How we're getting our kids into hiking (in the flattest state ever.)

Peter and I have always loved spending time together outside (it's a big part of why I ranked my residency so highly- it was a ten minute drive to some amazing state parks!) so we knew we wanted to raise kids who love spending time outside too. Since E has gotten older, I'm starting to realize what a challenge it can be to bring little kids along hiking, and I've heard from lots of parents of young kids that this is a common problem. While I don't doubt she can do it, the mix of boredom and whining can be really grating and suck the fun out of even a short hike. And to an extent, I get it. Who wants to hike when you've got playgrounds and splash pads?

Fast forward a few years and our kids are now 4 and 1.5, and we're looking ahead at a few trips this summer that will involve some great hiking destinations. We really don't want to skip these parts of our trip, so I'm starting to work on getting both kids more into hiking now so we can squeeze at least a few trails in this summer. Some of these are methods we've tried and some are suggestions from other parents a little ahead of us, so I'll definitely post an update once we've wrapped up our trips about how things went.

Start small and short. When I trained for half marathons, this was key to being able to accomplish my goal- starting my training with super short distances and slowly building up. For us this means neighborhood walks and boardwalks that are under a mile. My kiddo can easily ride her scooter to and from the nearest playground, but we're currently working on getting her to the library and back, which is double the distance. Once a week on my full day at home with the kids, we make the mile-ish walk to the toddler story time, or hit a local nature trail or boardwalk. I'm hoping this will make for an easier time doing mile-long hikes in the summer. 

Make it a game. E actually has a little background in hiking- from the age of 18 months to 2 years, she was part of a free forest school and went on lots of hikes with the older kids in her cohort. The big kids loved playing different games as they walked, from scavenger hunts to I spy (and of course, lots of imaginary play.) We like to play a lot of sensory games too- talking about what we can see, hear and smell (this exercise is also a great way to introduce mindfulness.)

Food can be an excellent motivator. E is definitely a snackaholic, and she usually gets a lot farther if I bring a few different kinds of snacks for her and her brother. I try to keep some loose rule in place so we're not stopping every 5 feet- on the walks where we live there are plenty of benches so we have to get at least to the next bench or so before we take a break. And for longer trips I'm not afraid to pack along some sweets like kisses or M&M candies for her to have once we’ve reached a certain distance. 

Be prepared to carry. Even our big kid gets tired, and while I know she's capable of walking a fair distance, it's still not uncommon for her to want to be carried sometimes. Luckily she's still just within the appropriate weight for our soft carrier, but this summer we plan to upgrade to a toddler size carrier that we can either wear on the waist or easily fold into our backpack. It can be a fine line to know when to push them to keep going, so having a backup way of getting back seems like a good idea.

Choose an exciting destination. I've heard this from parents of older kids but I've also seen it with E- when there is something cool at the end of the hike she's definitely more willing to keep going! Things like waterfalls, arches and even a little creek bed to splash in can be a big motivator for kids to keep on moving. And it doesn't have to be the destination itself- interesting bridges, rocks to scramble up and narrow passages to squeeze through can also get kids back in the mood for adventure.

If you take your kids hiking, what has worked for you? I'd love to hear your experiences! And will definitely post an update of some kind when we get back. 

 

Inland Empire

Last month I spent a beautiful long weekend visiting a friend who lives in California. I had never spent any time East of LA, let alone heard of any Inland Empire, so I was blown away by the beautiful vistas and desert scenery it had to offer.

I was originally traveling for a work trip which ended up getting canceled, so I was happy to enjoy some spare free time drawing and listening to my audiobooks (I am about 3 decades behind but a friend in publishing has got me sucked into the Garth Nix series Sabriel...any other fans out there? First book was incredible.)

These photos are actually out of order since I visited Joshua Tree National Park on my last day, but the rock formations really are something to see... I only went to the park on a whim and at my friend's suggestion, as she had to work a shift my last day. I hadn't realized until I got there that it's one of the more instagrammed national parks and a popular day trip as it's a short drive from LA and Palm Springs (it was tragically never on our radar when we planned our 2011 road trip, though looking back it definitely should have been.) There's only a handful of places I've visited that made me feel transported to an alien planet and this was one of them (in a good way, haha.) I'd love to come back and camp at some point, and maybe take some time to explore the nearby town of Joshua Tree.

Having grown up in one of the flattest parts of the country (we called my neighbors' mound of landscaped dirt a 'hill' and the steeper streets of Athens 'mountains'...nope not kidding!) we Floridians tend to get excited by anything that remotely resembles a mountain. These beauties were no different.

