Suburban Life - Bucks/Princeton - Issue #1 (January 2023)

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SL_Habit Dept_0123FINAL.qxp_Layout 1 1 / 31 / 23 2 : 16 PM Page 1 H A B I T Into the Great Wide Open many ways as possible , including kayaking the rapids for which the park has become Embarking on new adventures with friends famous . As Getz and her family have found out , and family strengthens bonds and fosters exploring new and unfamiliar places helps a deeper appreciation of the natural world . to broaden one’s perspective . It also tends to strengthen bonds between those who BY BILL DONAHUE share in the experience . Research suggests travel and time outdoors both have innu - merable benefits , ranging from boosting HE SUMMER VACATIONS OF LINDSEY GETZ’S YOUTH usually involved trips to the family’s the immune system to improving the mood ; beachhouse on the coast . Although she has fond memories of her days in the sun , as little as 20 minutes a day spent outdoors Tsand , and surf , she has spent the years since using her vacation time to “ branch out helps reduce stress , according to the National and see more of the world . ” Recreation and Park Association . As an adult , Getz acquired a taste for outdoor adventure , which she attributes to two “ You get to see new places and meet things : a job working for Backpacker magazine ; and her relationship with Joe , the people who come from different back - outdoorsy boyfriend who would later become her husband , with whom she traveled to grounds , different perspectives , ” Getz says . the likes of Yellowstone National Park . “ I think it’s important for kids to experience “ We found something as a young couple that we both enjoyed , ” says Getz , a writer that ; it’s important for people of any age , who lives on the edge of Montgomery County . The Getzes have since passed their love of for that matter . ” travel on to their two children — a 13 - year - old daughter and a nine - year - old son . Recently , for example , the family traveled to New River Gorge National Park and ‘ Like Going to Church ’ Preserve in West Virginia . The 70,000 - acre tract is known for its rugged hiking trails , Sharing adventures with those closest to gorgeous vistas , and challenging whitewater rapids . Getz , who describes herself as “ a him has become a big part of John Bales’s thorough researcher , ” created an itinerary in which her family could see the park in as life . Now in his early 80s , Bales makes a Lindsey Getz and point of taking destination trips with each her daughter kayak of his three adult daughters . Past highlights the New River in West Virginia . have included jaunts to Kenai Peninsula in Alaska , the High Sierra in California , and the Penobscot River in Maine . Over the summer of 2022 , he accom - panied his daughter Trisha and granddaughter Adeline on a backpacking trip through Mount Rainier National Park in Washington . The multi - day guided trip was a replacement of sorts for an Outward Bound trip Adeline had been planning to take that regrettably got scuttled . When Trisha called to ask her father if he would like to go with them , he did not hesitate , even though he had been vacationing with his wife , Jane , on North Carolina’s Outer Banks . He looks back on his decision to “ buy the ticket , take the ride ” as one of his best . “ The weather was great and the scenery was spectacular , but the best part was getting to spend five or six days with my daughter and granddaughter , ” he says . “ We saw everything from bears to mountain goats , and we passed only a dozen or so people the whole time . SUBURBANLIFEMAGAZINE.COM VOLUME 14 ISSUE 5 | 69

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SL_Habit Dept_0123FINAL.qxp_Layout 1 1 / 31 / 23 2 : 16 PM Page 2 | | H A B I T “ It’s almost like a religious experience nectors that bring you closer together . Af - to be in an area where you can sleep on terward , you find ways of chatting about the ground and see shooting stars at night , the things you did together . That’s what’s You get a and sit under a full moon so bright you so great about sharing that kind of experi - can read a book by it , ” he continues . “ It’s ence with somebody close to you . ” sense of how humbling , and you get a sense of how Bales realizes his good fortune . As he small and insignificant a human being is , discusses some of the most meaningful and how immense the world around you travels he has shared with his loved ones , small and is . The outdoors creates a whole new set he veers into territory akin to philosophy . of tools for evaluating your own life . For “ Theodds of becoming a human being me it’s like going to church . ” on Earth is extraordinarily remote , ” he insignificant Bales , a retired attorney who lives in says . “ To be born and to have the experience Jenkintown’s Rydal Waters community , of living here , especially those of us who a human has loved spending time outdoors since live in the United States , we got the long his formative years . He traces his fondness straw in terms of the opportunities we for the outdoors in part to working on a have . It’s our duty to make the most of being is . ” ranch out west — “ stacking hay , mending what we’re given . A child with a bicycle fences , herding cattle , ” he recalls — as a has a responsibility to take care of it and young man . He finds it especially meaningful not let it get rusted . It’s the same with the to share new experiences with younger body ; it’s a temple , and you have to take Virginia estates of Thomas Jefferson and members of his family . For him , it’s a care of it as best as you possibly can so George Washington , respectively , or to matter of paying it forward , just as his you can do things like this for as long as Salem , Massachusetts , to learn about the forebears did for him . you can . ” Salem witch trials . “ The time I spent on that ranch as a Getz also likes the idea of “ safe adven - kid had a huge impact on me , ” he says . ‘ Is This a Smart Thing ? ’ ture , ” meaning doing exciting things with “ In sharing some of the same wonders Like Bales , Lindsey Getz finds joy in the carefully measured risk — such as white - with my daughters and their kids , it’s a ability to visit new places with her family . water rafting , hiking trails that lead to rocky way of introducing them to a whole new She treasures the “ little moments where I overlooks , or tramping the trails of nature element in their lives . You get to have these see [ my kids ] learn something . ” She recalls preserves in the South populated by alli - little moments together — these little con - visits to Monticello and Mount Vernon , the gators and venomous snakes . She admits John Bales , with sometimes she gets outside of her comfort his daughter and zone , but doing so helps her to “ reset and granddaughter , clear my mind . ” backpacks through Mount Rainier “ I’m a high - anxiety person by nature , National Park . soI’m always fighting with thoughts of , ‘ Is etti this a smart thing to do ? ’ ” she says . “ On ich ourrecent trip to New River Gorge , we did Err one hike that led you to a lookout point , ohn and you could have completely fallen off J by the cliff if you weren’t careful . It’s about ght exposing the kids to that , too — making ri t good choices . a to “ Of my two kids , my son is the least Pho adventurous , ” she continues . “ When we tz . got out there on this cliff , his reaction was Ge that it was the most beautiful thing he had sey ever seen . Experiences like that show him ind that there’s more to life than just video L d gamesand the world he lives in . ” an Learning and adventure aside , mostly les Getzhopes such trips help her kids gain a Ba deeper appreciation of the wider world ohn and the people who live in it . J of “ To me , it’s about giving them oppor - sy tunities for understanding , ” she says . “ I rte wouldlove to take them on an international cou trip before they go to college . It’s about ex - tos posing them to new things outside of just ho n what they are used to in Royersford . ” P SUBURBANLIFEMAGAZINE.COM VOLUME 14 ISSUE 5 70 |

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