Frequently Asked Questions

We live in Kitchener, Ontario. 

There are 340 provincial parks in Ontario. Of those 340, about 85 provide front country camping, which is what we do. We have camped at over 40 of those parks so far. At this time we don't plan to camp at all of them.  Some are a very long way from our home and we'd rather enjoy the parks around us. 

We have done a lot of camping over the years. Pretty much all of our early years back country camping and tenting were at provincial parks. Since getting a travel trailer we have stayed at provincial parks, national parks, conservation areas and private parks in Canada. In the USA we've stayed at state parks, Army Corps of Engineer parks, private parks and a few malls, Cracker Barrels and Cabelas. We haven't yet stayed in a Walmart lot. 

No, we are what you call "weekend warriors". We live in a regular house and go camping from time to time. 

We are very fortunate. Ben retired in 2017 and Cheryl works part time. We do most of our trips around Cheryl's work schedule.  

We have a 2017 Coachmen Freedom Express 254DSX travel trailer. It is considered to be 25 feet but it is actually 30 feet from hitch to rear bumper. It has a slide-out on the drivers side that includes the dinette and couch. We have a tip-out at the rear that provides a second queen size bed.  

 We have a 2016 Ford F150, 3.5L Eco-Boost with tow package. It has a Super Crew Cab and a 6.5 foot box. It also has the sport package and the off road package. It has a max towing capacity of 10,800lbs.  

Our favourite park is Algonquin Provincial Park. You can check out our reviews of Canisbay Lake Campground, Mew Lake Campground and Pog Lake Campground, which are three of the campgrounds we've stayed at in Algonquin Park. Lake Superior Provincial Park comes in as a close second. 

We both record the videos and come up with ideas for them. Ben then edits the videos. Once done, Cheryl gives her input on any changes to be made. Their youngest daughter is a professional photographer and every video is shown to her before release, for her input. 

We use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the videos. We use Epidemic Sound for the music. 

Most of our footage is shot with a GoPro Hero 9 with the Media Mod. We also use a GoPro Hero 7 for our water shots and in-truck shots. We use a Canon EOS 90D DSLR camera for most of our tripod shots around the campsite and in our home studio. That's the camera we use for Coles Notes. We use a DJI Spark drone for aerial shots. We recently added a Insta360 X3 camera which gives us some unique perspectives and fake drone shots. 

On our GoPro Hero 9 we use the Media Mod which has a better microphone than the regular in camera mic. We sometimes use lavalier microphones that we attach to our shirts or jackets. Those are the Rodes Wireless Go II system and we plug the Rodes Lavalier Go microphones into them. They are used on our Coles Notes. We also have a Rode Videomic Go II directional microphone to go on top of our Canon DSLR camera.

Watching our videos and word of mouth to family and friends are great ways to support us. We have released Camping with the Coles merchandise that you can purchase. Click on the Merch link above to check out all the great gear. If you would like to make a contribution to help us continue making videos, you can Buy Me A Beer.  For a $5 contribution we'll send you a Camping with the Coles fridge magnet and sticker.