Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Ordinary Sherpa: Family Adventure Coaching and Design


Dec 16, 2020

This episode, from John Muir trail to toddler hikes with Courtney Fleet, is sure to be an exciting journey. Courtney is a native Oklahoman who grew up traveling throughout the U.S. with her family. She has visited 43 States, lived in two countries, and now resides in North Carolina with her husband, two daughters and two dogs. Hiking and backpacking have become growing passions of hers since she was young and something she enjoys doing with her sister and now with her young girls. When she's not doing all these adventurous things, she's also working full-time as a physical therapist. 

I am so excited to share Courtney's adventure story with all of you. As you will soon hear, she emulates the spirit of adventure. Just being brave and helping remind all of us to simply get out the door. And yes, sometimes things will be hard, but that is temporary. And this season of hard things will pass. And in the end, we will all have this amazing, shared experience that will sear lifelong memories into our soul.

So much of my conversation with Courtney happened off the air as much as we have on the air. And this clearly could have been at least three episodes. So I tried to pair it down into  the highlights of her story, but I am so excited to share with you that this is also Courtney's maiden voyage on a podcast as a guest.

Themes:
Childhood and family culture
Moving in High School
Study Abroad in Italy
Grad School break in South Africa
Hiking the John Muir trail. 21 days. 211 miles. 
Coming down from Adventure
Transition to Motherhood
Toddler Hikes

Key Takeaways:

I just wanted to recap with a couple of key takeaways that I noted throughout this episode. 

  1. Having adventure baked into the family culture helps spontaneous experiences come much more naturally throughout life. 
  2. Approach the opportunity of unplanned time with a curious mindset. Not all experiences can be planned for.
  3. Memories equal shared experiences.  Having a shared experience with family fosters connection.  While the adventure will end, the memory of that experience can stay with you for as long as you want. 
  4. The  habit of enjoying the moment and waking up with a smile on your face can go with you wherever you land. 
  5. Use your connections to create a different experience.Her experience in South Africa would never have happened as a tourist.  
  6. The shared experience of hiking with her sister was not mutually exclusive to together time 
  7. How do you build into your process, time for coming down from an adventure and transitioning back into daily life? 
  8. Becoming a mom doesn't mean you leave your passion.It means you adapt it to include the ones you love. "I needed to put my sadness aside and honor the accomplishment of my daughter. It was a good frame of reference and mindset that I needed to be able to do this with both kids and include them in my passion."
  9. Get out the door, getting out the door is the hardest part. You won't get it right. You won't get it perfect. But just try it. 
  10. Try again. As Courtney noted in her stone mountain hike. When you reach that peak, "my mama heart, my hiking heart, were smiling at the summit. It was a new level of accomplishment that I had never experienced before." 
  11. The gear is far less important than the doing. Mary Janes and ruffle socks are perfectly okay.
  12. Embrace the mindset that everything is temporary. There are hard things. Aren't going to go as hoped. This is just a season and we can always try again, this tantrum, this moment, this season, it's all temporary. And by the way, this will be funny tomorrow.

So good. Oh my gosh. So much learning so much Goodness. I'm just loving this community. I love having the Sherpas of this group contribute and tell their stories. And so this was just one example of many more to come. I want to look back at the last episode, I did offer a drawing for every five written reviews and I did get five. So I have one giveaway today of the Advent(ure) Calendar. It's a scratch off 12 days of adventure leading up to the holidays. I know it's a little time specific, but I just want to give a big shout out to anyone who takes the time and leaves a written review. You have no idea how much that means to us in the podcast world! It is how we get our podcast exposed and it is literally like giving life to our podcasts.So if you would be so kind. I would be so grateful. 

Today's review comes from jenniferandclayton and it states: “Ordinary Sherpa has infused new life into our family. The conversations are full of easy to implement ideas for enriching the mundane in a way that inspires awesome quick episodes, full of unique and playful ways to maximize joy, and meaning for families. I am so grateful for what Ordinary Sherpa has already brought to our lives.” Jennifer and Clayton will be receiving the scratch off calendar. If you are interested in a scratch off adventure type experience, we do still have the adventure challenge books available. The link is in the show notes, and if you use the code ORDINARYSHERPA, you'll get 10% off your complete order.

We use it. We love it. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't believe in it. And I just think it's a fun way to kick off 2021. I know it's probably too late for a holiday gift, but there's no wrong time to start adventuring. 

Thank you so much for joining me folks. Ordinary Sherpa is all about connecting and community.  It's also about lifting each other up. And I think Courtney demonstrated that, that if you are interested in connecting with Courtney, her information is below.

Facebook: member of the Ordinary Sherpa Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/ordinarysherpaInstagram: @court.fleet