For those parents who want to venture off the beaten track, many of the risks are the same as if there were no children involved, except that where there are children involved, everything gets a bit more sensitive to talk about.
I have been blogging here on adventurousparents.com since May 2012. Interestingly, I didn’t become a parent until 10 months later, and I started this website before I even got pregnant. Of course the topic was on my mind before we decided to start a family. In fact, our concern about giving up our lives as outdoor adventurers was the catalyst for this whole project.
Over the years I have used this website to reflect on the transition to parenthood, to dig into tough topics (some controversial) and to give my readers a window into what this transition actually looks like. These posts have always proved to be the most popular, perhaps because they are as honest as my writing comes online. Honesty and rawness resonate with people, and help others to open up. I have greatly appreciated the discussion that follows.
These posts speak to the highs and lows of parenthood as someone who also loves outdoor adventure.
Parenthood has this way of turning you inside-out, of exposing you to emotions you never thought possible, of calling you to the most vulnerable place you’ve ever been. Parenthood introduces a kind of love to your life you never experienced before – a love that is different than the kind you have for your partner, or your own parents. Taking our inside-out selves into the mountains, where we are often called to be tough-as-nails, can become the real crux of the climb, especially when it happens for the first time.
Parenthood aside, how we evaluate and choose to take risks in the outdoors is already a rather heated, or at least passionate, debate. Add kids into the mix, and that heat turns to blazing inferno.