The three above photos emphasize how truly terrible I am at blogging- when I was in towns/cities (including one of the most photogenic little spots, Palm Springs of all places!!) I really didn't bother to take photos! I guess I was a bit more self-conscious? I don't know. What I will say about Palm Springs is that it was gorgeous but I really only walked up and down the main drag and visited a couple restaurants/coffee shops in the ABM guide. If you'd like to dedicate a weekend to Palm Springs I'd definitely recommend checking out the post, their team members seem to visit quite a lot, haha.

Living in a big city the past 6 months has truly been a blast, but after weekends like this one I tend to realize that in the long run I need green, open spaces, woods, trees, mountains... either way this under the radar part of California was definitely worth a visit. More time hiking and camping (and maybe a first ever backpacking trip??) will definitely be on my bucket list this New Years'. How about you?

Hope everyone's having a fantastic weekend!

Bitten by the Travel Bug

To any medical professional readers, if any: no, this post is not about leishmaniasis. Whenever I get stuck in one place for too long, I get the itch to move around. It can be put off temporarily by a day trip to a nearby town or exploring a new trailhead, but short excursions don't keep me satisfied for long. Lately I've been on the hunt for something new to do or someplace new to explore. A few adventures that have come to mind recently have been the Three Peaks Challenge, e.g. ascending the U.K.'s three tallest peaks in 24 hours:

climbing mountains in the dark- bring it on!

This short but challenging hike along the coast in the Olympic National Park:

The author of the above post did this hike with two young kids.  TWO KIDDOS.

and this crazy hard/beautiful marathon in Big Sur (or this one in the Red Wood Forests): 

Needless to say, I am crazy.

Also needless to say, one needs pretty good gear to go backpacking in such wet conditions or ascend 3 peaks in a day. So I thought I'd assemble a collection of a few necessary supplies for Peter and I to collect before I drag him along on another crazy and somewhat ill-founded adventure we attempt these "expeditions" (ok, they're not expeditions but definitely outside of my personal experiences/skill set/comfort zone.) In compiling this list I found this website page particularly helpful since I am a beginner to back country camping (and climbing mountains in 24 hours. Really, what crazy Mountaineering Englander woke up one morning and said " hey, you know what would be fun? climbing 3 mountains. consecutively. in the dark. yeaaaaa.")

1. A bad-ass backpack (duh,) and although I haven't done enough research to find a model that really works well, I'm on the case searching between Amazon and the R.E.I. website.

2. Hiking boots (also duh.) I may not be a Boca girl but I was raised there, so I need to have something aesthetically pleasing on my feet at all times, otherwise I won't wear it. When it comes to appearances I quite like these ones from Danner : 

$300

or, if your pocketbook is not bottomless, these Bean Boots look good and are highly functional too (F.Y.I. gortex= dry feet. That's all you need to know.) To be honest if the most money I spent on shoes EVER was on these hiking boots, I might actually be proud of that fact ;)

3. A solid tent. This one I found on R.EI. has great reviews, fits two people and is a reasonable price for poor overprivileged med students people who, like me, are on a fairly tight budget. Plus, only 3 complaints about leakiness, which, if you have ever camped in a rain forest, you know is a big deal (Olympic Park Watergate 2012...we barely made it out alive.)

4. A comfy down sleeping bag that can keep you warm at temperatures as low as 0 degrees F, an essential for someone like me who finds the frigid winters of even subtropical Florida unbearable (Really, why do I even want to go outside? Oh forget it, I'll just watch Bear Ghrylls eat bugs and drink his own urine on Discovery Channel and call it a day.) Again, I know nothing about sleeping bags, but if I find a good one I'll post it at a future date/time. 

5. Random Gear: Peter got me an awesome GPS watch for Christmas last year that I really ought to use more. It would come in handy in any of the above mentioned outdoor endeavors, and I highly recommend getting one if you are into that kind of stuff. Not a necessity, but certainly a fun gadget. Here's the model I have: 

as well as Peter's more nerdy more manly version (yes, we both have GPS watches. Yes, we are both white and nerdy.): 

if you really can't resist the urge to let your inner freak flag fly, both of these watches can be found on Amazon. Also, they are awesome. Just, you know, for the record.

I also think headlamps would be an excellent investment because (a) how else does one ascend a mountain in pitch darkness without plummeting to their death and (b) I want Peter to be this guy when we have kids. Here is a super-fancy model from R.E.I. that I cannot afford.

So...that was a long post. And I imagine most of you (aka Peter) stopped reading about 1/4 of the way through (seriously T.V. has killed the national attention span) so I'm going to stop writing now and do some real work (I am after all, supposed to save human beings one day. I'd better go study and learn my stuff if I don't want to harm any patients at some point.) If I find any more awesome supplies for future endeavors I will be sure to post them; in the mean time this guy has more good reviews on outdoor equipment and gadgets than you can pitch a tent on, so enjoy. :)