Camping on the beach

There is something magical about camping on the beach. I think it is a combination of beautiful vistas, killer sunsets and a constant hum of waves crashing. Whenever I am camping on the beach, I think about how wonderful it would be to live on the coast.

Several people have asked what we do for two or three whole days on the beach, but between collecting driftwood, eating food, filtering water, snapping photographs, taking long walks on the beach and exploring tide pools there is only a little leftover time for smore making and journal writing. The best part of camping, or traveling in general for us is we are devoid of our modern day distractions which allows us to go to bed early and rise with the sunshine warming our tent. Life is simple when you are camping.

Over the years we have learned a few things about beach camping:

• Dress in layers. Cool, foggy mornings oftentimes give way to clear, sunny days.
• Bring extra socks and pants, waves can be unpredictable and you don't want your last pair of clean plants to get soaked by a wave.
• Make sure there is a water source. As we get later into the Summer season water sources can dry up. Make certain you have extra water in the car just in case. 
• Bring hiking poles. Heavy packs in combination with unstable ground can make the act of walking more difficult, bring poles for added support in keeping you upright.
• Wear waterproof shoes. The beach is wet and you might have to walk across fast moving streams, bring waterproof shoes so you don't have to forge the water barefoot. 
• Bring rope. Rope has many uses when camping, it is great for hanging food in trees to acting as a clothesline.

Morning fog gives way to blue sky days.

The beach is our playground and most of the time we have it to ourselves.

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We roasted marshmallows as the sky puts on a show and turned into night.

There is something satisfying about carrying my possessions on my back. I found this to be true while backpacking through Europe in college. I like the challenge of carrying a heavy backpack particularly along unstable surfaces like sand and pebbles, the next few days afterward you can feel it is quite the workout.