I just spent the last week getting lost in Northern California with some of my best friends. Since it was the 4th of July, we figured that the only real way to celebrate was to go car camping at the beach, it basically doesn’t get more American than that. We managed to stir up quite a bit of adventure, which included some serious beach combing sessions, hiking and coastal scrambling, speed-boating and river rafting, rope swinging and dice games for shells.
Unfortunately, there was a lack of choice waveage for surfing, so instead, we ate about a million oysters, watched some earth shattering sunsets and ended up inside the chapel of an early Russian settlement talking about brothels. You know, that old chestnut. This post sums up the first leg of the trip, with part II and III to follow.
Now, when packing for a beach camping trip there a a few essential items that MUST be included. Shelter is def one of those. I opted to bring along the new Alite x Free People Tent (you may remember it from this post) and the Noah’s Tarp 12 from Kelty. Both items were a breeze to set up, and I do think that we checked off a few points for being fashion-forward at our site *please note the on-trend floral patterns and the wildflower accents.
I kept it pretty minimal in the footwear department for the first few days, relying almost exclusively on my Keen La Paz sandals. I wear them religiously when I am home so I have a pretty defined decorative tan line (this is super important when trying to impress locals). For bottoms, I went with the Original G Pant from Gramicci in a saturated berry hue, a little peg and these beauties are the perfect balance of form and function. They are remarkably durable thanks to the double ring spun closed end, “stout weave” cotton twill, they offer UPF 50 protection from harmful solar rays and also happen to be incredibly comfortable thanks to the “diamond engineered” gusset.
Eating, everyone’s doing it. So boring. I try to spice up my beach camp cooking zone with some Spork Originals designed by Scandinavian designer, Joachim Nordwall, for Light My Fire. They are colorful, translucent and made out of a material called “tritan”, which makes me feel like I am eating with something a warrior would use to spear fish, so that works for me.
As the sun starts to set (and boy does it set dramatically) the headlamps and lanterns come out. I love a natural flame as opposed to a sharp white LED lamp, and I have discovered the perfect alternative… the Mini Hozuki from Snow Peak has a setting called “candle mode” that responds to sound or wind with flickering light. I also have the larger version of this lantern, the Hozuki, which is inspired by the “beauty and romance of the sacred Hozuki plant”. Much like a traditional Japanese paper lantern, it illuminates the surrounding area with the most sensorial, buttery glow. It runs for up to 80 hours on battery power (on the low light setting) and can also be charged with a USB cable for the tech-savvy camp set.
I will be posting part II and III over the next few days, culminating with a Beach Bum Essential Camping List for those of you that need a little more “direction” when it comes to packing the right gear for a few days out of the office, but not totally off the grid.
XX Jeanine