We have a bit of a RV theme to this episode and before we get to our guest I thought I’d share a Facebook post from a Book Reader: Diane recently retired and is traveling the country in a travel trailer with her husband.  I am reading an excellent book by a local Wisconsin  author, Heidi Dusek, called Beyond Normal. It's about designing experiences in life that bring you joy. Before we headed on the road, we already knew that we didn't need to see and experience all the normal sights in any given area. Heidi talks about taking a joy audit to determine what truly adds joy to your life...for us, it's often simplicity. We have no need or desire to see all there is to see; we find joy in a simple hike or bike ride in anywhere, USA, or a cup of coffee and game of cribbage. Spending time with people we love. Or reading (Scott more than Diane!), or playing games on a tablet or phone (Diane more than Scott!). We are 3 hours from the Grand Canyon, and most people say "you HAVE to go!". But our joy meter is on high from seeing wild horses in the river, and we don't feel the need to spend extra money to go to the Grand Canyon. Thanks, Heidi, for reaffirming that we don't need to follow the tourist guide. We are definitely untourists!

If you would like to learn more about our story and our joy audit, I encourage you to purchase or check out my my book: Beyond Normal: A Field Guide to Embrace Adventure, Explore the Wilderness, and Design an Extraordinary Life with Kids

 

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Finding your people is definitely one of the harder tasks in becoming an adventurous family.  When people ask I often state - I don’t have any magic formula, but when you know - you will know.  When I met Kimberly, I knew.  Kimberly Crossland is an adventurous mom of 2 boys residing in southern Arizona.  She is the founder of Roadpreneur and Cruisin' + Campfires, two companies designed to keep families together and living in freedom through travel and entrepreneurship. The goal of both businesses is to inspire meaningful change through the power of a strategic, thoughtful approach to life and business. She is a fellow part-time RVing family, avid mountain biker, and chief of all the things here to share her insights on being and supporting moms on the go.  

Key Takeaways

1. Go along for the ride is the parenting philosophy that served her best, allowing her not to get mired down in the day to day.  
2. Get to know yourself and what works best for you.  Kimberly discovered she was most creative after a f=good night sleep, and transactional tasks were best were her energy was low.  Learn your own energy cycles and design systems and structures that work for you.  
3. Kimberly had all the questions about buying a travel trailer, but she is so glad she did because what was waiting on the other side is something she now helps other families experience.   
4. Getting kids outside changes their behavior.  The cloud of chaos clears and they are able to reset.  
5. You can’t change the kid, but you can change the environment.  
6. Kimberly shared her experience with international travel was more structured, while there is great value to that, camping allows for unstructured play.  Time for discovery and family time with a certain amount of independence and autonomy seems to be the magic formula at this point in time.  
7. Spark conversations with kids vs. asking questions.  Using prompts such as three thing to share with me allow you to have deeper conversations and hear more about what is on your child’s heart.
8. There is nothing that kills energy more than having to cut a hike or ride short to get back on a zoom call.  Frontloading the work and creating systems and utilizing automations are powerful tools in designing a life you love.  
9. Don’t put adventure in a box.  There is no such thing as adventuring “enough.” Decide what you want your family adventures to look like and go after it.   

To Connect with or Follow Kimberly Crossland

Website: Cruisinandcampfires.com and Roadpreneur.com

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: Facebook.com/Roadpreneur or Facebook.com/cruisinandcampfires

Instagram: @Roadpreneur and @cruisinandcampfires