For those of you that have kids or have already raised kids

My late wife didn’t like tent camping. She really tried I’ll give her that, but it just wasn’t her thing. But she wisely encouraged me to take our two kids on “adventures” typically weekend but sometimes week long trips that involved tubing rivers, hiking, fishing, canoeing and tent camping. However, the trip they still talk about today was a 1988 meandering 10 day road trip through the Rockies, all the ways up to Red Lodge MT. I’m a professional geologist and much of the trip went to places I’d visited while in college during summer field studies. After 10 days on the road I can still hear my kids plaintive cries as I slowed down to stop at yet another mountain road-cut to discuss geology “Ohhhh nooo, not another road cut!!!” Here it is thirty years later, when we get together on holidays, my adult kids still talk about those adventures I took them on.

On the 10 day road trip we visited:

Capulin Volcano National Monument, NM
Great Sand Dunes NP, CO
Mesa Verde NP, CO
Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO
Dinosaur National Monument, UT
Flaming Gorge, WY
Grand Teton NP, WY (on the spur of the moment I took the kids on a helicopter ride)
Yellowstone NP, WY (where we enjoyed a buffalo chip campfire)
Route 212 from Yellowstone to Red Lodge MT (a beautiful alpine drive)
Red Lodge, MT (home of my summer field camp)
Thermopolis, WY (where we enjoyed a dip in their huge hot springs swimming pool)
Rocky Mountain NP, CO
Pikes Peak, CO (a looong drive to the 14,114’ summit)

I was a really mean dad, no head phones, video games or TV were allowed on our adventures. We had simple meals (so we wouldn’t get bogged down with elaborate food preparation and cleanup) and we exclusively tent camped in National Forests and State and National Parks.

Steve

BTW, when I returned to work and showed my boss (another geologist) the photos from my trip, he borrowed my trip map and did literally the entire trip I took with his own two kids.

We try to give the kids as much variety as possible. So far, this includes: Back-country kayaking, backpacking, ocean beach camping, lake beach camping, mountain camping, deep woods camping, flat land camping, large campgrounds, small campgrounds, dispersed sites. We go a different direction every year (following compass points) so that they have experiences from Northern Ontario down to the Gulf of Mexico. The only thing we can't do is go to the West Coast - limited vacation time prevents us from going much further west than SD.

Doing this, and having three kids, we've found they have different preferences. While they all enjoy all of it, kid 2 particularly takes to the back-country stuff, while kid 3 takes to the larger campgrounds with other kids more, etc...

When I was growing up, my folks purchased a cabin and we spent every summer there. I loved going there, was never bored, but always envied the stories my friends told me about their summer vacations to a variety of places. When my daughter was born we owned a pop up camper, and had become accustomed to visiting a variety of state and federal area campgrounds. We never had hookups, and had a great time figuring out how to get things done with little to work with. Our first trip camping with my daughter was when she was 1 month old. We headed to northern MN in May. The first night the temps dipped into the 20's and we ran out of propane. My wife was beside herself thinking that our 1 month old daughter was going to freeze to death. Of course all turned out ok, and 14 years later we have a great story to tell. Until 2 years ago weekend trips to state parks were the norm. We all had a great time semi rustic camping as we moved to a hybrid camper and then to a 32' travel trailer. At the time we purchased the travel trailer we decided my daughter was old enough (13) that we should see some of the country before she stopped camping with us. The past two summers we have visited Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Glacier NP, then Denver and Durango CO, Moab UT including Red Rock State Park and the Arches, and the Grand Canyon. If visiting there do hike a ways below the rim. This summer we are heading east. We have found that more challenging as is takes one day longer to get there and then back from WI. That turns two vacation days into travel days. When you have a max limit of days this cuts into what you can do. We wanted to go to Maine and Massachusetts. We found that we can only do one. Our trip this year will include one day in Sault St Marie MI, two days in Niagara Falls NY, 5 days in MA, and one day in Chicago on the way home. About 3000 miles in 15 days.

PUCampin wrote:
we will never be able to take our kids everywhere I have been, but I hope to get them to some of them, most likely will be this side of the country.

