Making Overlanding Better deserves people

[Tommys]

I was an alone explorer and discovered "overlanding" is better with people. Better yet, with my older teenage son. Check out our moments:
Forest Trail: Encountering Young Life

 

[Coreymol]

I was an alone explorer and discovered "overlanding" is better with people. Better yet, with my older teenage son. Check out our moments:
Forest Trail: Encountering Young Life

Awesome!
And I agree. I enjoy time alone especially in nature. But my daughter who is 16 expressed wanting to camp and overland with me. So we went out the first time last weekend and going out again in a few weeks. And again once a month. The next few months. I’m getting to teach her a lot and she’s like a sponge. It’s great!

 

[Tommys]

Awesome!
And I agree. I enjoy time alone especially in nature. But my daughter who is 16 expressed wanting to camp and overland with me. So we went out the first time last weekend and going out again in a few weeks. And again once a month. The next few months. I’m getting to teach her a lot and she’s like a sponge. It’s great!

Nurture those moments, they are cherished forever!

 

[grubworm]

my wife got me into this when we were dating and we married a few yrs ago when my oldest son was a senior in high school. we took him on some trips and he loved it. throughout college, we would drive up and get him on breaks and go camping in arkansas and even a couple trips out west. next thing i know, hes buying gear and taking friends out camping and even going solo at times. now hes a senior in college and has a girlfriend and they do a good bit of tent camping together. they seem to have a good relationship and im sure they will have a much better future relationship by doing that together versus going out to clubs and doing the typical college thing.
the wife and i have done a lot of bonding via the camping/traveling and i think its great for the younger folk so they can learn to slow things down and enjoy nature and communicating with others without texting. the OP definitely sees the benefit of exposing teenagers to this and i totally agree. with all the smart phones and technology, people are quickly forgetting how to actually be together and work thru a little adversity. a smart phone down to 10% battery is NOT a real emergency and a wet sleeping bag isnt the end of the world...its important to learn to work with inconveniences and overlanding is all about that!

even as adults, i see a great benefit in this because i do get to meet better people.
i wake up in the morning and if i drive into town, the people on the roads are pissed off and in a hurry and then it seems like most stores have employees that dont want to be there and are usually not in a good mood or very friendly. gets to where i just dont want to deal with people. then the wife and i go on a trip out in the woods and always end up meeting cool people. i wont go as far to say that those times fully restore my faith in humanity...but it definitely helps

 

[JacksonRL]

my wife got me into this when we were dating and we married a few yrs ago when my oldest son was a senior in high school. we took him on some trips and he loved it. throughout college, we would drive up and get him on breaks and go camping in arkansas and even a couple trips out west. next thing i know, hes buying gear and taking friends out camping and even going solo at times. now hes a senior in college and has a girlfriend and they do a good bit of tent camping together. they seem to have a good relationship and im sure they will have a much better future relationship by doing that together versus going out to clubs and doing the typical college thing.
the wife and i have done a lot of bonding via the camping/traveling and i think its great for the younger folk so they can learn to slow things down and enjoy nature and communicating with others without texting. the OP definitely sees the benefit of exposing teenagers to this and i totally agree. with all the smart phones and technology, people are quickly forgetting how to actually be together and work thru a little adversity. a smart phone down to 10% battery is NOT a real emergency and a wet sleeping bag isnt the end of the world...its important to learn to work with inconveniences and overlanding is all about that!

even as adults, i see a great benefit in this because i do get to meet better people.
i wake up in the morning and if i drive into town, the people on the roads are pissed off and in a hurry and then it seems like most stores have employees that dont want to be there and are usually not in a good mood or very friendly. gets to where i just dont want to deal with people. then the wife and i go on a trip out in the woods and always end up meeting cool people. i wont go as far to say that those times fully restore my faith in humanity...but it definitely helps

That’s great! I love hearing that kind of stuff.

 

[SJ.Overland]

I agree with everything said, Yes getting out on your own is good in it's own right. In my opinion I'd even say it's necessary, but as with all things in life, balance really is key. Getting back on topic, going out with others, sharing experiences, triumphing together, as well as suffering. That tends to forge very tight bonds and memories. I always semi-joke with friends that I always look back more fondly at trips where we endured all the elements & challenges versus trips where everything went according to plan. I don't know why that is, but it's been my experience thus far. Obviously going with people you get along with goes a tremendously long way though.

 

[Tommys]

Returning from an adventure, my family and I reflect on what made it memorable.
Southeast Exploration

 

[Lief_WJ]

I was an alone explorer and discovered "overlanding" is better with people. Better yet, with my older teenage son. Check out our moments:
Forest Trail: Encountering Young Life

Good point...that is why I came to this site. Plus, wheeling alone is a risk.