A Hokie’s Guide to D2 Camping

How to have a successful camping trip:

I recommend planning D2 Camping for days when you have loads of homework and minimal meetings and classes. I like to get a nice and early start to my day at D2 by arriving as close to opening (7:30 a.m.) as possible in order to claim one of the rare and coveted circle outlet tables. As noted above, I recommend bringing friends or inviting people to come and join you throughout the day just to spice things up a bit (I don’t know about you, but staying in one room for five plus hours with no one to talk to usually drives me a little crazy). A circle table is ideal for my studeating (studying + eating) needs because it can fit about four people, assuming everyone has multiple dishes and study materials. Also noted above, you can make the most of your trip by bringing a multi-outlet power strip both so that you have a better outlet reaching radius, and also so that multiple people can benefit from one outlet. Pro-tip: if you arrive by 10:30 a.m., you only pay $2.75 with a meal plan! For extreme campers like myself, you can actually stay until 5 p.m. before having to swipe again for dinner!

Anyway, once you have set up camp, it’s time to start collecting food. I like to take at least two trips to stock up on various food items before settling down to start homework. Some of my favorite breakfast choices include: omelets (especially when it’s make-your-own), the yogurt bar (they have Greek yogurt and quality toppings), and of course, my personal favorite, donuts. Another pro-tip: a microwave exists in D2! Make use of this microwave when your food gets too cold or if you feel like pretending your donuts are fresh out of the oven (if you have a plate of three-ish donuts, 20 seconds should do the trick). Once you have an appropriate stash of food items at your table, it’s time to break out the work. And the cycle kind of continues like this: eat until you are no longer hungry, work until you get bored, take a lap or two to acquire more food (donuts!), eat, work, repeat. Basically, you just keep this up until you can no longer bear the thought of spending another minute in D2, until you finish all your work, or until you have to leave for class!

I think you now have everything you need to properly plan and execute a successful D2 Camping trip! Best of luck with your adventures, and happy eating!