Nothing wrong with that. Not sure where you're from, but there is so much to do within a day or two drive of any given area that it'll keep you busy for years. Just trying to stay at the state parks in my state will keep me busy for many many years!
I agree with the poster that said when there's a will, there's a way, but how do ordinary people get their kids to Alaska or Hawaii, or even across the county with driving? 5 days one way? You'd need to have a month off! Unless you teach, that's not going to happen. A plane ticket is $500 from Michigan to California. It would cost us $2500 to fly my family there. I'll never want to go there bad enough to make the sacrifices necessary to make that work. Not in the cards for us. I think we can get 1600 miles away, and that'll max us out. 6 days of travel in two weeks is the best it'll get. But there's a ton to do between here and 1600 miles away.

tragusa3 wrote:
Amen! Our friends seem envious of our trips, but aren't willing to make the sacrifices.

Yep. People say to me all the time that they can't afford to vacation or travel like we do.
Well it all boils down to priorities. I will never own granite counter tops in my kitchen and my "new" truck has 130K miles on it. I divert a lot of my funds into travel expenses.
Not sure how I'll ever get my kids to the Pacific, but that's not a huge priority anyway. There's a lot to do locally that we still haven't done yet.

My friend used to travel over the country while she was growing up. Her parents were teachers with the summer off and they would drive the car and tent camp. That's economical for sure, but I'd prefer the camper. ;-)

Amen! Our friends seem envious of our trips, but aren't willing to make the sacrifices.

PUCampin wrote:
I get a little sad when I think about it. My parents managed to take my brother and I on A LOT of major vacations, driving cross country in our 72VW Westfalia.

I make a good living, but with the incredible cost of living where I do, the economic downturn, and cost of towing a trailer, we will never be able to take our kids everywhere I have been.......

Don't you think your parents had economical difficulties back in their time, too? Yet, they managed vacations.

I know my parents were far from having extra money but they scrimped and saved and gave us things that we took for granted. If they didn't have money to buy something they didn't buy it until they could save the money.

I think a lot of folks nowadays have priorities screwed up. They think they need all the latest electronics, big homes, expensive cars and think nothing of running up their credit cards. Instead of giving the kids a new phone, put aside the money toward a vacation and leave all electronics at home. Enjoy the time together without interruptions.

Just my thoughts......

If you say you can you will, if you say you can't you won't. Set the goals, then plan, then take massive action. Life waits for no man.

Believe in yourself and YOU CAN do it!

Happy Travels.

PS: I don't say any of this light heartedly, we had business we nearly lost due to economic situations, we've both held down 3 jobs at times in our early years, and we've had our youngest swing her legs in my office once at 4 years of age saying "I hate your job mummy you have no time for me". Trust me anything the mind can conceive we can do if we really want to that badly.

I get a little sad when I think about it. My parents managed to take my brother and I on A LOT of major vacations, driving cross country in our 72VW Westfalia. Most major sites, you name it, I have been there. Alaska, DC, NY, Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mammoth Caves, Worlds Fair in British Columbia 1986, the list goes on. My brother and I thought nothing of spending an entire day at a museum. The older I get, the more I realize how fortunate I am to have seen (and remember most) of these places. I make a good living, but with the incredible cost of living where I do, the economic downturn, and cost of towing a trailer, we will never be able to take our kids everywhere I have been, but I hope to get them to some of them, most likely will be this side of the country.

Wadcutter wrote:

michigansandzilla wrote:

That's awesome!
When I write it down, my kids have experienced so much, but there's so much more I want them to see. Also, I haven't seen any of these things we're doing and I'd like to experience it all with my kids. They're my family and at some point they'll move on and have their own family or be too busy to hang with us. I want these experiences with them.

If you don't do it now you can't do it later. There is no later with kids. Time is not something you can save, it's only something you can spend. If you don't spend it while they're with you you can't spend it later. There's a very short window of time and then they're off on their own and raising their own families. Time is then gone forever.

Ok. Now I feel panicked! My oldest is 13. The clock is ticking.