Family Travel
Adventure Travel for Families
Cross Country Bike Treks, Sailing Odysseys and More
By Anne Laufe
In the summer of 2005, writer and gonzo cyclist Joe Kurmaskie rode his bike across the United States with his two young sons in tow. Kurmaskie was motivated by the desire to have a bona fide adventure with his kids, as well as by a hefty contract to write about it for a national magazine. Kurmaskie survived the trip, wrote the article, and turned it into a full-length book, Momentum is Your Friend (Breakaway Books, 2006). He also began collecting other people’s stories of adventure travel, which will be included in his next book, Adventure Dad, due out later this year.
What is family adventure travel, anyway? Kurmaskie, who lives in North Portland, defines it as “a way to combat the Xbox carpal tunnel syndrome kids get from spending too much time in front of computers and the television. It’s a way to keep kids from becoming observers of their own childhood, providing opportunities for them to have real adventures rather than virtual adventures.”
While many of us would like to add some spice to our family vacations, few of us have the energy and the expertise that Kurmaskie does. And those guided trips rafting the Grand Canyon or helicopter skiing in the Bugaboos surely must be breathtaking, but so is the price tag. What’s the average parent to do?
Read on for more inspiring stories from local parents and for tips on how to incorporate more adventure into your next family outing.
The Metal Cowboy and His Pint-sized Posse
Kurmaskie didn’t actually set out to take his kids on a cross-country bicycle trip. He signed the contract with Men’s Journal to do the trip by himself and write about it, then found out that his wife, who was studying to become a teacher, had to be in school for most of the summer. She told Kurmaskie he’d have to take the boys with him.
“At that point, I had to figure out how to make it work,” he says. “How could I break it gently to Men’s Journal and still keep the assignment?” In the end the editors were sympathetic. They knew that if anyone could pull off such a stunt, Kurmaskie could. The 41-year-old had ridden across the United States six times previously, and had already toughened up his sons by taking them on long hikes in the Columbia Gorge, for other magazine assignments.
On July 1, 2005 Kurmaskie rigged up 5-year-old Enzo’s bike trailer to 7-year-old Quinn’s tagalong, then connected that to his own custom-built, 27-speed bike and began their 4,000-mile, 65-day journey from Portland to Washington, D.C. With Star Wars light sabers for off-bicycle entertainment, and educational goals such as photographing the animal scat and campground signs they encountered along the way, Kurmaskie was able to give his kids the Huck Finn summer he had dreamed of.
He says there were only two or three times along the way when it was just too long of a day for the kids, when they had to keep pedaling just to meet the end-of-the-summer deadline. Most days, though, they had no time clock and no schedule.
“We had the luxury of just stopping and eating barbecue, fishing by the side of the Missouri and talking about Lewis and Clark,” says Kurmaskie. “They learned the topography and history of our country, made friends, and learned how to make their own fun. And they realized that you can accomplish some great things, as long as you take it one pedal stroke at a time.”
Sailing Into the Sunset
Ever since Tammy Kimball was a child, she dreamed of sailing her own boat across the ocean. After raising four children, earning a degree in engineering and working for several years, the 46-year-old Kimball made her dream come true.
In November of 2003, Kimball set sail for Mexico with her husband and their youngest son, Courtney, who was 16 at the time. They continued on to the Solomon Islands, Japan, the Aleutian Islands and Prince William Sound before returning home nearly two years later. According to Kimball, who lives in Scappoose, she had never had any big adventures before then.
The family prepared for the trip by taking sailing lessons and subsequently buying a 24’ sailboat. They took classes in navigation, and Kimball read every sailing book she could get her hands on. In 2000, they sold their home, bought a 36’ boat, and moved into it.
When they had accumulated enough money and sailing expertise, the Kimballs took off on their odyssey. “Our son was not excited about the trip,” Kimball recalls. “He was 16. He said ‘I hate you! I hate this boat!’ But by the time we got back, he realized that it was a good thing for him.”
Courtney took correspondence classes from Portland State University while he was on the trip, which Kimball says were more rigorous than the courses he’d been taking in high school. She also says he gained maturity, independence and a greater sense of responsibility from his experiences both on the boat and traveling in other countries, meeting people and seeing how they live.
“I wish we had done it with all our kids,” Kimball says of the trip.
Camping Adventures Close to Home
The Welch family manages to have adventurous family vacations without circumnavigating the globe or trekking across the country. Mary Welch, who lives in northeast Portland with her husband Dan and 9-year-old son Owen, took Owen on his first backpacking trip in central Oregon’s Ochoco National Forest when he was 4. Last summer, they took an overnight canoe trip on the upper Willamette.
Welch especially values the memories they create and the conversations they have on their family adventure trips. “I want Owen to see his parents having fun, not just shopping and working, shopping and working,” she says. “We tend to be sillier and tell more jokes when we’re camping.”
Benefits for Families
Welch notes that when they go camping, her son Owens gathers firewood and helps set up the tent. “The work he does is extremely meaningful, getting our basic needs met. They’re not just chores to teach responsibility.” From this, Owen has learned self-reliance, as well as gained a sense of pride.
Along with introducing Enzo and Quinn to some of the natural treasures of our country and teaching them about the rigors of long-distance biking, Kurmaskie says the best thing about their adventure was the time spent together. In his book he writes, “We share a secret, the three of us; one permanent summer in our hearts now, where we’re never apart.”
Tammy Kimball says one of the greatest benefits of her family’s sailing odyssey was learning to work as a team at all times, both on and off the boat. When they reached a port, Courtney helped the family find food and water. At night, he took his turn on watch. “When you’re on watch, you’re responsible for other people’s lives,” Kimball says. “If you give (teenagers) the responsibility, they will rise to it.”
The benefits of adventure travel are genuine and long-lasting for all involved. As Joe Kurmaskie poetically puts it, “When you take on the real meat of life, you’re so much more courageous. You have so much more of an experience.”
How to Add More Adventure to Your Family Vacations
Mary Welch, a nursing student and mother of 9-year-old Owen, says her motto when it comes to planning family vacations is “hope for the best, plan for the worst.” She recalls a camping trip when her son was a baby. They chose a primitive site with no running water – and Owen came down with a terrible case of diaper rash. After trying to tough it out for a day, they decided to abort the trip and stay overnight in a hotel. When the rash cleared up, they camped at a state park with hot running water.
“When it was just (my husband) and me, it was all about adventures,” Welch says. “Now it’s all about teaching Owen. Adventure travel doesn’t have to mean extreme. Just being outside is good enough.”
For Tammy Kimball, who sailed around the Pacific Rim with her husband and son, adventure travel means getting off the beaten path and avoiding tourist places. She also thinks that taking your children abroad and exposing them to different cultures teaches them invaluable lessons.
Adjusting your expectations is key to making sure that family adventures are fun for all involved. You have to go into it thinking “I may not ski today”, because it’s hard to get everybody to do the same thing at the same time. And kids have minds of their own – you can drive them to the mountain, but they may refuse to get out of the car.
Even parents who don’t consider themselves to be athletic can have adventures with their children. Just getting outside, riding on a bike trail or hiking in the woods, is a great experience. Hiring guides can be more affordable on short trips, such as kayaking on the Willamette or rafting the Deschutes.
Anne Laufe is a Portland freelance writer and mother.
