From riding the rapids of the Yukon to bike packing 4000km across New Zealand, the Braaksma family are beacons of how to live a life of adventure with a young family.
In this episode Adrian Braaksma describes:
- White water rafting with young kids in the Yukon
- Avalanche monitoring and guiding
- Easing kids into adventure so as not to put the kids off at an early age
- Making everything fun and ease the pressure (turn a 5 day walk into 7)
- Make it more about the journey, not the destination
- Bob Trailer
- Chariot
- Cars giving them a wide-berth due to the buggy
- Danny MacAskill
- Two week tester
- Culling gear
- The essentials
- You don’t need a lot
- Food is the bulk of the gear
- Peanut butter, nuts and raisins
- Dry clothing at the end of the day
- Hardening to the conditions and living outdoors
- Hills and backroads
- Getting excited about helping each other
- The worst day
- Looking after a remote lodge
- Starting the North Island at the end of the winter
- Learning on the road
- Learning the geography first-hand
- Connecting with each community
- Things you miss
- Keeping in touch with friends
- Relating to adults
- Avoiding burn-out (no downtime)
- Like doing a 10 day trip one after another
- Pre-plan as much as you can and modify with weather and COVID
- Take three tents so you could have time-out
- Campsites, cabins and random free-camping
- 8-10 punctures in one day
- 20in tyres have many more revolutions than bigger tyres
- Lost a couple of steering heads and cranks
- Cycle shorts (fat nappies) a must
- The gear (20L dry bag) Older kids carried 26L paniers
- Carrying up to 20L+ of water on some days
- Needing a water filter
- 90% of route was gravel road or trail
- Taking the long route to stay on trails
- NZ is a big place and a small place all at once
- How would you do it different
- Putting bikes on planes
- Alaska, Nepal and seeing sloths in South America
- Missions closer to home
- So many options in the world
- Seeing glaciers carving
- Stand out features
- Best activities
- Hot water beach in Coromandel
- Getting a lift on a jet boat
- Planning for a trip like this
- Better to buy a cheaper, bigger tent so that it lasts
- Ulcers and muscle cramps due to porridge noodles and wraps (where’s your veggies and meat)
- Multivitamins as fruit and veg not always available
- Dream food
- A couple of weeks to adjust back
- The bikes lasting
- Camping in a sand storm
- Essentials (disc brakes due to buckles, good gearing)
- Regular bike maintenance
- Homeschooling by correspondence (almost 3 banana boxes)
- Laptop mainly for homeschooling
- Getting reception
InReach satellite-text device- Snow storms and wind storms blowing bikes over tents
- Riding in the dark
- When a river runs through your tent
- Teddy out the pram moments being amplified by being tired
- Next trips
- The same amount of packing required for 5 days as 10
- 5 sets of gear to tidy up
- The benefits of stringing trips together
- The kids in charge of their own gear and food
- Building the kids’ confidence
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