Cort has enjoyed some summer nights under the stars in his home country of Denmark lately, and has become somewhat of an expert outdoorsman himself (while leaving a Magnus-approved rating).

“These guidelines can change a fair bit depending on many things, what country you are in, how you prefer to do the cooking and how much stuff you can carry with you,” says Cort. That said, he’s got some pretty foolproof advice that anyone can use to ensure they are maximizing their camping experience while enjoying the great outdoors.

Get out there and don’t let the huge selection of specialized equipment stress you out. Use what you have and make your own experience and from there. You can always upgrade your equipment later.

If it’s your first time camping, start with just a simple trip where you try to sleep outside and see how that goes. Then from there, you can start making longer and harder trips.

Ask your yourself the following questions, such as:

1. Are you allowed to put a tent up?
2. Are you allowed to make a fire?
3. Is there a shelter or cabin that you want to use and do you need to reserve it in advance?

It’s very easy to bring a lot of stuff that makes your backpack or bike very heavy. If you use all your energy dragging heavy bags around, that can take the fun completely out of it. I never bring 2 of the same items.

There are plenty of apps with maps where you can download the maps for offline use on your smartphone. And if you are bad at navigation, it will also tell you where you are. Definitely make use of your smartphone or Garmin. I also like to watch a movie at night when it gets dark before bed. It’s best to bring a power bank so you don’t run out of juice.

It’s easy to feel full of energy in the morning and just go all in for the first hours. When I’m walking, I like to take a 10-15 min break every hour. It’s also very important to take your backpack off your shoulders to rest them. When I am riding my bike, I go a bit longer between the breaks, but I still eat something every hour. And of course, drink plenty of fluids throughout the day.

You will eat a lot more than usual when you are active the whole day. I like to eat dried food so I can have many calories with me and it does not take up so much space as well. Also, remember that you’ll need to get to some fresh water every day. Another bonus is that I don’t need to clean any dishes since I am only boiling water on my Primus stove. I always have plenty of snacks with me. Haribo chocolate is also pretty dense with calories per gram. I also might bring some meat with me as well, so that I can cook over the fire.

It’s very important that you can get a proper sleep, otherwise they will feel like very long days. I’m a big fan of inflatable mats. They are quite comfortable and take very little space up when packed down and they are not so heavy. A sleeping bag for the right temperature is also important. In some places, it gets a lot colder at night than during the day, so be sure that you know what temperatures you can expect during the night.

Don’t buy a new pair of shoes and plan to do a long multi-day hike the first time you use them. And that same logic applies when you are out in the wild. Don’t wait to find out at night that the inflatable mat does not hold air or the tent doesn’t have tent poles or that the gas burner has some mistake. To avoid this, it’s great to do a trial run and check that you know how everything works.