Are you ready for a remote camping trip?

Dave Darmody, owner and lead trainer of Australian Offroad Academy shares some advice on getting ready for a remote camping trip.

So I hear that you’re looking to get away from it all (and everyone) on a remote camping trip. Your plan isn’t so much where you want to be but where you’d rather not be. Truly one of the very best bits about being a competent free and independent traveller in Australia is the sheer diversity of places you can go and not be surrounded by other people.

Let’s chat about remote camping. To begin, I’d like to suggest that ‘remote’ is a state of mind, not a place. I’m approaching this discussion more so along the lines of distance from the nearest folks rather than how long it took to get there. After all, you could be 45 minutes up a gorge off the Namatjira Way and not see another traveller for a week or more.

However, if you are hoping to adventure away from everyone, you’ll need to do a little more planning than usual. Here are five ways you know you’re ready to get away from folks.

You’ve shaken everything down in a test run

No doubt you’ve invested heavily in both money and time preparing your 4WD and van for a length of remote camping. It’s looking great and you’ve got all the new bits securely bolted on. However, before you head too far off the beaten track, you’ll need to head out and shake it.

Put in a couple of quality weekends (or longer) getting out and about – but not too far from home – to ensure that all those bolts stay where you put them. This also gives you the opportunity to ensure that your system works as you have hoped it would. Is there a little niggle in your set-up that is annoying for a weekend but will bend your brain if you’re faced with it every single day?

You’re fully charged

Believe it or not, you don’t need a complicated lithium-everything (with the compulsory purple LEDs) and induction this and a zillion watts of whatever. Though, you might want that. Maybe you’re completely fine with a twin gas burner and a dolphin torch. Whatever your remote camping style, make sure that it works before you leave. As a backup, throw in a little torch, a butane burner and a bunch of cartridges.

Other people know where you’re going      

Make sure people at least know when and where to expect to see you or hear from you again. Entrust a quality friend with the task of being your main contact person and be sure to let them know if/when your plans change. The modern traveller has a host of ways to stay ‘in touch’ on a remote camping trip. From the simple and pretty much foolproof Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) to your own Starlink setup, there’s a method suited to all plans and travellers.

You’re flexible

A plan is just a starting set of ideas and remote travel and camping is going to throw new challenges and opportunities at you. Maybe you’ve torn the sidewall out of a camper tyre leaving you without a spare and sending you towards a population centre to organise another. Or maybe you’ve heard about an absolute gem of a location to visit whilst sharing a story at a roadhouse somewhere. Either way, if you’ve locked yourself into a travel plan, you’re either placing yourself under more stress than you should, or you’re literally missing out.

You’re prepared

Without creating a long list of spares and tools, you’ll need to understand the importance of being able to fix things yourself. Or at least have the required gear to assist a talented fellow traveller to help you out. Even if that’s just out to a road somewhere where you can be collected by an even more talented person and taken to town for some serious interventions.

It’s all too easy to start believing that you need to carry an ‘extra everything’, although you’ll find plenty of advice from seasoned travellers who have pared down their spares list to just the essentials. Does your off-road insurance actually cover you off-road?

Remember that you don’t need to be in the middle of the desert to feel like you are a million miles away. Start small with quick weekend trips into less populated parks and forests (maybe not on a long weekend). Watch some sunrises and enjoy some remote camping solitude. Maybe the next trip brings into the mix some longer, dusty, corrugated roads and tracks (have you put enough thought into your stone deflector?).

And of course, as much as we want to get away from the crowds, there’s nothing quite like camping remotely with the special people in your life. Be they friends or family, or friends who have become family.

Remove the noise, remove the distractions and enjoy our fabulous continent.