Households can share many issues – tales, traditions, help, love – however they don’t at all times share the identical thoughts. Take the Krafts. Andrew and Colleen have three sons – Aidan, Caleb, and Hudson, ages 14, 12, and 10 respectively. After which there’s Jip, the yellow Labrador Retriever. Every Kraft shares an affection for nature, however arrived at their appreciation of the outside in their very own method and on their very own time.
Andrew grew up with tents and campfires – his dad and mom had been faculty lecturers who spent summers with the household open air tenting and touring to nationwide parks. Colleen, nevertheless, wasn’t raised tenting and was slower to return round to completely having fun with the outside in a single day. As soon as the Krafts started taking boating journeys all through Georgia, Colleen developed a love for paddling that made the tenting portion of the journeys rather more snug and agreeable.
The boys’ curiosity in nature runs the gamut. One is an lively Scout, one other is extra pro-camping when it turns into a social affair with buddies, and one more relishes out of doors adventures. For Jip, a great tenting and mountaineering canine, he simply must be along with his folks.
“That’s the place the GO camping trailer is available in,” Andrew stated. “As a result of our household spans a spectrum of tenting pursuits, the GO permits these of us who’re extra snug roughing it to camp alongside those that are extra keen on glamping it.”
Throughout a latest 6 day/5 night time tenting journey, Andrew got here to understand how the GO has enhanced their household time. “Earlier than we might by no means have camped for five nights and 6 days, and it was solely due to the GO, its consolation degree and the flexibility to sleep effectively, that we dedicated to that size of time.”
The selection to buy a GO was not one which Andrew rushed into. He in contrast motor houses, and hard-side trailers, pop-ups, and teardrops. He spent years researching tenting choices and reconciling these choices with how they camped.
“We selected the GO, as a result of the SylvanSport product line permits us to camp in a versatile method,” Andrew stated. “Relying on how many people are tenting or what we’re doing, we will deliver kind of of the GO gear.” For instance, if simply a few Krafts are tenting, they preserve it easy and tow solely the GO. But when all 5 are adventuring collectively additionally they deliver the GOzeebo, which permits them to bunk the boys’ cots for sleeping.
One other precedence for the Krafts was discovering a easy, environment friendly and clear technique to haul gear. “If you end up tenting, issues get soiled and crowded,” Andrew stated. “It’s interesting to place soiled gear on the deck of the GO, whereas in a teardrop you set your soiled gear again the place you’re sleeping. Additionally it is simpler to maintain issues organized which allowed us to camp for longer. Set-up is simple, which reduces my stress.”
Different elements had been concerned within the decision-making course of. Andrew was solely keen on buying a high-quality product that might stand-up to years of use, particularly with the boys. He wished to keep away from the necessity to buy a brand new automobile for towing (they use their Honda Odyssey) and he wished one thing sized for compact storage (the GO slips simply into their storage). Colleen wished one thing that was manageable. Her purpose was to have one thing she and the boys may use one their very own.
The Krafts have paddled rivers in Georgia together with the Flint, Withlacoochee, Satilla, and South Rivers. They’ve wound their method via the cypress bushes and Spanish moss of the Jurassic-like world of the Okefenokee Swamp. Collectively they’ve gone snow snowboarding, mountaineering, and mountain biking. Colleen and Andrew’s plans are to proceed touring all through North America with the boys throughout their teen years.
“As a household we would like time and to be in locations that can broaden our experiences and provides us household recollections collectively.”
The Krafts consider experiencing the pure world is vital to their boys’ particular person growth. Fostering a love of studying and pure curiosity of their sons is a precedence. “We would like the boys to like what God has created, to prioritize the pure world, and to be good stewards of nature. We consider the easiest way to nurture an appreciation for the world is to expertise it.”
The Krafts additionally consider that slowing down is vital and that boredom is nice. A toddler who pushes via boredom finally faucets into their very own creativity. They will develop and develop their very own explicit pursuits, turning into centered and assured.
“We would like our boys to be nice vacationers, as a result of there are such a lot of issues on the earth price experiencing and seeing,” Andrew stated. “It can be crucial for us to take breaks from our each day rhythms, to worth nature, respect different cultures, and to see issues which can be completely different from what they expertise. In that method their perspective broadens as they develop into maturity.”
“Because the boys select what they need to do of their life, then all these items feed into shaping selections they make, the interactions they’ve, and finally, the alternatives they make about how they deal with folks and the way they deal with the world they reside in.”
