Fitting Adventures into the Seasons of Family Life
When is the best time of year to go camping? Could you do more frequent short adventures throughout the year? Or is it better to wait and have a big long holiday? These simple questions depend on your family circumstances and lots of different factors. In this article I’ll help you come up with some ideas for best using the time you have this year.
It all started when I was pondering what sort of adventures we wanted to have in 2024. I wanted to plan it out for practical reasons – saving for trips, booking in accommodation dates and requesting leave with work.
We’ve tried various things over the last few years. For example, when we tried to do camping once a month it was really hard to fit it in. We were impacted by our energy levels, the weather, and lock-downs. Last year we tried to do more mini-adventure days around our local region and a few bigger trips. Now I’ve got a pretty good idea of what really impacts our ability to have adventures. Here’s what I’ve learned for our family:
The start of the year is an adjustment period where we feel like we’ve got lots of time, but the kids are tired and need more of our attention.
The middle of the school year is the boring, quiet time, where we’re really looking to do more and getting away seems easy.
We are really busy the last term/quarter of the year. Too busy to fit in quick weekends away, and too tired to fit in adventure days.
We usually get sick around May and September (weird to look back and see an actual pattern!).
It’s easier to do big adventures during school holidays, but more expensive and crowded.
Summer is too hot for camping here, autumn is great (but usually a bit wet), winter is amazing, and spring is seriously windy.
Here are some things for you to consider:
What do the different seasons mean for you in your region?
How do different times of year look for your family – when are you busy, tired, or needing to have some time away? Is there a better time to go camping or have time away? Is there a time when it’s really difficult to plan much?
How much holiday/leave time can you use? Are your hours flexible? What sort of trips would best fit this (e.g. weekend overnighters or a week-long school holiday trip?)
What important things are on in the year that you won’t want to miss? E.g. sports seasons, presentation days, performances, school exams, etc.
Do your kids have their own priorities that will impact you? E.g. will they want to spend time with friends (you can invite friends on trips!), are they still young enough not to be impacted by school terms (the freedom!), do they have jobs or exams, etc?
And, is there anywhere you want to visit? What time of year is good to visit there – or what time should it be avoided?
Next, think about what season are you in with your kids? How can you use adventures with them in this stage of their lives?
For example:
Babies, toddlers and preschoolers can travel any time of year without impacting school/sports/other commitments. You can go outside of holidays to get cheaper rates and less-crowded experiences. And you can go regularly!
Primary-school aged children love to spend time with their family, so make the most of it. They also want to have fun, so make sure your adventures are heaps of fun. They’re old enough to be more responsible and help out too, so make the most of that.
Teens are more likely to want to spend time with friends, so trips or adventures with other people are really great at this age. Time with parents is really important too, especially if teens are given responsibility on trips – it can be a bit of a ‘coming of age’ experience. This is also a great time to do one-on-one trips with mum, dad, or someone else important in their lives. PLUS this is a great age to give them the chance to learn new skills. Teens are busy, so you’ll need to really fit trips around their priorities.
No matter the stage of life your family is in, adventures are an incredible way to connect, bond, learn new skills, grow your resilience and other great character traits, make lifelong memories and have a bit of fun.
So, for us, putting it all together looks like:
A camping weekend early in the year to relax and spend time together without the pressures of school and the new routine. Pure fun, pure connecting. This trip won’t be about adventuring as much as being together and having a bit of a breather.
A longer trip over winter, camping. We’ll try to go with cousins or friends for the kids to play with.
Some weekend exploring trips over winter.
No adventures during term 4, then for Christmas holidays we’ll have some serious fun and visit family.
Spring and Autumn are great for day trips and adventures that don’t involve camping (in my region). Spontaneous trips and social activities.
We’re going to use the start of the year for settling in and slowing down, then bulk up our adventure time in the middle of the year, and, finally, use summer as family holidays (visiting family).
So now we can book in a few long weekends with work and get our friends/family to do the same. It’s going to be a fantastic year.
Keep in mind of course that every family has different priorities and their seasons may look different from yours. It’s important not to compare yourselves or be discouraged by their adventures or social media accounts. We have friends that go camping all the time, but they are in a different stage of life than us and their work schedules are different. We don’t need to be disappointed not to keep up – our own adventures suit our family, and that’s what matters.
So have fun planning! Let me know how you go and what sort of adventures you’ve got in store for your family!