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Hi and welcome to Outdoorsy Families! This is episode __. I’m Audrey Withycombe, the host of Outdoorsy Families. Somehow it’s been 2 months since our last episode, and a lot has happened since then! I’m so happy to be back in this space and to share what I’ve been up to for the last two months. In today’s episode, I’m going to be doing a reintroduction and share my why for doing this podcast. Honestly, this is going to be helpful for me as I get back into the podcasting habit. I’ll also share what you can expect from the podcast since things will be changing a bit. I’m going to wrap up this episode by sharing my goals for 2022. I’ll admit I don’t typically make many goals, but this year I have some fun ones to share!
But before we begin, I wanted to encourage you to check out the website, outdoorsyfamilies.com. There I have an ever-growing list of resources to help you get outside as a family, and maybe even try a new, bigger adventure!
Reintroduction: I don’t know about you, but 2021 was a year of huge change, overcoming challenges, and a lot of growth for me. It’s the year that my baby became a toddler and we found our stride as a family of 4. It’s also the year I took a leap and began this podcast. It’s something I wanted to do for a long time but was afraid to learn something so foreign. But I finally cast those fears aside and did it! I’m really proud of that accomplishment and can’t wait to see where the podcast goes in 2022.
As I mentioned, I’m Audrey Withycombe. I’m a mom of two little kids - River who’s 4 and Hattie who’s 2. I’m Richie’s wife. He’s been my adventure partner for over 11 years. We are so honored to get to live at a beautiful summer camp on the shores of Flathead Lake in Northwestern Montana. Richie and I have lived in 5 states together. River has joined us in 4 of those 5 states. We’ve moved around several times since we sold our home in the suburbs of Salt Lake City in 2019. Each move has felt like a step towards being where we want to be permanently. And now I think we’ve found our spot!
What started this sequence of moves was a big decision for our family to leave the daily grind behind and simplify our lives. We wanted to maximize our time together and maximize our time outside. With a background in working at camps, Richie decided to begin looking for a director position at a camp that provided housing. This opened the opportunity for me to stay home with River (and eventually Hattie). We felt pretty sure that we could live on one small income as long as our housing was covered! So we took a big leap and moved to a summer camp in Oklahoma. It was away from the mountains that I loved, but it was near family. I loved seeing my parents frequently and enjoyed getting into a rhythm as a “stay outside mom”. Shortly after our move, I found out I was pregnant with Hattie. A few short weeks before her birth we found out that the camp we sold our home for and left our jobs for was closing. It was a tough blow.
At 35 weeks pregnant we were able to move to another camp - this time in Minnesota. It was a hard adjustment to be in the bitterly cold weather with a newborn and no family nearby. Eventually, we found our groove and learned to love the extreme seasons that Minnesota brings. We felt so fortunate to live in such a rural space during the pandemic, with ample opportunities to explore outdoors. As we began finding our community in Minnesota we thought we’d be there for a while. We were content in our home, Richie’s job, and our life. We did still miss being closer to family, skiing, whitewater rafting, and hot springs. But we figured that we would have those parts of our life again someday.
Of course, things have a way of changing, and quickly! I don’t remember why or how, but I saw a job open at a camp on Flathead Lake in August of 2021. The job was a perfect fit
