Adventure parenting

Running with baby in the adventure pram in sunny Cornwall

When your expecting a baby a lot of people, particularly the guys, will half jokingly tell you how your life is over! Behind the smug grins is a sadness of stuff they loved doing that they have resigned to the past. I've found there is an element of truth in it. My life has undeniably changed forever and I can't do stuff outdoors quite as easily as before (harder still for a lot of adventure mums of course). Maybe it's stubbornness but I've been actively trying to find ways to tie in adventuring with parenting. I'm beginning to discover that the potential is limitless and rather than the adventures being over I'm actually just getting started!

If you want some extreme inspiration on adventuring with your kids check out Mike Libecki, National Geographic Adventurer, who took his intrepid 10 year old daughter skiing with penguins in Antartica!

Our little one isn't even 4 months old yet so I'm starting small!

I went for a short run today with the dog and the baby strapped in and rugged up in the adventure pram. The logistics make wilderness expeditions look easy but I find it is not too dissimilar. Enough kit to keep warm, dry, fed and kit for the what ifs; nappies, pram wheel punctures, toy distractions etc. 

I wanted to use the cot attachment because I heard you shouldn't use the car seat. I couldn't remember why you shouldn't use it though and I figured if the car seat can handle the bumps in a car it was probably better for the trail than her rolling around in the cot. I put the cover over the top for shelter and to keep the sun off her face. It felt springlike today but I figured it would still be nippy sitting static so the little one had her fleece all-in-one, a hat, a thin blanket then my Mountain Hardwear Micro Ratio down jacket loosely over the top. You have to be quite careful not to overheat babies as well but I figured the down is super breathable and I just stopped regularly to check her temperature (and reassure myself that she was still breathing!). This seemed to work well today with temperatures of about 9 deg (warmer in sun), occasional gusts of 20kph. 

Refuelling post run!

We headed down to the Mineral Trails at Bissoe. Starting from Bike Chain we headed South towards Devoran. The trails used to have rail lines to carry precious minerals down the valley. This makes for great flattish ground for the pram. It is a fairly short run, maybe 5 miles, but ideal for our purposes. It might not be the ultimate fitness workout but it is better than nothing, the dog gets a run, and the baby gets a sleep in the fresh air. There are a few things I want to tweak for next time, such as remembering that in addition to the copious baby and dog equipment, I also need to look after myself and bring some water. Not a massive problem today though as I undid most of the fitness benefits at the cafe!!










Excited for the adventures to come :)

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