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To think you're not really that adventurous if you have your husband with you

245 replies

GigglingSid · 04/08/2024 05:55

I'm part of a group for families who enjoy travel, nature, camping, outdoor pursuits, both in the UK and abroad. It's not a very single parent friendly group, some of the advice given, particularly around my budget for certain holidays has been very rude. There's been a lot of women commenting 'well my husband will always drive/ put up the tent/ plan routes/ bugger off cycling all day and leave me with the kids.
I've been away this week and have been chatting to various people on the group about hiking routes, camping spots etc. It suddenly struck me that many of these families have credit cards with limitless amounts on them, expensive cars, tents and camping equipment worth thousands and they are also nearly all heteronormative couples. What a different experience trekking though the Sahara as or with a large white man with you compared to my experience as a short, mid thirties woman?
I feel like I've been conned a little bit into thinking I wasn't able to be part of this elite club as I wasn't savvy enough at reading a OS map or that great at kayaking.
But maybe actually being a woman on her own, with two kids, £200 and an Aldi tent makes me the most adventurous of them all?

OP posts:
Lovingsummers · 04/08/2024 09:39

justfinethanks · 04/08/2024 09:37

You are camping in the UK with a group of other people. It’s not like you are on Alone.

Even on Alone you can tap out. I'd love to give Alone a go.

justfinethanks · 04/08/2024 09:37

You are camping in the UK with a group of other people. It’s not like you are on Alone.

justbeingasmartarse · 04/08/2024 09:37

I think you need to stop feeling self- conscious about being in this group.

Do they really have limitless credit, big fancy tents just because they’re married? I mean double income yes, but that doesn’t make them rich necessarily. Or are they all very posh?

justfinethanks · 04/08/2024 09:33

Hoardasurass · 04/08/2024 06:29

@GigglingSid you lost me at "hetronomative"

Same here.

JelloOfInfiniteFest · 04/08/2024 09:32

If I took my DW camping with me, I can assure you I would have to be very brave indeed. She likes the idea of camping but hates the actuality. She's taller than me so in theory would be useful for hanging thing out of the reach of bears etc; but in fact she wonders why there are no comfy things (I don't need them, she didn't pack them), sulks that we have no control over the weather, forgets to leave her shoes upside down and in places where enormous beetles might not infest them, dislikes the realities of campsite loos and showers.
And generally, in the words of the youth (well maybe not) "harshes my vibe"

Our beloved offspring is at the stage where any holiday with a parent involved is super cringe, so doesn't want to come either.

So should I hang up a sign outside my tent that says "I'm not heteronormative, but my spouse didn't want to come and reinforce my queer reality"?

Or should I just get on with the camping (and hide all the new equipment I couldn't resist when I get home?)

I have no idea where I was going with this.

Ladyritacircumference · 04/08/2024 09:31

It is just the way of the world… a local teenager featured in the paper as he had sailed a route similar to the north west passage. He had been taken a yacht owned by a friend of the family. No personal skill, effort or adventurous spirit was required to do this. He was just fortunate to have been born in to the upper classes.

Make your own rules for your own adventure

Fluufer · 04/08/2024 09:31

Really stupid post. First of all a group camping holiday, presumably in the UK, isn't particularly adventurous for anyone. Second of all, it's not a competition. Third, do you want them to leave their husbands at home just so you can feel better?
I've done my share of risky solo travel, I'm not going to leave DH at home now just to prove how brave I am.

Sixtygoingonthirty · 04/08/2024 09:30

Heteronormative couples? I’ve heard it all now! 🤦‍♀️

JMSA · 04/08/2024 09:29

I guess it's not a competition. You're all doing what you enjoy, but in different ways.

Sodullincomparison · 04/08/2024 09:29

Adventure and taking yourself out of your comfort zone and expand your horizons looks differently for everyone.

I have a friend whose job is listed as adventurer and she does hard core challenges that others could never ever dream of. She says anyone could.

Next week we will go to the mountains for one night camping and hiking and that will be taking my family to the next step in their adventures.

always on this site we read comparison is the thief of joy. I’m not sure what you hope you achieve by trying to rank family levels of adventure.

Namename12345562 · 04/08/2024 09:29

I think if anyone thinks travelling on your own is the same as travelling with a friend/partner or easier maybe hasn’t tried that. I have travelled solo once and whilst I felt pleased with myself knowing I managed it did also make me appreciate having someone there and ever since I’ve always tried to have a trip where I have someone to travel with because it’s easier and less stress, obv the other person could be lazy and rude etc in which case solo would be easier!

Areolaborealis · 04/08/2024 09:27

Depends what you mean by adventurous. Its certainly riskier to head off into the wilderness on your own with no plan, no equipment and limited resources.

lljkk · 04/08/2024 09:27

Read Josie Dew's acounts about cycling with her 3 kids, sometimes with a spouse, often not, all on a shoestring. Only tame places like Isle of Wight or around the North Sea, but when she's huddling in a tent comforting her kids from the lightning storm: it's pretty adventurous stuff imho.

tbf, most people don't want adventure. They want a cozy clean house & GoggleBox.

OkapiSandwichAndARoastEgg · 04/08/2024 09:27

This post makes my brain hurt.

I have a blue tent that I bought at a tent shop but prefer my old 1980's ridge tent that is green and blue. Where do I fall on the economic scale?

