How does taking a 16-day road trip with a baby sound to you? Tara Sliwkanich makes it sound like a whole lot of fun, mixed with hiking, biking, tenting, and of course, nursery rhymes on repeat!! Learn from one of KWE’s Explorer Families about how to make road tripping very do-able, and fun for the whole family!  

Tara Sliwkanich, along with her spouse, Dustin, and their baby explorer, J, who will be 15-months soon, love to explore the trails, slopes, and the water around Alberta, especially around Edmonton, where they live. They love to hike, bike, stand-up paddle board, kayak, camp, downhill ski and cross-country ski as a family. Living in Edmonton means that they are 4 hours away from the mountains, so they have always loved road tripping, notably road tripping down the Oregon and California coasts in a rooftop tent for their honeymoon! Now, they are making their road trips more exciting with little J in tow!  

Small adventures are big adventures for babies; Tara loves taking baby J along on any outdoor time.  

Where Tara Road Tripped for 16 days near Alberta: 

• Edmonton 

Tips for Planning a Road Trip: 

• Make a skeleton plan, and then wing the rest  

Tips for the Car: 

• Time limit in car before breaks for baby is about 2-3 hours (or earlier, if baby wakes and needs a stretch!) 

Tips for Tenting: 

• Do a trial run of tenting with baby at home 

Tips for Biking: 

• Recommends: Thule Chariot Sport 2, with infant sling (attaches to adult bike) - https://www.thule.com/en-pf/strollers/double-jogging-strollers/thule-chariot-sport-2-_-10201023 & https://www.thule.com/en-pf/bike-trailer-accessories/thule-infant-sling-_-20101000 

Tips for Hiking: 

• Choose not too challenging of hikes with big pay offs, like ones with amazing views 

Tips for Food While Travelling: 

• Pre-plan meals, so you can have some groceries ready 

Tara is on KWE’s Inclusion Committee. She continually tries to learn from the lived experiences of BIPOC and LBGTQ+ communities in the outdoors. She encourages others to learn how to act in allyship when they are in the outdoors, so that it can be a safe space for all who are out exploring. Let’s use our privilege to break down barriers and welcome more people into the outdoors! 

Suggestions: 

• iLids – lids that fit on mason jars, to turn them into cups with straws or for storage (BPA-free) - https://www.intelligentlids.com 

Follow Tara on IG: @tsliwk 

Check out KWE’s #patch4apurpose to support 1, or all 8, charities:

Production: @kpmediaproductions. Music: @michaelferraro_music.