Thinking about taking your old folks as well as your kids for a hiking trip? Here is a practical guide with our best tips so you can enjoy your trip and worry less.
If you are in a stage of life when you have kids and your parents are still relatively healthy and fit (and you have good relationship with them of course), you are probably trying to combine the best of both sides and plan multigenerational trips and hikes. Kids grow too fast, and parents get older and weaker rapidly as well so obviously you want to spend quality time with the young ones and your old folks, too.
Before we get any further, get access to my travel freebie library which is a collection of various road trip itineraries, travel checklists and useful travel resources to help you plan your trips and travels. There is also a Multigenerational Trip Planner workbook, too 🙂
Table of Contents
HIKING WITH CHILDREN
Depending on the age, hiking with children might not be a problem. If you have trained them to become hikers from an early age, you are well ahead of many people and only have to worry about your old folks. Children 6 and older should be able to keep up with you on medium length and medium difficulty trails. Teenagers have no excuse for slipping out of any hiking plans. At this age when they are normal, healthy kids they have energy and physical skills to walk uphill for half a day, no doubts. Teenagers should be made very busy with physical activities
As for younger children who don’t go to school yet, you should consider their age and maturity when planning a hiking trip. Kindergarteners have shorter legs and have to make more steps than adults and teenagers. Long hikes can tire them faster. If you go higher up to mountains, there might be larger rocks to climb or drop-offs. The younger the children, the flatter and shorter the trail should be. Ideally, kids under 6 should have one adult supervisor to accompany them and help them when needed.
HIKING WITH SENIORS HAS ITS CHALLENGES
Issues you might encounter with your parents as hikers might be multiple. With age challenges snowball so you have to consider the following issues and plan accordingly.
Fitness level
The older they are, the stiffer and frailer they become. Consider well their fitness level and what kind of elevation gain they might manage. With higher age number flatter trails become more suitable. But if your 75-year-old mom can go on a 5 km hike with 100 metres of elevation, great. Encourage your parents to stay active and moving as long as they can. Push them into activity a bit, if needed. The moment they give up and stop going out and exercising, their physical and mental vitality will decrease rapidly.
Mental state
Also consider their mental health. How depressed they are, how forgetful, aware and swift with thinking.
My friends’ parents in their mid 70s missed their flights twice in a row because they have lost their awareness and swiftness. They were sitting at their flight departure gate on time, but they missed the flight because they were sitting there, chatting and not paying attention to their surroundings despite their names being called several times. This has happened to them twice. Their son had to buy them new flight tickets twice.
Moments like these you realize your parents are not capable of travelling independently and you’d better accompany them or let them join you on your travels.
Aches and pains
I don’t know anybody over 60 who doesn’t complain about their failing health, various diagnoses or chronic aches and pains. It seems it’s a common thing as one hits the 60th birthday.
If the mobility issues and aches are not that bad, and your old folks can keep up with their breath, take them on hikes and walks. Achy knees can be bandaged and back can be massaged after the hike.
Adjust the trail length and difficulty to the capability of the weakest member of the family.
Slow walking and frequent stops
When hiking with older parents, you’ll have to adjust your pace to theirs. With slow walking they also will take more frequent breaks to catch a breath. Be there with them and ask them if they need assistance, a sip of water and so on. Use those moments for enjoying the views or taking a photo.
Frequent bathroom stops
Bladder and bowel issues bother many seniors. Most of them prefer to stay at home and completely avoid travel when they have this kind of issues. Some dare to travel but keep scanning the surroundings for nearby washrooms.
When you have a parent that needs frequent washroom stops, it’s very stressful for them as well as for you.
Your parents need to learn to communicate with you and inform you immediately as they feel they might need to go soon. You start to search for washrooms that second.
Also, just in case carry an emergency kit consisting of extra underwear, wet wipes, tissue paper, hand sanitizer and plastic bags. Like what you would have in your baby bag for your toddler.
Needing assistance
While you hike with your old folks, stay near them. You never know when they get dizzy, trip or need you to hold their hand and pull them up a step.
Even if they carry their basic stuff in their backpacks, carry the heavy items for them as well as extras.
With age people loose muscle and meat on their bones and together with insufficient blood flow they tend to get cold fast. So, for your hiking and walking parents always carry a hat, a scarf or a neck warmer and a jacket or an extra sweater.
BENEFITS OF HIKING WITH YOUR OLD FOLKS AND KIDS
This video was taken in the High Tatras that offer a great range of hiking trails in stunning alpine nature. You can choose from many flat trails suitable for families with older folks and babies in strollers. Or for the more fit hikers, there is a myriad of medium to difficult trails to pick from. If you need help with planning a trip to Slovakia, let me plan your perfect Slovakia itinerary according to your needs.
When you solve or at least prepare for all issues with older hikers, you’ll realize that taking your aging parents on hiking trips and long walks has multiple benefits for all participants.
Spend time together
Time flies and becomes more precious as we age. And because we don’t know how much time we have with our parents and kids, we should use every opportunity to spend good time with them. Good time and pleasant experiences make our memories that we’ll cherish as we get older. So, to combine your children and your old folks into a group and hike together is one of the best ways to spend quality time together.
Keeps them fit
Another great benefit of taking your parents on family hikes is the fact that it will help them stay in shape longer. The longer your parents stay fit, the later health issues will come. Home-staying, non-exercising seniors get more fragile faster. It also means you’ll need to take care of them sooner. Inactivity also means depression, cognitive decline, lost interest in outside world and incapability of looking after themselves.
Less focus on their own aches and pains
When you keep taking your aging parents out on family trips, walks and hikes, you help them focus on different things than their personal issues. Active seniors engage in interaction with other people and outside world and focus less on their own aches and pains.
Time with grandkids
Mutigenerational family trips and hikes are also a fantastic way of spending time with grandparents and grandchildren. Plain home visits at grandparents’ house might become a bit boring, especially for teenagers who get bored faster. So, spending time actively outdoors and travelling is more fun for all participants, and the best memories are made of such moments. If you mix regular visits at grandma’s house and then also plan regular hikes and travel to different places that’s the best you can do for your family togetherness.
BEST TIPS FOR HIKING WITH SENIORS AND CHILDREN
- Bring hiking poles for your seniors
- Layers of clothing so they don’t get cold
- Solid ankle high hiking boots to prevent foot injuries
- Choose shorter trails with taking into consideration the elevation gains and terrain difficulty such as big rocks, slippery stones, sharp edges
- Water with magnesium for muscle support
- Bandages and First aid kit
- Phone numbers of mountain rescue
- Nutritious snacks and sandwiches
- Have plan B for a different, easier trail, if your parents don’t feel like doing your plan A trail
This post may contain compensated links. All purchases or bookings you make through this blog come at no extra cost to you. More details in Privacy Policy & Disclosure.
