If you are already accustomed to getting some sort of daily workout when you’re at home, chances are high that you’ll probably want to continue this behavior while traveling. Figuring out how to exercise on the road can be a tricky endeavor, especially if you have family in tow with you, but it’s not impossible. Tons of information about hiking vacations for families. Tips for the best way to do it and reminders for things to keep in mind.
Hiking in general, and running specifically, are both great activities that you can do while you’re traveling. Neither activity really requires that much “stuff,” so to speak. Provided you have a place to go and a good pair of hiking shoes. As long as you are interested and have the wherewithal, you can go get your hike (or run) on.
With your family with you on holiday, sure, it can be a little more tricky to navigate. But that doesn’t mean that you should write off your exercise habit while you’re traveling the world. That wouldn’t be good for your health, and you might find that going for extended periods of time without your workout leaves you feeling restless.
If not also a bit cranky — making you probably not the nicest traveler to be around!
Related Read: 7 Tips for Your First Experience Hiking with Kids
Below, I’ll outline some suggestions that will help you figure out how you can safely hike with your family while you’re traveling on holiday.
It’s important to remember that part of the joy of traveling is the experience of it all. The ups and downs, the adventures within adventures, and the commensurate flexibility that you must inherently have to enjoy traveling.
So if your grandiose plans fail to come to fruition on your first go of it, fear not! Just try again another day.
How to Plan Hiking Vacations for Families
Before going Hiking Vacations Do a little research first, and check out a map.
If you’re interested in going on some family hikes, you probably should first see what’s available to you, based on where you currently are and where you’re planning to go (or what’s within striking distance of where you are).
Doing some research beforehand will help you properly plan for your appropriate clothing. This gives the opportunity to adequately pack the appropriate gear for hiking and provisions for not only you but for the rest of your family, particularly if you have young children.
You’ll be able to better plan out your holiday, too, knowing that you’ve set aside some time for a special hike (or two).
Taking a good look at a map, as well as doing some internet research, will yield information that will be worth its weight in gold to you.
Big swaths of green are good indicators of hiking availability on a map, and if you have any questions or concerns, a little internet sleuthing will probably put you in touch with a knowledgeable travel associate or an experienced hiker in the area where you’re pining to go.
Participate in an organized hiking adventure or race.
This may seem outlandish, especially if you’re traveling in an attempt to “get away from it all,” but if your internet research leads you to information that says there will be an organized hike or race in the area you’ll be traveling to, when you’ll be traveling there, get outside your comfort zone, and register!
Doing so as a family can bring a lifetime’s worth of memories, and it doesn’t matter how fast, or slow you cover the distance; instead, you’ll be doing it for the experience and for the opportunity to do something together as a family.
Participating in an organized run or hike may also allow you to interact with folks local to the area you’re visiting, and these interactions may serve to be crucial opportunities for you to get insider information about the locales you’ll be exploring. Always trust the locals, right?!
During Hiking Vacations, Plan for your children’s needs.
If you’ll be hiking while traveling with a young child (or two) in tow, remember to anticipate their needs while on the hike, and plan (and pack) accordingly.
This can include the basics of ensuring that you outfit your children in hiking-appropriate attire or packing enough provisions to sustain their appetites, but it can also include ensuring that you’re using devices that are appropriate for the type of, or duration of, hike that you’ll be covering with your children.
There are many types of baby-parent hiking backpacks that parents basically wear as book bags (with their small children supported on their backs), as well as numerous types of baby-wearing slings that parents can wear front-or-backward facing.
The farther in advance you can do this before your travels, the better off you’ll be, if for no other reason than you’ll be giving yourself plenty of time and opportunities to try things out before the big day arrives.
Get in shape first: both you and your family.
If you envision going on a wonderful family hike while you’re on holiday, it’ll behoove you to ensure before you leave that everyone in your family is in good health. Particularly if the terrain is technical or the weather potentially inclement (or arduously challenging).
It’s unrealistic to think that you’ll be able to simply show up at a volcano’s side in Hawaii, for example, and expect that everyone in your family will be able to go on a hike for six hours. Especially when they haven’t trained their bodies sufficiently in the months and weeks preceding the trip.
You don’t want to ruin your family travels by injuring yourself or your loved ones, do you? No matter the different types of vacation you choose, this is a must, stay safe!
Traveling is an unfettered way to experience all that the world has to offer. And exploring the world by foot offers all of us an even more profound account of the magnitude of the environment. If you’re traveling with your family on holiday, it’s not impossible to do something active together, like a hike, but it does take a fair amount of planning leading up to the big day.
Together with some flexibility, in the event that things don’t go according to your plan, being creative with your family hiking plans — and most importantly, making it as fun as possible! — will ensure that your beloved family hike will go down as one of your family’s most treasured memories.
Also, check out outdoor gear reviews for best ideas on gear.
Related Read: How To Prepare For Hiking With A Baby
Author’s Bio:
Dan Chabert – Entrepreneur and long distance based in Copenhagen, Denmar. When not preparing for a race, Dan loves to see the world and travel together with his wife.
