I found this blog post and blog about a paddler / outdoorsman who raised his kids for adventure.
https://thebigoutside.com/10-tips-for-raising-outdoors-loving-kids/
That’s what we want to do! We were both raised to love the outdoors and of course can (and do!) get advice from our parents, but this guy is pretty hard core and it’s fun to read about another family’s experience.
I also found this blog about living aboard a boat with young kids that I’ll have to check out more.
I’m not saying I want our family to exactly live either of these lives, I’m just saying it’s inspirational to see people keep on living adventurous lives post-kid. Like we’ve tried to do between traveling and continuing to do other things (like I attended two continuing education classes, family in tow, and this pic was of the Sounder’s game we went to this weekend).
How have you continued to “live life to the fullest” post baby?
Paddling Without a Clue 
I couldn’t tell if that guy’s kids were already adults or not, but I can tell you that his advice is sound. I started my kids backpacking when my second son turned 4 back in the early 90s. Now they love going whether I can go along or not. Same story though. Get them out young, and for backpacking, do it before they begin to think of hiking with a pack on their back as work. I always picked trails that had creeks along side. They loved to stop and toss pebbles into the creek every 20 minutes or so, so . . . I concur. Toss the agenda. You’ll get there when you get there. I wasn’t there for the workout anyway and having them along made me stop and look around and appreciate where I was at. I didn’t start kayaking until they were in high school and it shows with them. Given a choice between backpacking and kayaking, they’ll choose backpacking every time. I think there was also a book written some 20 years ago, titled, “Take Them Along”. But then, the reason I like the outdoors so much is at least partly because my parents took us on vacations all over the US in the 60s and 70s. In 15 or 20 years, when your baby plans a kayak trip without you, you’ll be smiling and thinking, “I’m glad we gave her/him kayaking.”
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Glad to hear all that and thanks!
It’s awesome you put the work in to get them out backpacking young. Good idea on the creeks, I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
I’ve definitely come to appreciate stopping and looking since most of the time on my short “hikes” I’ve done with her so far I’ve had to stop and feed her. I really get to looking at the moss and branches and lighting and squirrels and leaf shapes when I’m forced to sit in one spot for ten minutes.
I like you’re point about thinking of it as work. Besides one job I had schlepping luggage in tourism I would say outdoor stuff has definitely been the most labor intensive things I’ve done, yet it’s not “work”, it’s just part of the adventure.
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