well, that’s just an overview of the functionalities offered by Camping Tools. Let’s dive right into it.

Itinerary

Gone are those days when campers used to rely on physical maps to determine the route they’d take while camping.

For starters, Camping Tools is linked to Google Maps, and this saves you the trouble of using physical maps while embarking on a camping expedition.

Apart from that, this functionality lets you add waypoints --- from the startpoint to the endpoint of the trip. To give you an experience that’s out of this world, the application displays a map on the itinerary screen. 

And this definitely makes it easier for you to map out the best route. 

Apart from that, the itinerary functionality highlights some of the most obvious useful structures and utilities in the area, such as supermarkets and refill areas.

At times, traveling on a new road can be tedious and challenging, especially if you are not familiar with the road.

For those who’d love to make a stop on the road, the camping application will highlight facilities along the roads.

Examples of other structures and facilities include nearby Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, Propane sections, rest areas, and camping grounds.

Since this camping application lists the most nearby camping grounds in a certain area, you can easily find a spot that suits you most after logging into the application.

Every single waypoint that’s added to the trip will appear on the map, so it can guide you as you move from one point to the next.

To make your trip more interesting, each waypoint has its own unique number, depending on the time it was added to the application.

You’ll also have an option for adding your live location to the waypoints. In fact, this makes it easier for you to track the distance you’ve covered in your trip. 

Apart from that, the Camping Tools application lets you set a start date and end point for every single trip that you are planning to embark on. Not to mention, it makes it easier for you to determine how long you will take from one waypoint to the next.

My trip to Burrs Manor Wild Camp had an estimated travel time of about 20 hours. Still, everything boils down to the number of waypoints you have set on the application. 

Not to mention, you can add waypoints depending on how long your trip lasts. 

One of the most unique features of this application is the ability to share your current location with your friends, making it easier for you to update one another about your current location. For those who have friends who are travelling through a certain route, it becomes much easier to link up with them, especially after sharing your live location.

If you are planning to share some accessories with your friends, you can create a list of items that you are planning to use, then send them to your friends and travelling companions. 

After sharing the list with your friends, they can easily import the list on their end and go through it, so you can be on the same page.

Memories 

Another feature that makes this application interesting is the memory functionality, as it lets you document your trip. You can take different pictures and upload them into your trip to create beautiful memories of the places you visited. Apart from that, you can also write a small description, explaining some of the different things that have been featured in your memory. 

On each trip, your memories will be listed in a chronological order---from the most recent memory to the oldest memory. 

Since memories are kind of private, the application gives you the option to either publish your trip memories or keep them private, based on your preferences.

And on the Explore page, the application lists all the memories that have been made public, making it easier for other camping enthusiasts to go through different memories. Apart from that, other details---such as the group the story has been posted to and friends involved in the trip---are often featured on the explore page.

So, let’s say you went on a trip with your camping friends and created some good memories while on the trip. Once you post the story on the Explore page, it will have details about the friends who accompanied you on your trip.

Well, the Explore page is full of memories and information that might be insightful to campers who might embark on a similar journey.

While I haven’t shared memories from my trip yet, I went through the memories of enthusiasts who traveled to the same destinations as me, and this helped me navigate different challenges.      

With that said, the memory posts also have comment sections which can be used to discuss notions related to the camping stories. 

From such discussions, you can easily make new friends as most conversations usually revolve around the same interests. 

But, that’s not all:

The application also has ‘friends’ and ‘groups’ sections, which allows enthusiasts to share their thoughts. So, you can either choose to go through the content that is published by your friends or content that’s published in multiple groups.  

The ‘groups’ feature comes with a functionality that lists all the members of the group.

There’s also a functionality that gives you insight into real-time trips, giving you enough insights into the hottest trips within a certain season.

Since the groups tab features live trips, it also allows the planners of such trips to list the itinerary and items required for the trip. 

If any element or detail is added on the real-life trip, all those who are interested in the trip will get an update that keeps them in the loop.   

Thanks to the friends tab, you can easily see everything that your friends have posted in an effort to share camping-related information. 

Over To You

All in all, the Camping Tools app is a solid application for anyone who’s planning to go on a trip. I’ve used it and I enjoyed the features that it offered.