A third wheel—or generation—can really get in the way on a camping trip. That’s why a few wise companies have started organizing outdoor adventure and camping programs strictly for grandparents and grandchildren—parents have to find their own fun.

“It’s a unique learning experience,” says Despina Gakopoulos of Elderhostel, a non- profit group that organizes more than 400 inter-generational programs around the world. “Grandparents and grandchildren say they get to know more about each other when they spend time without the parents around.” She says the outdoor adventure trips are growing in popularity as outdoor activities like camping and rock climbing become more mainstream.

Myrna Boulding started running Elderhostel’s inter-generational programs in 1986 at Strathcona Park lodge on Vancouver Island. “The programs and activities are designed so the two generations learn

And experience new things together,” she says. “It’s a real bonding experience.”

Most of Elderhostel’s programs are run by a camp or resort like Strathcona, where the week-long program is really just summer camp with the grandparents. Groups of grandkids and grandparents learn to canoe, rock climb, hike and then camp overnight under the watchful eye of an instructor. It’s no torture test though. If grandparents don’t feel up for anything— including a night on a camp mattress—they can always opt out.

Boulding says both generations make new friends in the groups. “I don’t know which generation has more fun.” 

This article first appeared in the Spring 2007 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Canoeroots’ print and digital editions here.

I discovered sea kayaking when I was five months pregnant and not quite 29 years old. I
was watching a sunset at Flamingo Campground in the Florida Everglades. The sun was framed by silhouetted palm trees and diving pelicans splashing into the bay with wings folded back. Then I saw a sleek kayak glide peacefully into the scene. This first impression stayed in my mind, growing like a well-watered seed until, many years later, kayaking came to define my life.

I waited one and a half years after the birth of my daughter before taking my first kayak journey, a guided trip on Georgian Bay – I couldn’t leave a newborn and the demands of motherhood preceded all other notions. It took only a few strokes to realize that kayaking would become a significant part of my life. I felt I belonged on the water.

From then on, I made short kayak trips with guided groups to exotic places for a week once or twice a year. I paddled the barrier reef off the shore of Belize. I camped and kayaked along the Exumas, a chain of islands in
 the Bahamas. And I paddled among icebergs in east Greenland.

These short breaks renewed my spirit and whet my appetite. I studied maps and dreamed of far-away paddling destinations, but I had parental obligations and these dreams simmered in my active imagination.

Eventually, I bought a used kayak from a tour company and I paddled
at The Pinery, a provincial park on Lake Huron. The Pinery had been my special place since early childhood, but now I enjoyed the dunes and beach from a new perspective. I was attuned to the subtle differences in the quality of light, in the clouds in the sky, in the changing of the seasons.

On the water I felt alive. My senses awakened to the rush of wind or the sting of icy water. I revelled in the songs of loons and the flight of bald eagles. My spirituality strengthened as I felt my small place in this complex but beautiful world, connected to all that exists.

AQUA THERAPY

Kayaking was my aqua therapy, a means to wash away the stresses of daily life, to get away from the continuous demands that society places upon us, or that we allow society to place upon us.

I built my confidence by paddling in varied conditions in all seasons
and in many places. I read about kayaking. I took courses and paddled with strong paddlers to strengthen my skills.

As much as I enjoyed paddling with others, I found it easiest to paddle
on my own. It meant I could paddle wherever and whenever I wanted. I relied only on myself and felt a deeper sense of being on the water. My focus was on my surroundings, not on my partners. My days as an elementary school teacher working with 150 kids a day are busy enough that I fervently seek these moments of solitude.

In 2003, in the Westfjords of Iceland, I met a remarkable woman.

Shawna Franklin was paddling around Iceland with two male partners. Her energy, vitality and genuine love for the world shone brightly. She looked at me and spoke of living true to myself.

This was an epiphany. Up until then, I had always done things to please others. I had followed the “system”, getting a university degree and a good job, getting married and raising a family, taking on a hefty mortgage. Yet it was my brief forays into nature by kayak that truly made me feel joyful and alive.

I was also inspired by a poem, The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, which says “dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing” and “risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.” This reiterated what I already knew but had been afraid to do for so long: to live true to my soul, which sang of being free on the water, to follow my dreams and find peace and fulfillment.

And so I found the courage to plan bigger challenges. In 2004, I paddled around Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest freshwater island. Geographical extremes appeal to me as do islands that have their own unique identities, and Manitoulin lies at the northern tip of Lake Huron. I paddled the 350 kilometres in 12 days.

A WHOLE SUMMER TO PADDLE

In 2005, I took a leave of absence from teaching during the months of May and June, giving me the whole summer to paddle. I chose to circumnavigate Prince Edward Island.

Again, it was a geographical extreme as it was the only province that I could completely circumnavigate. I was the first woman to complete the entire 600-kilometre circumnavigation, paddling it in 15 days. I then felt I could accomplish anything I put my mind to.

The following summer, I again took the months of May and June
off work, this time to paddle around Newfoundland, a demanding journey of almost 3,000 kilometres. Again I would be the first woman to do so.

I started my journey with much trepidation on a cold, wet, dreary and windy day early in May. What had I gotten myself into? I felt relieved to be paddling part of the south shore with another accomplished female sea kayaker, Freya Hoffmeister from Germany. She helped give me the strength and courage to complete the remainder of the journey alone.

