If you haven’t heard, a recent study has determined that music festivals – particularly camping festivals – are more popular than ever. For anyone who frequents one of the many road trip fezzi’s Australia has to offer, you can certainly agree numbers are on the way up.

So with an absolute smorgasbord of camping festivals coming up including our favourite Beyond The Valley featuring some heavy-hitters, we have had to start thinking about what we’re going to do to make life easier when we’re camping. Collectively we’ve bashed our brains together and have come up with some commandments for campers planning on hitting the festival season head-on so you don’t have to think about it.

Dive into ten camping commandments below, and add some of your own in the comments.

1. Thou shall hit the road early!

Traffic is a shocker when you’re closing in on a festival, and no one likes traffic. Be sure to get everyone in your car into gear as early as possible to avoid any traffic and you’ll likely score a better camp site as well.

2. Thou shall have a plan of attack

There’s nothing worse than missing an act you were desperate to see at a festival, and the fault is your own for being a disorganised stooge. A lot of festivals provide their own scheduling apps these days but at the very least cough up the set times list ahead of the event. Take full advantage of that, mates!

3. Don’t be that person hunting down ATMs, thou shall bringeth cash!

Festivals are pretty good now in terms of providing ATMs on ground, however the amount of times I’ve been stuck in a hefty queue only to arrive at the machine bearing the old ‘OUT OF SERVICE’ text line is beyond a laughable count. Hit up a servo on the way and get cash.

4. Thou shall opt for luxury where thou can!

Most camping festivals these days offer a luxury camping experience, or – as it has become known as – GLAMPING. Beyond The Valley offer such an experience, and after a long day partying, a bougie tent might be all the doctor ordered.

5. Thou shall be a courteous camper

Close quarters is an understatement when it comes to camping on festival grounds. You’re essentially standing on everyone’s breakfast from start to finish so a bit of courteousness wouldn’t go astray. All you have to do is take others into consideration before littering, screaming, smoking or jumping from 4WD’s onto flimsy tables. Yeah, thats a thing…

6. THOU SHALL DEFINITELY BATHE ONE SELF!

I know it can be easy to not think about having a shower at a festival, but – and it ties in with the last point – you will definitely stink and that ain’t cool. A handy trick if you can’t be assed with the showers is to bring wet wipes. They will be your best friend.

7. Thou shall prep one self for when thou hits the wall

The adrenaline rush of a camping festival can only last so long, especially if it’s a week-long event. Bring along some stuff so you can make your own quiet place when you’re not feeling up for it. Perhaps a sleeping mask, some good ear plugs and a nice pillow for starters.

8. Thou shall be ready for the flood

Even though most camping festivals occur in Summer, you better believe the nights drop in temperature and by Murphy’s Law, if you gloat about the great weather you’ll likely cop a rain storm. We recommend you pack some plastic ponchos (which is like a modern Noah’s ark except it’s plastic and only good for one human) which are dirt cheap, as well as something warm. If you want to pack light, bring some thermals!

9. Thou shall protect their bloody wallet and phone

When it comes to camping festivals, you’re bound to get muddy/hungover/scattered and sometimes it’s the little things that can brighten your day when surfacing from the depths of your tent. Everyone has their personal favourites but you can’t go wrong with wet wipes, ear buds, lip balm, back-up pair of sunnies, bottle of water and/or sugary drink that can be consumed luke warm, and some moisturise to un-dry the fuck out of those crusty hands. The most important thing? A bloody snap-lock bag to keep them safe/dry!

10. Thou shall bugger off early or embrace a longer stay

There’s no getting around it, the end of a camping festival sucks. The post-party blues start to kick in and you’re faced with the drive home which is usually rammed. One way of avoiding this is getting on the road ASAP. Sooner you’re home to sooner the recovery happens. Or, hang around. Organise a hotel somewhere for a couple of days and recuperate that way before conquering the drive.

What do you make our list of commandments? Some are fairly self explanatory but you don’t want to be the person who forgets any of them!

If camping festivals and electronic music is your thing, be sure to head along to Beyond The Valley this NYE. Check the lineup here and nab tickets here.