Oh man, I’m a professional field geologist, so hiking, camping and backpacks are literally my job. But my family didn’t do anything like that when I was growing up, and people are usually surprised when they learn that – the idea that you can have a career outdoors growing up in a distinctly “non-open” type of family.
But now I see how my family was outdoors, just not in the American cultural / REI way. We spent a lot of time outside. I had to explore and just wander around, without the forced buildings having to have hikes for small children. The most we would do were “beach walks” since I grew up on the coast, but it was more about twisting along the beach (in the fall through spring time) until we got back for the car. You could have stopped to poke rocks or shells, stared at the waves, but there was no definite lookout or end goal, except perhaps that if you went far enough, it was faster to circle around this entrance rather than double back to car.
And now that I’m hiking professionally, keeping in mind all sorts of strict structures and goals, I think my childhood “unopened” outside was the best possible preparation for a career like mine.
Okay, I also understand that this was a cartoon! I love it too. I also think that maybe parents should not be so strict with themselves about creating “real” experiences from the point of view of adults.
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