It’s a wonder that I don’t have constant back pain, or at least deep psychological issues, after being cramped in the back of an EH Holden station wagon for days on end.
Back when I was about 8 years of age, we packed up our family for the holiday of a lifetime. Dad, Mum and five kids with luggage all packed in station wagon for a memorable drive across Australia to catch up with relatives on the other side of the country. We were towing a trailer with what was called a ‘caravanette’. It was pretty much a glorified tent attached to the trailer frame. Dad shared the driving with my eldest brother who had recently turned 17 and got his drivers license. (The photo in this post was taken much earlier with the family leaning against what I remember as an EK Holden wagon. Yep, I’m the cute little one.)
The five children, of which I’m the youngest, slept in the tent thingy while Dad and Mum dropped the seats and slept in the car each night.
The trip across was cramped but not too bad. On the way home we’d bought all kinds of things that took up even more room (such as a kitchen bin with a swinging lid) so one of brothers and I were forced into a small area in the very back of the station wagon.
The conditions weren’t ideal but I loved that trip. It was a family adventure and all these years later I still think about that trip.
This morning during my radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM I was joined by David and Charissa Scotford for our Growing Families segment. We discussed family adventures and looked at those experiences that make great memories for our families. They see great importance in adventures of various kinds in enhancing family life.
As we are about to become parents of a teenager, we’ve been encouraged to keep the ‘lines of communication’ open and to make sure our teenagers have a chance to talk to us as they wrestle through this time of change.
Whether you pack up the car and head off around Australia or simply make time for an evening walk as a family, we need to be intentional about making time to spend together as a family and giving them opportunities to talk, before our children have all grown up and left the family home. – David and Charissa Scotford
I wonder what family adventures you remember from your childhood. Are there memories made many years ago that helped shape you? What kinds of adventures are you planning with your family?
If you’d like to hear our discussion about adventures and making memories, as well as some great input from listeners, click the pkay button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.
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