Family Bonding And Camping Out
Posted in Fly Fishing Gear on the September 28, 2010
Just about any camping expedition, with the exploring, camp set up, outdoor cooking, outdoor cooking stove and general interaction, is an excellent venue for family bonding.
Relationship bonding is something everybody needs and this is a much greater truism in families, between parents and their offspring. The special relationships between fathers and sons and mothers and daughter is based on the level and quality of the bonding between them. This is a basic structure that makes for healthy, or in unfortunate cases, unhealthy development. Our children’s development will reflect the quality of their relationships within the family and specifically with their parents and siblings.
Mothers are the natural role models for their daughters and in the same way fathers for their sons.
One of the best and natural scenarios that promote bonding is camping trips. The hands on experiences make it the ideal occasion for sharing, interacting, teaching and just plain goofing off. Being away from the home, the television and all other distractions provides moments where sharing, talking, teaching and doing things together just flow.
A camping expedition is open to anyone and covering a large part of all age groups. From children, teens, parents and more. Each trip will have its own unique moments and experiences and this just highlights the bonding opportunities as well as the potential learning and teaching moments.
At times the last camping trip seems to be lost back in time and this could mean that camping ideas are not so easy to find. For these cases here are five ideas for types of camping trips you can plan.
1. One type of expedition, though not necessarily a camping one, is hiking. You can easily plan one that takes into account ages, difficulty and natural beauty. There are also three parts of a hiking trip that make for worthwhile experiences as well as memories. The planning stage. Involve your clan. The actual hike - and here if the younger ones find it hard, tell a story (make them part of the story if you like) and amazingly they will soon forget about the effort. The hike itself will be full of opportunities. And then the last part. Talking about it - somehow it always turns out better and the memory wonder.
2. Fishing Expedition - Many fishing trips are one day affairs, but you can also go out for a two or three day camping trip with a lot of fishing added to it. These types of trips are also many times life lasting.
3. Camping and RVs. With a little more comfort and the home luxuries we take for granted, a camping trip with your RV is also a great alternative. In this type of trip you can also spend more time away and share with older people and toddlers with less hassle. One of the advantages is that you can access a wider range of camping sites and replenish stock in the middle of a trip. And do all this out in the country and this means a campfire and the chance to use your outdoor cooking stove
4. Backpacking. For the hardier soul and admittedly demanding a certain amount of physical fitness, these trips are a great way of staying in contact with nature. If the sun shines, if it rains or if it snows, on a backpack trip you will enjoy (and perhaps suffer) what nature has to offer. It is more for adventurers but the challenge is certainly worthwhile. Not all trips reflect a Daniel Boone type of life as you can go for much shorter expeditions with friends, family and preferably with your children. Just make sure you organize it taking into account everyone’s capabilities.
5. Tents. The bottom line is that when you think about camping you always imagine a tent, a sleeping bag, the fire and a little cooking outside. For children these become moments they treasure and in the future will probably repeat with their own children. It is rare for a child to dislike camping out and there are so many places and locations you can go to, with the appropriate safeguards that it is really a waste not to take advantage of this. Family bonding comes so naturally when camping out that it can easily become a family moment to be repeated at least once a season.