By Michael Lanza
So, you’ve been an avid [circle all appropriate terms: hiker/backpacker/climber/trail runner/skier/kayaker] for years, and now you’re spending big chunks of your days changing diapers and your nights wondering when you’ll sleep again. You’ve never gone this long without getting out into the mountains, and you see no remedy for that shortfall in the foreseeable future. Your new baby is more wonderful than you’d ever imagined—and yet, you’re feeling a little despair over what’s missing from your life lately.
I know where your head is right now. And I have good news for you: I’ve reached the bright light at the end of the tunnel, and you can get there faster than you might think. Here’s how.
My family on a hike in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.
First of all, I know it’s hard to take a long view when you’re so deeply buried in the day-to-day management of a hectic life. But as a father of two young adults, I can tell you that growing children race through development stages—each one very different—with blinding speed. While in many respects the infant and toddler years are the most demanding (and cutest), and can seem eternal at times, they do pass. In my experience, parenting keeps getting better.
But for now, you need some strategies for surviving the early years of parenting, when you face the greatest demands on your personal time—and your sanity.
The following tips reflect what I’ve learned from more than 20 years as a parent who has always strived to get outside as much as possible—dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, running, paddling, skiing—with my family whenever I can, but also, at times without them.
Please share your questions or tips in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments. Click on any photo to read about that trip.
Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-books to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.
My daughter, Alex, at Skillern Hot Springs, Smoky Mountains, Idaho. Click photo to read my “10 Tips for Raising Outdoors-Loving Kids.”
You’ll hear too many parents say things like, “Oh, you won’t be out backpacking/climbing/skiing anymore!” Don’t listen to them. These comments tend to come from people for whom getting outside isn’t as important as it is to you. They don’t understand your lifestyle or how much and how often you need to get out there—or how hard you’ll work at accomplishing that goal, no matter the obstacles.
When my kids were babies and toddlers I’d put them in a front pack or a child-carrier backpack and go for a hike by myself. My wife and I took them camping, dayhiking, skiing, backpacking, paddling rivers, and climbing from the time they were very young—even though it was a lot of work—because it gave us time outdoors and helped turn our kids into young people who now love backpacking, climbing, skiing, and paddling with us. She and I also took turns solo parenting to let each other get outside—for an hour, a few hours, a few days.
If you’re that type of person, that’s what you’ll do—regardless of what other people think or say.
My kids inside a favorite rock formation at Idaho’s City of Rocks. Click photo to see “The 10 Best Family Outdoor Adventure Trips.”
That’s a motto among thru-hikers of long-distance trails, but the message applies just as well to raising children. Just as there are many ways to tackle a months-long hike, there are probably almost as many styles of parenting as there are parents. Just like setting out on a long hike, those first steps on the path of parenting can get bumpy. You’ll fall down and end some days bruised, sore, and wondering what the hell you’re doing.
Just figure out your own comfortable pace and what you need and don’t need; it doesn’t matter whether it resembles someone else’s approach. You’ll get there.
Plan your next great backpacking adventure in Yosemite
The pack of kids on a five-day float trip down the Green River in Canyonlands National Park.
As much as you must hike your own hike as a parent, you will also meet other parents—some with kids older than yours—who, by all appearances, are doing it right. They get out as much as they like. Their kids actually like getting out with them, and seem like great kids.
Get to know those parents; they just might know some tricks you will find useful. At the least, they’re probably fun to hang out with.
My daughter, Alex, age six, on a family backpacking trip in Grand Teton National Park.
Both of my kids went on their first hike—in a front pack on my chest—within a few days after they were born. That was merely symbolic, of course. But those short walks were emblematic of the philosophy my wife and I embraced from the beginning of parenthood: Our kids would learn that getting outdoors together as a family is normal.