What's heteronormative? Is that even a word? Do you mean heterosexual?Since when has the word normal been conflated with hetero?

LadeOde · 04/08/2024 09:25

some of the advice given, particularly around my budget for certain holidays has been very rude. There's been a lot of women commenting 'well my husband will always drive/ put up the tent/ plan routes/ bugger off cycling all day and leave me with the kids.

I don't get this part in particular - In what way has their advice around holiday budget been 'rude'? and what is your issue with the women complaining about being left with the kids?

What a different experience trekking though the Sahara as or with a large white man with you compared to my experience as a short, mid thirties woman?

Are the men you're camping with all overweight? i don't get the travelling with a 'large white man', focus. What has his skin colour got to do with camping and would it be more 'adventurous' if it were a large black/brown/Olive skinned man?

Overthebow · 04/08/2024 09:24

Does it really matter who is more adventurous? But if it does, then no, I don't think you being single makes you more adventurous. Someone else could be more adventurous then you but happens to have a DH to go with. Maybe they do more adventurous activities then you whilst away, or are just more adventurous in themselves.

DodoTired · 04/08/2024 09:22

MillyMollyMandHey · 04/08/2024 05:57

You don’t need to take things away from other people in order to validate yourself.

Stop worrying about other people so much.

This.

Namename12345562 · 04/08/2024 09:20

LeFromage · 04/08/2024 09:08

Is there a single parents camping group you could find to join OP? I think that you are taking more risks than the others simply because there’s only 1 adult to do the work and you have less budget to throw at a problem if something goes wrong so I get your thinking. But I also think you feel a bit excluded being a single parent and it might be making you feel resentful - or can you find another single mum to team up with if you want to? It sounds to me like you find the other parents a bit smug

I’m wondering if the wording of the OP maybe wasn’t the best but I think if this is what they were getting at that’s fair enough, anyone else in the same situation would naturally feel the same. Maybe the OP’s wording wasn’t the best perhaps…

Epicaricacy · 04/08/2024 09:19

NonPlayerCharacter · 04/08/2024 08:45

It's just "who's the tourist and who's a real traveller" for older people...

quite

Let's start pointing out that going on holiday for a week or so is just that, going on holiday and you are not experiencing the culture or really interacting with the locals, see how that goes 😂

Moving to the other side of the world with a backpack and on your own and staying there for a couple of years, now that would be an adventure. Or would it.

This is as ridiculous as the OP, there's tourists absolutely everywhere, you can find information about pretty much any part of the world, anyone can go anywhere, you can be rescued from anywhere, you'd think people would be happy to get a chance to travel whatever their budget? No, there's jealousy about someone doing it differently. What a waste .

FKAT · 04/08/2024 09:18

I don't think going into the Sahara on your own as a single British mother is so much adventurous as stupid. (But then one of my favourite books is The Sheltering Sky where an American woman goes travelling there and - spoilers - it does not end happily.)

I don't think a UK family outdoor pursuits group is the place to find adventure tbh. Face it you're never more than a 5 mile stroll (or maybe 'hike' as these groups call it) from a Wild Bean Cafe. May be the SAS would suit you better?

A family group in a country with 95% straight population will be heteronormative.

AdviceNeeded2024 · 04/08/2024 09:18

I read your post twice and I genuinely don’t know what you are talking about or what you mean? Can you buy bravery along with a tent on the middle isle at Aldi now or something?!

I also have absolutely no idea what “heteronormative” means.

Namename12345562 · 04/08/2024 09:16

Epicaricacy · 04/08/2024 09:14

it's also a choice.

Travelling with kids is obviously always more of a challenge, but people chose to travel alone, or with friends, or with siblings, or with a partner, or within a group.

No one is superior but being miffed because other people do it differently means someone has a massive chip on their shoulder.

Speaking from experience and from what other friends have said to me, when friends etc become partnered up or start families it is hard to find people to travel with and holidaying or travelling solo often is the only option. Not a criticism it’s just how things can often end up happening.

ItsAlrightDarling · 04/08/2024 09:15

By your thread title it appears you’re only judging married women as ‘non adventurous’. Is a man more or less adventurous if he has his wife with him on a camping trip? I feel like we need a scale of how adventurous someone is based on their sex, sexuality, marital status and financial situation 🤷🏻‍♀️.

housethatbuiltme · 04/08/2024 09:15

You sound jealous.

It's no one else's fault your single.

Just because people aren't single don't mean they are richer, also many with new shiny cars etc... are just in a lot of debt.

Regardless though NONE of that has anything to do with 'adventure'. Should tell all those people who climbed Everest or traveled the unknown world by boat mapping it etc... that it wasn't a real adventure because they weren't alone doing it in an Aldi tent.

You clearly feel sorry for yourself but 'othering' everyone else and attempting to victimise yourself just make you look bitter.

Epicaricacy · 04/08/2024 09:14

Wordsmithery · 04/08/2024 08:44

It’s definitely more of a challenge (and therefore more adventurous) to travel as a single woman, either with or without kids. Find a new group, OP. This one doesn’t sound like it gives you the encouragement you need.

it's also a choice.

Travelling with kids is obviously always more of a challenge, but people chose to travel alone, or with friends, or with siblings, or with a partner, or within a group.

No one is superior but being miffed because other people do it differently means someone has a massive chip on their shoulder.

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