How To Work Full Time AND Have Kids AND Have Adventures.
How to work full time, and have kids, and have adventures.
It’s hard to do any of these things separately. Working full time can be draining, even when you love your job. Working full time AND having kids is a juggle. With schooling, childcare, fitting in family time and maintaining a good routine, life can be pretty busy.
Throw in a thirst for adventure and I’m pretty much stretching myself thin. Oh, and then there’s the blog too!
How Our Adventures Started.
Our love for the outdoors started around 4 years ago. We climbed a local hill after realising that we needed to get some fresh air and stretch our legs. As we were walking, I said to my husband, “I really enjoy this”.
The kids were bounding up the hill, and Molly, who was 2 at the time, was able to use her own independence and march on as though she knew where she was going.
As we reached the top, I couldn’t have been a prouder parent. Seeing the kids enjoy their picnic while watching the world go by across the beautiful views of Shropshire and beyond. I decided, we need to do this more often.
Planning.
As a serial planner, I got my calendar and started filling in weekends where we could go and be a family in the great outdoors.
Sundays became our main day for adventure as I work Tuesday to Saturday and Dicky works Monday-Friday.
On weekdays we plan and look for inspiration on where we should go next. Saturday nights are our prep nights for picnics and bags. Then Sundays are go go go!
Tips On How To Fit An Adventure In A Busy Life.
- On work days, daydream about your destinations.
- Write them down and plan ahead. Use lunch breaks to do some research.
- Buy all food products in advance.
- The night before, cook and prepare the picnic.
- Lay out all clothes the night before.
- Pack the bags and prep the car with spares.
- Set your alarms and have fun!
Why not print off our Hiking Bag Checklist to ensure you don’t forget anything?
Microadventure?
Why not have a microadventure? We have been known to leave work on a Saturday afternoon and drive to a destination to camp for the night. Microadventures are fun as it extends the day and makes you feel as though you’re not just working yourself into the ground, then sitting in front of the TV at night. Originally coined by Alastair Humphries, he powers through the message that life is for living. Why not leave work at 5pm, have a night under the stars and go to work for 9 the next day? Who says you shouldn’t? Or that you can’t?
And it can be more than done with the kids too. I bet they would enjoy it more than doing their homework and going to bed at 7 o’clock!
Holiday Adventures
We also fit our adventures into our holidays. I book small weekends or bank holidays to take our small tent for a night or two camping. Plenty of opportunity to GetOutside and have some time away from the rat race.
Our main family holidays will always involve a bit of exploring. We all love to learn about our surroundings and to see things we wouldn’t do on a daily basis. I build this into our trips which adds into the magic of the holiday. There will be a few rest days but we are generally a busy family who always needs to be doing something!
Our lives are busy, and sometimes it catches up with us, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every month I set aside a rest day to catch up on the major housework and to make sure the kids recuperate and chill out.
So, to conclude. You can absolutely work full time AND have kids AND have adventures. It takes a little bit of planning, a lot of teamwork and some determination to see it through! But the rewards of quality family time are more than worth it.
How do you juggle your travel or adventure lifestyle with kids. I’d love to know if you have any comments!
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Well done guys! This is great that you make the time to get out and explore and have adventures together. Family life can get so busy we need these little breaks.
Thank you. It is important to get some down time isn’t it.
I really respect how organised you are! It is so important to make time to have adventures, even when our lives are so busy. I need to make more effort!
Thank you. I don’t feel very organised sometimes though!!
Adventures don’t have to mean week long holidays so it’s great you try to make Sunday your family adventure day.
Any day can be an adventure!
Love this – we have a list on our fridge for adventures each month. We try to have something to look forward to each month and it’s so lovely having something to look forward to in this way. That reminds me I need to write ours for September onwards!
What sort of things do you put on your list? It’s important to have things to look forward to, I think.
Aww this makes me want to go on an adventure! I completely agree about planning being key – a good planner is vital for parents 🙂
I have many planners! And write many lists!
great tips, we often have weekend adventures here too #countrykids
Sometimes it’s the only way to fit them in!
you sound very organised, but then I suppose you need to be. Glad you make the most of your one mutual day off a week. That walk up the hill sounds well done to the 2 yr old.
Thank you, she’s a trooper!
Planning is definitely the key and it sounds like you are very organised with your Sunday adventures. Micro-adventures are a brilliant idea – I quite like the idea of going camping one evening and then going to school and work as normal the next day! We tend to pack in plenty into our holidays too. Love the photo at Land’s End – we were there earlier this week! Thanks for linking up to #CountryKids
Lands End is beautiful isn’t it? Micro adventures are actually very liberating, you should try it!
This makes me jealous actually. I don’t really have time for adventure. But seeing this post makes me wanna plan a quick trip with my kids.
You should do it. Sometimes, the more spontaneous you are, the better the adventure.
You should do it. Sometimes, the more spontaneous you are, the better the adventure.
We hike and climb a lot!! I agree it is all in the planning for sure. Plan right and you can enjoy time in the outdoors xx
I agree. Planning is key!
Great post! We are the same, we both work full time, have four kids and are away a LOT! We just find time to squeeze things in and organise our time well!
We only live once, don’t we! Good organisation is key.
We are very lucky to live in the Lake District with plenty of adventures on our doorstep. My favourites are summer evenings, I surprise her at pick up with her walking kit to change into an evening hiking or scrambling, picnic tea on the summit, head torches on for the descent and home in bed by 10.
That sounds amazing. And she will remember that for years to come ????