An Incredible Gift Worth Giving Yourself and Others This Year
You're Too Old to Spend the Rest of Your Life on the Couch: Let's Adventure!
First and foremost, it’s time. After that, what kind of time and for whom?
It’s that time of year to ask the big question: what to give, what to get. Let’s for once stop thinking about things and consider transformational experiences.
Struggling with what to give this year? For my dollar, it’s quality time.
Nothing beats time doing something utterly transformational together.
A shared experience bonds us forever. The challenge is finding something that nearly everyone can do which doesn’t break the bank.
I’m all in for river rafting as a gift. Let me explain.
I have a 65+ friend who wants an adventure. She’s terrified of water and drowning (me, too). Rafting, while attractive, is scary. She believes she has to be some kinda big athlete to do it.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Summer of ‘24 for me was a full immersion in river rafting courtesy Oregon River Experiences. O.R.E. is based in Portland and one of the country’s best operators for older folks like me. They offer a comprehensive reach across Oregon, including river rafting very close to Portland as well as the Lower Salmon in Idaho, the magnificent Rogue well south, and nearly every other river in-between.
You can opt for a half-day on the wild Clackamas for $68, where you can bump over easy Class II rapids, safely leap off a rock into a pool and swim in the cool Northwest waters.
The Clackamas is barely 45 minutes from West Portland. You get a full-on, in-the-wild experience on one of Oregon’s most storied rivers for under $70 per person.
Your kids can be as young as five for the easy trip and seven for the more exciting ones. For the gentler trip it’s $63 for the half-day for a kiddo.
If you’ve researched what it costs for Disney, well. I’m a Cast Member for Life but I will never, ever go there.
Rafting is real. You’re not attached to some rail under the water. There is nothing like being in the wild like this:
With rafting you drive to an uncrowded meeting point, load up to get to the rafts. Your food is prepared according to your exacting requirements, your safety is top priority. Guides focus on giving you the best experience possible. The stress is removed from the equation so that you can concentrate on the fun part.
No “thing” can give you all that. Besides, the memories.
Todd Gilstrap, owner and operations manager of O.R.E. explained that people are delighted to discover that a full immersion in Nature’s glory is accessible and reasonably-priced. Then, after they find out that rafting is terrific, they’re even more pleased to find out that they can do multi-day trips on rivers far and wide with guides they like and trust.
I joined O.R.E. as a writer for three experiences: one day trip and two multi-day trips. The first on the storied Rogue River, one of America’s great gems. The second was a Road Scholar trip on the Lower Salmon in Idaho, meandering for miles, accompanied by a professor who gave daily educational talks.
Both of those latter trips were multi-generational. On the Rogue was a child of eight. The Salmon trip, specifically for grands and their kids, had three young teenagers.
The kids were in hog heaven. The parents/grands focused on their own fun while the guides kept an eye out on the kids for their safety. Both sets of participants get to play at their own level, together or apart.
For those not ready or able to do such an epic adventure, start small. My day trip on the Clackamas was shared with a group of over-sixty female pickleball players celebrating a birthday.
Some were terrified at the start. By the second set of rapids, they were leaning in and paddling with gusto:
I’ve watched nearly immobile elderly folks splash joyfully down Class IV rapids. Seen people with severe disabilities throw themselves into the experience with abandon, because they knew they were safe with the guides. Watched grandparents land in the drink and be swept up immediately back into the raft sputtering, laughing, safe.
In fact, out-of-raft experiences raised everyone’s confidence about the entire adventure.
In a world where we overvalue having instead of being, is it time to reconsider what you give yourself and your loved ones this season?
Adventure transforms us. Adventure safe enough for everyone, young old and in-between, is even better. I like how O.R.E. runs their trips, and I can’t wait to head back out again next year…with my 65+ friend, on the mighty Rogue.
Consider the wild. Consider the waters. Come back healed, happy and renewed. I did.
Let’s play.
Thanks as always for coming along with me. You can tell I am a big fan of O.R.E. I’m heading out with them again next year. I sincerely hope that those of you hankering for an adventure will look at rafting. I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible it was for just about anyone. I was also delighted at the pricing for full-and half-days.
Whatever you do for your holidays, please consider giving yourself the gift of the wild this coming year. We’re all going to need a lot more of it. For my adventure dollar, rafting is a fine way to do it, and include the whole family.
I've read your other articles about rafting, and looked up the company you mentioned. Oregon is the only state I somehow haven't been to, nor has my wife. I talked her into learning how to fly fish this summer and we had a blast. I'm thinking river rafting next.
Julia, I loved reading this post, and your other ones about river rafting. It's amazing that such an experience can turn the terrified to ecstatic so fast. You are right: we in our society "overvalue having instead of being." Things -- material possessions -- are not important compared to having valuable experiences.