We dragged the kids out camping, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, dayhiking and backpacking, paddling rivers and climbing (when they expressed an interest in the last one)—doing everything we liked to do with our kids, even though it often meant going much slower when the kids were little and involved much more work. Even at home, whenever we had to go somewhere in town within biking range, in reasonable weather, we biked there.
If you want your children to share your passions, start them young and do it with them.
Alex, age nine, getting lowered off a cliff in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park.
Before they were out of grade school, our kids had backpacked in parks from Grand Canyon to Olympic and among grizzly bears in Glacier; sea kayaked through wet, raw weather and camped on remote wilderness beaches in Alaska’s Glacier Bay; paddled among alligators in the Everglades; trekked through cold rain and wet snow in Norway’s Jotunheimen National Park; rock climbed 150-foot cliffs and rappelled into and crawled through slot canyons; and cross-country skied through snowstorms to backcountry yurts miles from the nearest road multiple times. (My award-winning book Before They’re Gone chronicles the year my family spent backpacking, rock climbing, paddling, and cross-country skiing in 11 national parks facing major threats from climate change.)
Bad parents, right?
Yes, we worry like any parents. We’re hyper-conscious about safety and ask a lot of questions. We’ve always tailored family activities to suit their ages and abilities. We’ve abandoned plans and turned back on trails when necessary.
But every time we’ve worried that we’re pushing our kids beyond their abilities, they have risen to the challenge and loved it.
It doesn’t matter whether your family tries to do what my family (or any other family) does; establish your own comfort zone. My point is this: Don’t over-worry about the kids. They’re often more resilient and adaptable than adults give them credit for.
See a menu of all stories about our many family outdoor adventures at the Family Adventures page at The Big Outside.
So, you’ve been an avid [circle all appropriate terms: hiker/backpacker/climber/trail runner/skier/kayaker] for years, and now you’re spending big chunks of your days changing diapers and your nights wondering when you’ll sleep again. You’ve never gone this long without getting out into the mountains, and you see no remedy for that shortfall in the foreseeable future. Your new baby is more wonderful than you’d ever imagined—and yet, you’re feeling a little despair over what’s missing from your life lately.
I know where your head is right now. And I have good news for you: I’ve reached the bright light at the end of the tunnel, and you can get there faster than you might think. Here’s how.
My family on a hike in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.
First of all, I know it’s hard to take a long view when you’re so deeply buried in the day-to-day management of a hectic life. But as a father of two young adults, I can tell you that growing children race through development stages—each one very different—with blinding speed. While in many respects the infant and toddler years are the most demanding (and cutest), and can seem eternal at times, they do pass. In my experience, parenting keeps getting better.
But for now, you need some strategies for surviving the early years of parenting, when you face the greatest demands on your personal time—and your sanity.
The following tips reflect what I’ve learned from more than 20 years as a parent who has always strived to get outside as much as possible—dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, running, paddling, skiing—with my family whenever I can, but also, at times without them.
Please share your questions or tips in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments. Click on any photo to read about that trip.
My daughter, Alex, at Skillern Hot Springs, Smoky Mountains, Idaho. Click photo to read my “10 Tips for Raising Outdoors-Loving Kids.”
1. Ignore the Naysayers
You’ll hear too many parents say things like, “Oh, you won’t be out backpacking/climbing/skiing anymore!” Don’t listen to them. These comments tend to come from people for whom getting outside isn’t as important as it is to you. They don’t understand your lifestyle or how much and how often you need to get out there—or how hard you’ll work at accomplishing that goal, no matter the obstacles.
When my kids were babies and toddlers I’d put them in a front pack or a child-carrier backpack and go for a hike by myself. My wife and I took them camping, dayhiking, skiing, backpacking, paddling rivers, and climbing from the time they were very young—even though it was a lot of work—because it gave us time outdoors and helped turn our kids into young people who now love backpacking, climbing, skiing, and paddling with us. She and I also took turns solo parenting to let each other get outside—for an hour, a few hours, a few days.
