Are you looking for fun and unique ways to spice up your family time together? Family bonding is important to everyone’s mental and physical health, but finding things that you and your family are all interested in can be a task. That is why you should consider river rafting! River rafting is a type of recreational activity that involves a giant raft floating down the river while it’s passengers paddle. The rafts are big enough to hold anywhere from four to ten people, so it’s large enough to fit a high number of people onboard. Here are a few great reasons why your family should go on a river rafting trip.
Gives You an Adrenaline Rush
Especially great for families that love adventures, river rafting can help to increase everyone’s adrenaline. It’s exciting to go down the river while bouncing on all the waves and bumps, and the raft can move extremely quickly on down-sloping rivers. Seeing your family members surrounding you while you’re on the raft traveling through the water can also make your adrenaline rush as well since everyone you love will be smiling and laughing too. Depending on the specific river that you go rafting on, there are different paths that the raft will take. Some rafts will go extremely fast and through rough areas of the water, while other areas are smooth. During the rough parts, it can get choppy and naturally increases your adrenaline because it feels like the raft will tip over.
Eliminates Stress
Planning a vacation or a day to simply get away from work and all of the everyday pressures in life can help with your mental and physical health. River rafting is a perfect way to help alleviate any stress that you or your family may be under, whether it’s from school and work or another situation that your family is placed under. River rafting offers you and your family a way to step back from reality and relax. As mentioned previously, some areas of rivers are more calming with smooth water. Traveling through these parts can help you to relax and simply enjoy nature. According to a company who facilitates Kern river rafting trips, “The unique, intensely outdoor experience will get you into the heart of nature to enjoy the beautiful landscape.” It is important to get out and continually enjoy nature with your family. Furthermore, even the parts of the river that are more fast-moving can help you to forget all of your stresses for a while.
Engages Your Family in Physical Activity
River rafting is also a great activity for you and your family to get some physical activity. In certain areas of the river that are smoother and don’t have fast-moving water, you’re all required to paddle in order to keep the raft moving forward. That being said, you’ll have to use your upper-body and core muscles to paddle the raft and keep it going. Although this is fun, it does require that you have some endurance to keep pushing and paddling through. Given all of the activity and paddling that’s required in river rafting, you and your family can get a good cardio workout in.
Bonding Experience
Given that river rafting requires the entire family to work together to keep the raft moving, it is a fun way for family members to bond together. To effectively go river rafting, your family members will all have to work together to navigate through the water without hitting any rocks or other debris that may be in the water. Since your family members will all have to work together in this process, you will be able to come out of the river rafting trip feeling accomplished as a team. It is also great that you can go river rafting with family members and other people that you are closer and more comfortable with, since certain members of the group that need a break every now and then won’t feel uncomfortable to take a break from paddling every now and then. You do have the option of having a trained guide on the raft with you and your family just in case something happens to where the raft tips or you get lost. But you will want to make sure that you go rafting with a reliable and trustworthy company because you will want to keep your family safe throughout the whole trip.
Overall, river rafting can be a fun and integrative experience that you and your family can use to bond together. It’s a great source of physical activity, and it allows your family to spend time outdoors in nature. Given the wide range of benefits of river rafting, you should consider planning your trip today.