I have a silent bucket list of things I’d like to experience in the next 10 years, one I happened to mention to my husband during a dinner conversation. Well, that turned into a “let’s do it!” And better yet, let’s take our three teen boys with us!!
So lots of planning and discussions about where and how, we’ve hired a canal boat in Wales and are counting down the days until summer. My teens, on the other hand, were complaining about how slow the boats are, how there is nothing to do, how boring it would be, especially when they found out Wi-Fi would be nom-existent for that week. I started to doubt our choice of family vacation.
Fast forward, we are getting our short lesson about canal boat etiquette and how to maneuver this 55 foot long RV on water and they sent us on our way. The first obstacle we came to was within 5 minutes – the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at over 130 feet high! My boys almost instantly took over and assumed specific jobs! My oldest loved sitting in front to help warn of oncoming boats and obstacles around the bend, my middle (who complained the most beforehand) took the “wheel” and drove this boat almost 1/2 of the trip, my youngest hopped off at each lock and drawbridge and learned how to manually work them as well as how to take the center line to help pull the boat in while mooring up.. They (and my husband and I) had a wonderful yet challenging week ,learning how to maneuver and run a longboat on the canals of northern Wales as well as exploring small towns and enjoying pubs along the way.
I did not have the privilege of knowing Carson personally but feel I know him through Nicole’s stories and reading and watching his work on instagram. I’ve introduced my boys to his story, his film endeavors (my middle wants to attend school for film production) and my youngest, who used to struggle with crippling anxiety, wears his “why not” bracelet with pride every day!
I sincerely hope my children learned from this adventure that sometimes something that seems like it won’t be worth it actually becomes one of the best experiences you never thought would happen, all because we said “why not?”
Sarah Schwartz
