Chief Scout Bear Grylls reveals how his father whet his appetite for outdoor adventure – and what we #walk1000miles parents can learn from him.
Among my earliest memories of going on ‘adventures’ as a child is having to be rescued from sinking mud in a harbour at low tide when I was seven. I guess I knew soon after that I was hooked on the great outdoors. It was around the same age that I first felt that raw surge of excitement. It felt great then and it’s the same now, it’s the emotion that fills you when you experience an edge moment in life. It reminds me that life is beautiful, is fragile, is a gift, and only ours for some 80 odd years at best! We’ve got to live it boldly, with compassion and with fire in our bellies – I guess all that started at that age.
My father was a huge influence on me deciding to do what I do. He was the man who taught me to climb as a kid on the sea cliffs on the Isle of Wight and I learnt young that adventure brings you close to people. It was that intimacy that was always the biggest draw – whether with him or in later life with soldiers or expedition compadres.
With my own children I try and instil in them that what matters is to have dreams and be kind. Then we get out there and have fun! They can be at times a bit too fearless, and I do also try and show them how to be safe: to double-check everything, not to rush and to listen to the quiet voice inside.
But the odd grazed knee is all part and parcel of the experience! Otherwise we are in danger of breeding risk-averse, fearful kids. Danger and the odd scrape teaches more about life than any book. Jesse, my eldest, fell out of a tree and grazed his whole back pretty badly. He now knows what I mean when I say always keep three points of contact! Experience teaches us best and our role as parents is to allow those experiences whilst ‘managing’ the experiences.
Making your own decisions regarding risk is vital to self-confidence, whether in an adult or kid. The younger we empower kids with responsibility for themselves and others, the more they grow. Again, we should be there to keep a quiet eye over these adventures. Good friends often come round and say we are a health and safety nightmare, but at least life is fun! And ironically we have fewer incidents than they do with their kids. I’m sure there’s a motto in that somewhere. I’d say if you want to give your kids a great time then simply plan for spontaneity, just don’t tell the kids. As in, on a walk say: “hey let’s camp out tonight right here!” And then do it! Ideally do it in my favourite place for taking the kids, Wales – there are no crocs, no killer snakes, great sea and cliffs and mountains!
