Three Essential Camping Manners That Make You A Saint

You're not exactly eyeing the cash prize in a popularity contest, but how you behave will affect the camping experience of your group and that of your camping neighbors. One rotten apple can spoil the whole lot, so do yourself a favor by not being that rotten apple and by observing the following etiquette that will have you and your camping group promoted to sainthood.

1. Obey rules like a fuzzy-logic gadget. While you're not exactly a push-button equipment, program your instincts to obey campsite rules. These rules are meant to be obeyed, not broken. You're entitled to your fun; that's why you're out camping, but recognize that your camping neighbors are entitled to their share of fun too.

Do not spoil the entire camping experience by exhibiting behavior that intentionally or unintentionally provokes your camping neighbors to annoyance: washing your dishes and laundry in the fountain, cleaning fish and raw meat in the campsite, attracting critters and wild animals to the campsite with improperly secured food containers, treating your camping area like your personal garbage dump site, indulging yourself in the potty or in the shower while a long queue builds up, taking short cuts by encroaching upon other campers' camping space, and doing many other irresponsible acts that greatly inconvenience the people around you.

2. Hold your horses; keep the noise down. Although you're not necessarily an energetic and noisy being, your pets and tikes may be. Keep an eye on the little angels and don't let them just romp unattended lest they transform to little devils. Because there's so much adventure and energy in the air, your tikes will really want to shout to the top of their lungs to the point of imitating banshee cries, pig squeals and other onomatopoeic semblance that you can possibly think of.

Pets and children want to play. Everyone knows that so let them have their fill of playtime, but don't let them overdo the noise party at night. Exercise noise pollution control, as not doing so will spoil a number of things: your image (as a pet owner, or as a parent or your tikes' nanny), your camping neighbors' plans (a quiet get-together over a bonfire, or a romantic opportunity for couples to snuggle up) and everybody's sleep.

3. Vanish without a trace. Loosen up. You're not one of the Ninja Turtles listening to Master Splinter. In campers' vocabulary, the principle is less cryptic actually: Clean up. If you're doing a good job tidying up the place while you're still camping, follow through with your janitorial duties before you leave the campsite for good.

Completely put out flames; sweep off leaves; take home your dirty laundry and garbage. Unless you're 100 percent sure it's environment-friendly and nontoxic, do not dump liquid waste to nearby waters just to make sure that everything “looks” clean. Do not dig holes on the ground to even bury organic waste. Leave behind no evidence of your presence, not even a whiff. Camping out does not give you a license to make and leave a mess, so be a conscientious janitor on your last day at camp. Leave nothing and no one behind... and as the Ninja Turtles were taught, like a ninja, vanish without a trace.