If you want more of a hint about what this blog will be all about, check out the blogs I follow. Notice a theme? I spent a lot of my life trying to encourage young people to "be all they could be" (to swipe a rather excellent advertising slogan from the US Army). I've been on a few adventures - though not of the scope of Zac, Mike, Johnny, et al. My adventures started way back as a kid, where I spent afternoons after school, and all day during holidays and summers playing in the woods behind our house. Acres of woods, completely out of sight and sound of the house. But dinner was at 6, so you were expected to be home by then, even when I was in the third grade. My parents asked me to let them know if I went somewhere else (like a friend's house) so I'd call as soon as we got there. I walked to school - it seemed like LONG walk, especially in the rain. Typically I would meet up with several friends on the way, but only a few intersections near the school were guarded. I've lived through it so far!
So why aren't more kids out there playing in the woods? And what can we do to encourage adventures again? I have a tremendous amount of respect for the parents of the teenage adventurers I've been following and am happy to see that there are those out there who believe in their kids. There are also others who feel the way I do. Sir Evan's Dispatch is a good example. Probably my favorite, Free-Range Kids while not directly related to adventuring, certainly helps make the case for raising kids like the ones I mentioned above.
Let's see what we collectively can do to help raise a new generation of kids! Ones who CRAVE adventure that isn't being presented video LCD screens!
Tray
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