Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Unexpected Discoveries in Your Own Backyard


I'm an introverted person. Before I had kids, I was content to simply snuggle under the covers and read all day. Oh, I still did things like see movies, talk with friends, and check out interesting things around town, but I still gravitated towards solitary activities.

Having children changed all that. I still love having time alone, but that doesn't happen too much anymore. We've found that it works best for us to get out of the house at some point during the day. There will be occasional weeks where we go, go, go and then the next week just veg around the house, but for the most part, the kids are happiest when we do something different outside the house once a day.

And you know what? I'm actually beginning to enjoy it, too. I've discovered that I'm an explorer. More and more I love checking out new places and experiencing new things. I had begun to get in a rut, just sticking to a small set of things well within my comfort zone. But, my desire to share the world with my kids has awakened my own sense of adventure, too.  


It's great to explore exotic, new things like travelling to Grand Cayman Island or taking a ride in a schooner for the first time, but I'm realizing that exploring undiscovered areas in your own backyard can be just as rewarding.

The day after after the 4th we decided to take a quick, family walk. We could have gone to one of our favorite spots, but Steve suggested a short walk across a suspension bridge in a nearby village.  Even though I had seen that river before, it still was great to experience it from a different vantage point, although it was a quick stop since the kids were intent on running across that bridge as fast as they could.


Although the walk was very short since we kept getting bitten, and we didn't see anything out of the ordinary, it still was very memorable for me. It fed my need to see new places, yet it was familiar at the same time. Sometimes I get caught up in planning the next great adventure, and I forget about all the adventures that are right under my nose, just waiting to be discovered.

3 comments:

Stephanie said...

Number one - amen for finding incredible places close to home! We have sooo much within three hundred or so miles. (from tiny trips to two or three day trips.)

And two - walking gives you an entirely different perspective! You notice houses and flowers and all kinds of things that you don't notice while moving faster. I love that.
And yay! for going somewhere you've never been.

I find that these Adventurer traits get more apparent with time. :)

Lynn B said...

Holy cow, girl, you have been BUSY! Your activity level is amazing! You must be a lot younger than I am, LOL. It has been a while since I visited though, so I had a lot to catch up on.

I love how you are finding local adventures. We do it too, although not so often. And we get in the rut of the familiar as well. It's good to be reminded to strike out into the unknown!

Chris said...

Stephanie - We live in the MidWest so, although I do find a variety of things to do, I often find myself wishing we lived somewhere where beaches, mountains and deserts were all within a three to four hour drive of us.

Lynn - Actually, I'm a few months away from turning 35, so not that young at all! My kids have an amazing amount of energy (stopped taking naps three months after turning 2 and sleeping 9-10 hours at night), so I've been in practice for awhile with going and going and going!