I was around 13, and a family friend took me and a sibling whitewater rafting. We were useless at it, but we enjoyed the view and getting splashed a bit. Then we got stranded on a rock at the top of a rapids while the other rafts went ahead of us. Being clueless, me and my sibling thought that this was the end, we were going to get crushed against some boulders, turned to goo, and our mangled remains would be bear food. We cried, hugged each other, and said our final goodbyes. In reality, the adults needed a minute to think, as our raft had to go through an alternate route. There was a drop between rocks but in we were in no danger whatsoever.
River kayaking trip with my father and younger brother in southern Sweden (we live in Denmark). I'm guessing I was probably around 14, and my brother 11. So maybe around 1994?
My dad had hired a guide, a world champion white water kayak guy from South America, who just happened to have a Danish girlfriend and lived here at the time (can't remember the guy's name, sadly).
We would camp out, then get on the water in the morning. The girlfriend would move the camp down river while we were kayaking, and we would paddle to the new camp, rinse + repeat.
I particularly remember having some alone time every evening, sitting on a rock by the river and listening to Bad Religion on my discman.
Good times.
I've only recently started getting back in nature on a regular basis again. Wife isn't much for the outdoors, but my daughters (4 and 6½) and I enrolled in the local scout group last fall, and now I'm in the forest at least once a week, and we have a lot of scout camping trips under our collective belts already.
It feels fantastic to be able to not only have my girls be in nature and have these experiences, but actually being there along with them.
Also, it turns out that a friend group from school have taken an interest in sheltering, and I went on my first trip with them a few weeks back. A bit more of a drinking and dining type deal, and seems like there's a very heavy focus on needing to "unwind" from daily life (read: slightly excessive drinking...), but I can deal with that.
Looking very much forward to solo trips with my daughters, maybe in the coming year. I got a Tentsile Stingray tree tent for my 40th from wife and in-laws. Tested it out on a scout trip a couple of weeks ago, and it's brilliant ❤️
Add comment