Welcome to our new (web) home – Raffys on the Road

Welcome to Raffys on the Road! Read on to learn about our Who, What, When, Where, and Why of Raffys on the Road! We are excited you’re here and look forward to getting to know our readers!

1. Who are we?

First a quick introduction! I’m Melissa, the mom of the Raffys on the Road. Together with Cody, the world’s most awesome (and adorable) husband (other than the random socks all over the house, but that’s for another day), we have four crazy, beautiful, rambunctious boys. You can learn all about us, and them, over on our “About Us” page, which is now up and running but not fine-tuned yet, so please forgive.

We are a family that likes to go and likes to be outside! If you had four boys you’d be outside too! You would be surprised – or maybe not – how quickly they can destroy a perfectly clean house – ha! – like our house has ever been perfectly clean! We like to stay moving, whether it’s hikes around our neighborhood or around our town (we live in Tallahassee, Florida), paddling the rivers in North Florida, or camping just about anywhere (including our backyard) to more adventurous desintations like hiking mountains and whitewater rafting.

2. What are we writing about?

We aim to write about our outdoor adventures – whether it’s hiking, paddling, or camping (or any other new outdoor adventures we come across). We’re looking to keep a running log of our upcoming adventures and also go back and write about past adventures to create a reference for our readers looking for recommendations on places to take the kiddos!

3. When are we writing?

The goal is to post several times a week, both on what is currently going on with our adventures and a series of “Throwback Thursday” posts going over our past adventures.

4. Where are we writing about?

Anywhere and everywhere! Most of our adventures with the kids have been in the Southeast – generally Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, with a few other states thrown in – so far. But our goal is to hit nearly every state in the coming years so stay tuned!

5. Why a Blog?

We started this blog for several reasons (other than I just like to talk):

1. Document Our Travels with the Kiddos

Our oldest just turned nine. NINE, folks! How did that happen? And already there is so much that I wish I had written down or documented in his short/long nine years. So part of the reason for the blog is to better document our journeys – for us and the kiddos. There are so many great adventures and funny stories – from playing in our neighborhood creek in underwear (the kids, not us) to climbing a mountain that didn’t quite look that high from the ground – that I don’t want to forget and that I want to be able to easily document (with pictures! and stories!). And honestly, there are only so many photobooks a mom can make before I’m seeing a rainforest destroyed for my kids’ memories. So a blog it is!

2. Inspire YOU! Yes you, to get outside and connect with your family!

Second, while we love getting outside every chance we can get, we know it’s not that easy for a lot of people. Either the thought of planning something is intimidating or they don’t know where to start. So part of our goal is to inspire other families, and especially the mamas, to get outside with your families, explore, and reconnect.

Life is hard and busy and hectic, but getting outside allows the opportunity to get away from all that even for a short while. Without the house chaos and the screens (don’t even get me started on the screens), outside you can walk and connect, paddle and discuss life, or sit around a campfire, bonding under the stars.

We want this for you and want to provide you with all the resources to get outside and get it done in whatever way works best for your family. It doesn’t have to be Yellowstone this weekend, but even a 10-minute walk around a pond is a good start. We’ll be posting all sort of camping, hiking, and paddling how-tos and tips and tricks.

3. Share our DREAM!

Finally, it comes down to The Dream. The big one. Our dream goal is to rent out our house, purchase an RV of some sort, and travel the country with the kids.

We’ve wanted to do this for years but then it was one pregnancy and newborn stage after the next and when the first kiddo started school we thought our dream was dead because now we “had school.” Until a shift in everything happened this year (read more about this later), and we decided that not only can we do it, but we should do it.

So we want to document, and share with you, our progress in making our dream a reality. We’ll post our progress in purging the house (so so hard), researching RV options, budgeting and saving (so painful), and the fun part – planning the trip! We’ll share the ups and downs on this crazy adventure – that hopefully finally works out!

Connect with Us!

 

So welcome to Raffys on the Road! We’d love for you to stick around and check out what the blog has to offer and sign up for our email list to follow us on our journeys! Let us know how you like to get outside with your family or let us know what you want to learn to get started adventuring with your family! We’re on Facebook, Instagram (I’m still learning this one), and Pinterest. We’re not on Twitter because I still really have no idea how to work Twitter – but maybe one day!

Happy adventuring!