It’s been five years since my husband and I made one of the biggest decisions of our life: we picked up and moved to Germany. At the time we owned a house, had jobs and were on track for a pretty typical, satisfying (if unsurprising) life together. We had friends and family nearby. Weekly date nights. Weekend trips to Chicago or Nashville or Los Angeles. We were happy…sort of. There was this yearning we both had to do something more, something BIG.
My husband was accepted into a graduate program in southern Germany. He sent me his acceptance email while I was at work one day and I almost threw up at my desk. I may talk a big game but when it comes down to making a decision like leaving the country, it took my breath away. I was sick about it, but in the end, we decided to do it.
We quit our jobs. Rented our house to a young couple. Sold a bunch of our belongings and stored the rest in my parent’s basement. We left with a few gigantic duffle bags, our passports and a few hundred Euros for a country where we literally didn’t know a soul. Or the language. YIKES!
Moving to Germany was one of the most difficult and most wonderful decisions I have ever made. We made amazing friends from all over the world. Went skiing in Switzerland, to the spas in Germany, traveled by train all over Europe. Oh, and I got pregnant and gave birth to my son in a German hospital. It. Was. Amazing.
Here’s the thing: I know this isn’t for everyone, particularly once kids are part of the equation. But even if you don’t do something drastic like move out of the country, there are ways to build a little adventure into your life and to create and share a passion for adventure with your kiddos.
Here are some ideas for creating adventurous children.
- Be spontaneous. This is a hard one for me, personally, because I love to plan everything. I like to do research about the places we visit, read reviews on TripAdvisor, make sure we have everything packed well in advance, etc, etc, etc. But some of the most amazing experiences in my life haven’t been planned out at all – a trip to Chicago at the last minute, or a zoo day when we were planning on cleaning the basement. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy…just something out of the ordinary. Just pick something and GO!
- Do something that scares you. It can be something big – like going back to school or moving away from your family. Or it can be something small, like taking all your kids to Target at the same time (pretty much my biggest fear) or joining a book club. The point is…If you can be brave, it will show your kids that it is possible for them to be brave, too.
- Tell them stories. Reading is amazing and super important, but my kids LOVE when I just tell them stories. I tell them about our time in Germany, about the food we ate or a funny place we visited. Even if you have never left the state, you have some great stories to tell and show your kiddos
there is life outside of your family and home. 
- Try new things with them. Visit a different park each week or try a new grocery store. Talk to them about what’s the same and what’s different, what they like better and worse. It is so easy for me to fall into a routine of staying home and doing housework, or hitting up the same local hotspots, but I always get a rush when I try something new. Even if it’s a flop, it’s a way to expand your horizons a bit.
- Travel. Big trips are totally unnecessary, but if you want to develop a child who loves adventure, travel will probably be part of the plan. Big trips are great, but so are weekends away and daytrips. Pick a spot for a picnic or a fun restaurant to try. Let them help pack up the car with snacks. Make travel feel fun and get them used to the work involved so it doesn’t seem like a huge pain.
Those are my tips for nurturing a child’s sense of adventure – If you have other ideas, please share them below!