If you’re that type of person, that’s what you’ll do—regardless of what other people think or say.
Find your next adventure in your Inbox. Sign up for my FREE email newsletter now.
My kids inside a favorite rock formation at Idaho’s City of Rocks. Click photo to see “The 10 Best Family Outdoor Adventure Trips.”
2. Hike Your Own Hike
That’s a motto among thru-hikers of long-distance trails, but the message applies just as well to raising children. Just as there are many ways to tackle a months-long hike, there are probably almost as many styles of parenting as there are parents. Just like setting out on a long hike, those first steps on the path of parenting can get bumpy. You’ll fall down and end some days bruised, sore, and wondering what the hell you’re doing.
Just figure out your own comfortable pace and what you need and don’t need; it doesn’t matter whether it resembles someone else’s approach. You’ll get there.
Plan your next great backpacking adventure in Yosemite
and other flagship parks using my expert e-books.
The pack of kids on a five-day float trip down the Green River in Canyonlands National Park.
3. Embrace Good Advice
As much as you must hike your own hike as a parent, you will also meet other parents—some with kids older than yours—who, by all appearances, are doing it right. They get out as much as they like. Their kids actually like getting out with them, and seem like great kids.
Get to know those parents; they just might know some tricks you will find useful. At the least, they’re probably fun to hang out with.
Don’t miss my popular “10 Tips For Raising Outdoors-Loving Kids.”
My daughter, Alex, age six, on a family backpacking trip in Grand Teton National Park.
4. Take the Kids Outside Often
Both of my kids went on their first hike—in a front pack on my chest—within a few days after they were born. That was merely symbolic, of course. But those short walks were emblematic of the philosophy my wife and I embraced from the beginning of parenthood: Our kids would learn that getting outdoors together as a family is normal.
We dragged the kids out camping, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, dayhiking and backpacking, paddling rivers and climbing (when they expressed an interest in the last one)—doing everything we liked to do with our kids, even though it often meant going much slower when the kids were little and involved much more work. Even at home, whenever we had to go somewhere in town within biking range, in reasonable weather, we biked there.
If you want your children to share your passions, start them young and do it with them.
Read all of this story and ALL stories at The Big Outside,
plus get a FREE e-book! Join now!
plus get a FREE e-book! Join now!
Alex, age nine, getting lowered off a cliff in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park.
5. Stop Worrying So Much
Before they were out of grade school, our kids had backpacked in parks from Grand Canyon to Olympic and among grizzly bears in Glacier; sea kayaked through wet, raw weather and camped on remote wilderness beaches in Alaska’s Glacier Bay; paddled among alligators in the Everglades; trekked through cold rain and wet snow in Norway’s Jotunheimen National Park; rock climbed 150-foot cliffs and rappelled into and crawled through slot canyons; and cross-country skied through snowstorms to backcountry yurts miles from the nearest road multiple times. (My award-winning book Before They’re Gone chronicles the year my family spent backpacking, rock climbing, paddling, and cross-country skiing in 11 national parks facing major threats from climate change.)
Bad parents, right?
Yes, we worry like any parents. We’re hyper-conscious about safety and ask a lot of questions. We’ve always tailored family activities to suit their ages and abilities. We’ve abandoned plans and turned back on trails when necessary.
But every time we’ve worried that we’re pushing our kids beyond their abilities, they have risen to the challenge and loved it.
It doesn’t matter whether your family tries to do what my family (or any other family) does; establish your own comfort zone. My point is this: Don’t over-worry about the kids. They’re often more resilient and adaptable than adults give them credit for.
I can help you plan the best backpacking, hiking, or family adventure of your life.
Click here now to learn more.
Click here now to learn more.
See a menu of all stories about our many family outdoor adventures at the Family Adventures page at The Big Outside.
The Big Outside will help your family get outdoors more.
Join now for full access to ALL stories and get a free e-book!
Join now for full access to ALL stories and get a free e-book!