Most of my friends can’t fathom why I like spending long hours behind the wheel, the road spooling out behind me. They especially don’t get why I like to camp along the way, preferably in spots with no water, bathrooms, fire pits, or other campers.

Two words: crowd avoidance. I’ve always had that faintly misanthropic impulse, but now, with COVID-19, even hyper-sociable folk are following suit, wondering how to cross a few states while steering clear of potential carriers out there.

It’s pretty clear that if you plan well, driving is safer than flying right now. Here are some tips for car camping beginners who want to stay safe on the road.

Lawrence Gostin, director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, has these tips for staying COVID safe during a road trip:

  • Carry and use masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfect wipes if you plan to stay in motels or campgrounds with tables, faucets, etc.
  • Pack as much food and water as you can to minimize stops.
  • Whenever you do stop for food and gas, practice good hand hygiene by sanitizing often and choosing takeout/drive-through options.
  • When possible, take meal breaks outside in areas without crowds, or in your car.
  • If you do stay in a motel, avoid elevators and common breakfast rooms, and wipe down surfaces with your own cleaning supplies.

Plan where you’ll camp
Scan your route for state and national parks, national forests, and other public lands, and check their web sites to see if they’re allowing camping. National forests and land administered by the Bureau of Land Management often allow what’s called dispersed camping — you bump down a dirt road and find a spot, set up camp, and hope no one else comes within shouting distance. Often you’re totally on your own. No facilities, no fees, no hassle. Here’s a good primer on the various kinds of free camping, including the last-ditch option of overnighting in a Walmart parking lot. Also try the excellent Free Roam –they review out-of-the-way camping options, even telling you which cell phone carriers get service out there.

A few random pieces of advice

  • Plan to get to the camp spot with daylight and energy to spare. It takes time and effort to set up camp, make dinner, clean up, etc.
  • Bring water, like 4 or 5 of the big gallon jugs you can get at the grocery store. Even if you plan to camp where there’s a faucet, you might want to stay away from the other people at that common spigot.
  • Make sure you have good flashlights and lanterns. I love headlamps, and Luci Lights, which are solar-powered inflatables that you can tie to the roof of your tent if you want to read or something.
  • Make sure you have very good sleeping pads. It makes all the difference.
  • I bring a cotton sheet along with my sleeping bag, because a sleeping bag can really make you sweat. If it’s REALLY hot, you can put the sheet on top of your bag and sleep with nothing on top of you.
  • When you pack your gear, try to have the grouping of items be intuitive and memorable. For instance, I always pack the coffee stuff, the breakfast stuff, and the small backpacking stove in the same bag or box, and put it behind the passenger side front seat.
  • Think about whether you’re going to build fires (if it’s allowed), and if so, bring a starter bundle of wood, some newspaper, and a lighter. Bring an ax if you want to collect wood for fires.
  • Try to figure out an equitable division of labor for setting up and breaking camp. My husband and I have it down to a science, and we each have our tasks. We get things done fast and there’s not much room for irritation and resentment to build.

What else to bring (a quirky and incomplete list)

  • First aid kit
  • A small shovel so you can dig a hole to poop in and then fill it back in.
  • Toilet paper
  • Wet wipes that you can use on your privates. Better than TP.
  • a good knife
  • plastic cutting board to cut cheese and the like for sandwiches
  • plastic utensils, plates, and bowls
  • Yetis are the incomprehensibly expensive gold standard, but there are plenty of good options that are cheaper, like coolers from RTIC or the old-school and very decent Coleman Cooler. Get one bigger than you think you’ll need, so you can carry beer, wine, Le Croix, sandwich makings, and a bag of mini-carrots so you feel virtuous.
  • Just-add-water meals, like those from Good to Go; I love their Thai Curry.
  • Trash bags of various sizes, including zip locks.
  • Jet boil — even if you don’t want to bother with a bigger camp stove, it’s great to have this little wonder on hand, to boil water for coffee or just-add-water meals. You can also use it to heat up canned soup.

Where to rent gear
Don’t have camping gear? From camp chairs to sleeping pads, from headlamps to trekking poles, REI rents it all, but due to COVID, they’re only renting at select locations. As of July 21, 2020, in California, rentals are available from the Berkeley, Saratoga, and Folsom REIs. Rentals are also available in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Spokane, and North Conway (New Hampshire).

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, all ten Sports Basement locations rent gear. They charge more than REI for most items.

Keep safe, and have a good trip!

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