Photo by Alyssa Walker.
Topics: expedition behavior, winter, kids, parenting, stories
Why Car Camping With Kids Was Harder Than My NOLS Course
Photo by Alyssa Walker.
On our last family car camping sojourn, a three-day affair two years ago, we learned that two- and four-year-olds are too young for anyone to enjoy any aspect of car camping. There were diapers. There were legions of biting insects. There was not one, but two kid backpacks. There was a frog potty. There were tantrums. Everything was sticky. It rained. We were too close to our neighbors. Fun, but not. At all.
We took a break for a year, thinking two potty-trained kids, at a minimum, would help. This time, we resolved, would be better, more fun, the stuff of memories and traditions. Our children, at four and six, were ready. So were we.
Read MoreTopics: Tolerance for Adversity, Live the Dream, expedition behavior, kids, parenting, car camping, stories
5 Ways Expedition Behavior Helps You Raise Kids
Photo by Alyssa Walker
The most miserable and telling moment on my monthlong NOLS Alaska Outdoor Educator Course 13 years ago—descending a steep talus slope—taught me the value and beauty of expedition behavior, or EB. It also prepared me for an even bigger life adventure: parenthood.
Read MoreTopics: Family, Live the Dream, expedition behavior, Alaska, kids, parenting, stories