By Arizona River Runners guest, Mia O.
I was fortunate enough to get to travel a good bit as a kid growing up. I always appreciated seeing new places and the experiences they offered. However, one that always stood out above the rest was rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Nothing else is like it. Completely cut off from the outside world, you are thrown into this vast and beautiful wilderness to experience the power of the river, the wonders of nature, and to appreciate connecting with people from all sorts of backgrounds during this shared experience. Before I ever had kids, I knew I wanted my kids to experience this.
But quite frankly, when I told my nine-year-old son he and I were going, he asked me, “Do we really have to go?” This response caught me off guard. My son loves the outdoors, likes to take trips, and jumps at any chance he gets to have time with just me (he’s the oldest of four). He has heard me talk about this trip all his life. But he had nothing to compare it to, and had some apprehension about risks and being stuck on this trip, whether he liked it or not. But he knew my answer already. “Yes. We are going.” Today, he would tell you it’s the coolest thing he’s ever done and would jump at a chance to go back. His little sisters now beg me for their chance to go.
While we were on the trip, he never once told me he was bored. He never once complained about no screen time. On this trip he was: hotter than he has ever been before, colder than he has ever been before, exhausted from a long hot hike, he was scared of giant imposing wild rapids, was scared the first night about sleeping out in the open as bats flew overhead and things scurried in the bushes, and numerous other experiences he wouldn’t have had at home or on some other vacation in a hotel somewhere. He learned from all those experiences. He learned how to keep cool on a hot day and to appreciate the shade and water. He learned you can actually be cold on a hot day, and to appreciate his rain gear. He learned that the struggle of the hike was worth the reward at the end. He conquered a rather larger fear and sat up front with me during Hermit rapid, even though he was scared, and he was sleeping quite well a couple of nights in.
The trip isn’t just an adventure. It’s a conquest. Not so much in “conquering the river,” but in conquering all the small little things that we might have let hold us back from doing something wonderful.
If you ask him what his favorite things about the trip are, he would tell you digging in the mud every night at camp, floating the Little Colorado, and the helicopter ride out.
But for me, my favorite parts were watching him grow. I watched him become so at ease and so comfortable in this environment. I watched him make fast friends with fellow passengers as he socialized with people from all over of all ages (including an 8-year-old who also loved digging in the mud – see photos below). I watched him explore and discover. I watched him truly have the time of his life interacting with nature, learning to respect its power, and becoming a part of it. He faced his fears and came out more confident and capable.
But my favorite thing is knowing that he gets it now. He gets why I tell people they should go rafting in the Grand Canyon. He gets how special and significant the experience is that I could never fully communicate to him before, nor to any reader in a blog post. If you know, you know. If you don’t know, you should go. Take the trip.
-Mia O., age 38, Phoenix, AZ
