And the magical thing about feeling like a kid?

Time falls away and you are left with only the moment. It’s a vacation for the body AND the mind, which is something we all can use.

Here are ten ways river trips put you in the kid headset:

1. Fresh Air – Just like your mom always wanted. Breathe it in and savor it.

2. Boats! – Floating and bobbing, rowing or paddling, “nothing is half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Lewis Carroll, he of Wind in the Willows fame, knew his stuff.

3. Fire – The smell. The heat. The comfort. From watching the embers dance to unwrapping your s’mores, we’ve been drawn to it from the beginning.

4. Rocks & Water – These are the core elements that make your trip possible, the distillation of your experience. From curving side canyons to mammoth boulders, it’s like a geological candy shop.

5. Games – Bocce, ladder golf and hacky sack–perfect before-dinner activities–take on a whole new flavor on the river bank.

6. Stories – Stay out on the river long enough and you’ll hear everything from ghost stories to guide’s tall tales to bonafide history.

7. Dessert – Cooking a tasty treat in a giant pan over hot coals brings the wonder back to something that’s already wonderful. How cool is that?

8. Hiking – Just getting out there and tromping along the trail, seeing the sights, getting the blood flowing. The only reason you do it is because you want to.

9. Music – From the humblest strumming to the voice of an angel, there’s something about music that slows time and engages us on a different sensory level.

10. Laughing – You awake to it. And fall asleep to it. Even the river laughs if you listen just right.

All it takes is one river trip to understand. And you’ll carry that feeling with you forever on the best river of all, the river of life.

The post 10 Awesome Ways River Trips Make You Feel Like a Kid appeared first on River Currents.

Forget shoes and sunscreen and high-tech fabrics (yawn) and feast on this list of arcane beta normally guarded by seasoned veterans:

1. Wide Brimmed Hat – The wider the better. Think sombrero. Or giant foam cowboy hat. If you’re feeling particularly avant garde, go for the umbrella hat. Hungry? Don the nacho hat. No matter your choice, you’re going to want your own personal eclipse.

2. Sarong – It’s a skirt, a shawl, a hat, a tablecloth, a light blanket, a kite, a sail. Simplest piece of clothing you can own. Best of all, it’s not nearly as scratchy as a kilt.

3. Disguise – Possibly the coolest thing about adventure vacations. Face paint or masks or full-on costumery, you know, Zorro or a gypsy or a giant sock monkey, adds that extra-special something to your getaway. It’s like Halloween without the aching teeth.

4. Bromides – We’re not talking upset stomachs here. We mean the anecdotes, the stories, those jokes that keep you riveted by the fire, that take a moment to sink in before you spew your beverage of choice through your nose. If you’re still not sure, check with your guide.

5. Chin Strap – Knew a guy who lost his chin on a trip. True story. His jaw dropped one time too many at the endless amazing scenery and finally fell off in the river. The weird part? His nickname. You guessed it. Jaws.

6. Wistful, Far-Off Gaze – When the shutter is clicking, make sure you have applied a liberal dose of this on your face. Bonus points for tanned and weathered crows feet at the corners of your eyes. When you roll out your three-hour slide show for the family holiday, your audience will be so riveted by envy they won’t notice Uncle Leon snoring in the Lay-Z-Boy.

Your confidence just went up a few notches, didn’t it?

When you’re sashaying along the shore in your sarong, feeling the cool breeze and looking out majestically over the landscape in that way that you do, you can take comfort in knowing that you can handle anything this trip to the privy has to throw at you.

And there’s always the Gandalf hat, just in case.

The post 6 Must Haves for Your Adventure Vacation appeared first on River Currents.

The visceral experience of existing in nature, directly connected with the world, opens the pipeline to those feelings we had when we were younger and the world was our playground. The best part? They flow directly from our national parks and rivers and wild places into our hearts.

Still not sure? Well, here are five ways an adventure vacation can make you feel younger.

1. Getting Dirty

When you’re tromping around in nature you can’t help but get dirty. And not caring. See, the adventure’s the thing. Doesn’t matter what you look like doing it (or how you smell). Getting outside is your license to, you know, let yourself go a bit.

A side benefit to a little trail dirt? The inevitable outdoor bath that follows.

2. Swimming

Immersing yourself in water, flowing with it, puts you in the moment, something that takes you back to when you were a kid spending all day at the pool or your local swimming hole.

And a dip in wilderness waters also ties us to a time earlier than our own beginnings, something a bit deeper, more primordial, the cycle of the earth that began turning in a much simpler age.

3. Fresh Air

If smell is the most powerful of all the senses when it comes to memory, the scents of the wilderness are like a time travel machine.

Wet earth and rock, hot dust and pungent plants will take you right back to those times as a kid when you romped outside, dug in the dirt and climbed trees and splashed in the creek.

4. Eating Outside

Let’s face it: Eating outside is awesome. From a well-set up camp kitchen to the aromas of meat and veggies cooking over an open flame, eating under the sun and stars brings with it a certain carefree attitude.

There are no dining room tables, no place settings, just good food, good company and the possibility of a good belly laugh at any moment–a sure-fire recipe for feeling younger.

5. Living at Mother Nature’s Pace

Remember waking up as a kid in summertime? You’d roll out of bed, grab some breakfast and you were off. You might check in for lunch, but were pretty much out of the house until supper time.

Adventure vacations are just like that. As you slip off to sleep beneath the night sky turning over your head, all you’ll think about is what adventures await tomorrow.

What are you waiting for?

Get out there, explore the wilderness, focus on the play, on being in the now. Ditch the alarm clocks and calendar reminders. Get outside where the only action items are the ones that get your body moving, send your blood coursing through your body and put a smile on your face.

The post 5 Ways Adventure Vacations Make You Feel Younger appeared first on River Currents.