I often dug to the depths of my core to face wind, waves, fog, lightning,
and long open water crossings of enormous bays. At times I felt utterly alone on such a vast and unforgiving ocean and often arrived humbled on shore, relieved to set foot on solid ground. Many days I spent eight, nine to paddle in exotic destinations and or even 10 hours in my kayak before share my experiences as a presenter at finding a landing place.

I arrived safe at Isle Aux Morts at the exact dock where I’d started 104 days earlier. I averaged 40 kilometres a day on the 68 days I paddled. Succeeding on these expeditions has meant sponsorships, the chance to paddle in exotic destinations and share my experiences as a presenter at symposiums around the world. I have even taken this whole year off teaching to continue kayaking full time.

KAYAKING AS A SELFISH INDULGENCE

These rewards have come at a price. My spirit is renewed, my zest for life continues to grow, but indulging my needs is in many ways selfish.

I have had to leave my family, who are non-paddlers, for extended periods. It has created enormous friction in my personal life when loved ones cannot fully understand my need to reach for these extended journeys at the cost of being home and making money. Because kayaking distant shores requires financial security and extended time off, I am still dependent on a job that is draining my life energy. Having sponsors also brings obligations. Some of the spontaneity of quietly travelling is taken away with the continual need to blog about my experiences and give up my privacy.

But I will continue to seek kayaking adventures. It is what fulfills me and 
makes me happy. And I enjoy sharing my experiences with others. My perspective of looking from the outside towards the inside is so different from the experiences of most. Maybe I can inspire someone to grow by stepping outside of their comfort zone. It is important to keep growing as a person throughout life’s journey. The motto on
my blog states, “Make the journey of life a beautiful adventure.” Think of a dream and then visualize how you can make it happen. I am a petite, middle-aged woman. It is through sheer passion and strength of mind that I make my dreams into reality.

For years and years I devoured accounts of personal triumphs in adventure and dreamed that I too could follow my dreams. Finally, in mid-life, I reached for my dreams, realizing that time lost is irreplaceable. I feel that if you can dream it, you can do it. Achieving new personal limits has taught me that the only limits set upon ourselves are made by ourselves, in our minds.

Wendy Killoran lives and works in London, Ontario. She presents at sea kayaking symposiums worldwide and blogs at kayakwendy.com. 

This article first appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.

When I was assigned to write about “finding your dream paddling partner,” I balked and wondered what I was going to say that wouldn’t sound too sickly sweet or, even worse, like a lie. People see the photos of us laughing together on the water and think that my wife Rochelle and I must have some perfect paddling relationship where every trip is effortless and every destination is some sort of ideal Shangri-la of domestic bliss and organized camping efficiency. But the truth is, sometimes we fight like cats and dogs.

We suffer from the same challenges that afflict other paddling couples. I paddle too fast. She paddles too slowly. I want to go too far, getting hung up on mileage done and reaching a prescribed destination. She wants to take her time and actually see things along the way.

I feel that meals in the backcountry should be simple affairs, generating the least amount of dirty dishes possible. My culinary motto is “feed the hole,” and I often favour boil-in-a-bag substitutes for real food. She plans elaborate menus with exotic ingredients that require careful transport and generate piles of dirty pots and pans.

I want a streamlined, spare but effective packing system. She wonders how to get more big puffy pillows into the boats.

So how do you find the dream paddling partner? My first thought was, You don’t, because they don’t exist. It’s a fantasy. It’s really hard to find the right person. And when you do, there’s the challenge of coordinating busy schedules. That’s why I often paddle alone. It’s so much easier just to grab the boat and go. Paddling solo is simple and free. You have only yourself to please, and only yourself to blame if things go wrong.

But there’s more to finding the right partner than finding someone who’s easy to paddle with. Consider some deeper questions.

Who is always good company, day in and day out?
 With whom do I have the best rapport? 
Who’s the most fun?
 Who looks out for me, truly having my best interests at heart? 
Who puts up with my bad moods, and jollies me along even when I’m being childish or grumpy?
 And most importantly: who do I miss most when I see something amazing on the water? Who do I most want to share it with?
 For me, the answer is easy: my wife—my beautiful, talented, wonderful wife Rochelle.
 She wasn’t even in my office just then, peering over my shoulder as I typed that last sentence. No, in fact she’s away for a few days right now, and there’s nothing like the absence of something precious to remind us of its true value.

And as for our different approaches to kayak touring—not only are the meals she makes wonderful, she always cooks enough for both of us. Even if I com- plain about the madness of attempting a crème brûlée on an MSR stove (brûlée indeed).

And she always shares her pillows with me.
And we laugh together. Sooner or later, we always end up laughing.
We cuddle on cold nights and she’ll always trade me a back massage for a foot rub.
She’s a great friend, and I love her.
So if you want things quick and easy, go paddling alone, but if your concept of

dream paddling partner encompasses kayaking as a metaphor for life—the ocean as the wide world and our boat as our little place within it—then the answer is clear. Paddle with the one you love. It’s not always easy, but ultimately it is far more rewarding, and in the great journey there’s no better choice than a cherished companion to help plot a course to your next destination. 

This article first appeared in the Spring 2007 issue of Adventure Kayak Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Adventure Kayak’s print and digital editions here.