By Jane Marshall

seejanewrite.ca
@janeandthemountains

Love the mountains? So does Meghan J. Ward, a Banff-based writer, editor, and adventurer. She loves them so much that she moved from Ontario to the Rockies in 2005 and embarked on a life of adventure. Over the years, Meghan has become a local authority on Rocky Mountain culture. She’s written for some of North America’s top outdoor publications.

And...

Her memoir has just been published! In Lights to Guide Me Home (Rocky Mountain Books), Meghan writes about the major milestones of marriage and children, how these influence travel, and the adventures she and her family have done around the world.

Lights to Guide Me Home

Meghan and her husband, photographer Paul Zizka, have two daughters, Maya and Léa. Deciding to have children (which they did with careful thought) didn’t stop them from living a life connected to the outdoors. In Meghan’s memoir, she writes about the challenges and joys of exposing their children to international and local travel even when the girls were babies. Meghan writes honestly about what it’s like for two wild spirits to decide to start a family, and what is both lost and found in that decision.

For this post, Meghan shares her perspectives on adventure travel, travel with young kids and writing her book.

Jane: Meghan, you grew up in Ontario, far from Banff and Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. What drew you to the Rockies, and what made you stay?

Meghan: The summer after my first year of university I washed windows in my home town. It was a great job, as I was working with friends, but I think it made me yearn for more of an adventure. My cousin had recently worked at a lodge in Banff National Park and I heard through my aunt just how much she loved it. I think that planted the seed for me. I applied at that same lodge and landed a job for the following summer. I immediately fell in love with the mountain environment and lifestyle and it drew me back year after year until 2008 when I made a permanent move to the mountains.

Jane: What are the main activities you love to do in the mountains?

I’ve sampled pretty much all of them over the years, but my favourite activities are backcountry hiking and scrambling in the summer and snowshoeing and skating on mountain lakes in the winter. I imagine I’ll start to do more alpine skiing now that my daughter is getting into it!

Jane: In your book, you write about how you decided to have children, and the mental processing it took to make that decision as someone who loves freedom, adventure, and the outdoors. Can you tell us more about that?

Meghan: Even seven years into our relationship, my husband and I had not yet decided whether or not we wanted to have children. We loved our lives, the careers we had created, the time we had to pursue mountain sports, and the freedom we had to put our passions into action. We genuinely worried that having a family would compromise everything we had built.

Eventually we decided that if we didn’t have children soon, we never would. We didn’t want to find ourselves 10-15 years down the road and regretting our decision. So, we went for it! The decision certainly compromised the freedom and balance we had in our lives, but the new adventure has been worth it.

Jane: In the book you write honestly about the joys and difficulties of traveling with babies and young children. You didn’t gloss over the realities you went through in terms of tears, sleeplessness, assessing danger, and importantly, your own mental state as you took on some big trips. Why do you feel it’s important to tell the ‘whole’ story?

Meghan: When I first became a parent, I didn’t have many, perhaps any, balanced accounts of these kinds of experiences with children. This made me feel quite isolated as I navigated the many changes and struggles that ensued when we decided to travel abroad with young children. Of course, I had my husband for support, but we were struggling together. Telling the whole story was important to me for this reason and also to help others understand that what gets posted on social media is a curated set of experiences. I don’t always post about the “ugly,” so my book was a chance to share our experiences with more nuance.

Jane: What are a few items you took with you when you were traveling with a baby that helped?

Meghan: I could talk about this forever, but through trial and error, I have definitely got this list figured out. Of course, it’s also a personal thing. For one, a soft carrier was our preferred method of carrying a baby or toddler (sometimes we also brought the backpack carrier). This allowed us to go hands-free through airports, while walking through towns, shopping, or hiking. Strollers can be cumbersome and awkward. For air travel, I am always well-prepared with snacks, diapering, extra clothes, and age-appropriate activities, and I try to keep the bag as organized as possible. An iPad is a great investment for older children; at times, it has saved our butts when we’ve found ourselves waiting at customs or in other situations where a young child might have a total meltdown.

Jane: What was the most difficult family trip, and what made it difficult?

Meghan: Our first trip with our oldest daughter was a bit of a nightmare in paradise. We went on a 70-day island-hopping trip in New Zealand (which included a 2500-kilometre road trip), Niue, French Polynesia and Hawaii. The trip was difficult because our baby wasn’t the most adaptable. We thought she’d cope better, but our fast-pace and all the changing environments were too challenging for her. For two months, we barely slept. We changed the way we travelled after that, and now spend more time in each place we go to. That being said, in April 2022, we took our kids, then ages 4 and 9, on a three-week road trip through the Balkans, and changed our location quite often. They did so well!

Jane: And what was the best family trip, and why?

Meghan: It’s hard to choose; we’ve been to 16 countries with our kids! But our trip to Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, was such a dream come true. For one, we tackled that trip when our kids were 9 months and 5 years old; it was so rewarding as parents to be able to travel that far — to one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands — with young kids. The history nerd in me was lit up by the large open-air museum of the island, which features those giant carved heads called moai. The island of Rapa Nui itself is so stunningly beautiful with an end-of-the-world feel to it.

Jane: Your new book Lights to Guide Me Home was recently published with Rocky Mountain Books. What inspired you to write it?

Meghan: I had been in discussions with my publisher for many years about a book about outdoor adventures and travel with kids. Back in 2018, he suggested I write it as my story, and with that nudge I dove into a memoir about my experiences living a life off the beaten track in life, love, adventure, and parenting. I supposed I felt that I had a story to tell. But it was also a process of personal discovery and a way to make sense of my life. As a writer, it was a delight to take on the challenge of a full-length memoir.

Jane: In your new book, you write about how you and your husband Paul carved out your own path with freelance careers and a desire to explore. Looking back at this evolution, would you do it again? Or would you take a ‘safer’ path?

Meghan: There is a lot of uncertainty in life, but I am certain that I made the right choice in not taking a safer path — and I’m grateful for the privilege it is to do that. My life has been so rich with many kinds of wild and wonderful experiences. It has also been fulfilling to see the hard work pay off. My career path requires a lot of admin and task-oriented work. But then there are days when I’m getting paid to do my dream job and I feel like I’m in the right place. There are some things I’d change if I did it all again, but I also know those mistakes have made me who I am.

Jane: Lots of people say kids won’t remember trips from when they are young. What do you think about that statement? What do you hope your children will gain from travel and backcountry adventures?

Meghan: I wondered about that, too, especially when I was struggling on that first trip to the South Pacific. I believe my children will remember some experiences in their bodies, even if they can’t recall the exact moments or memories. Over time, I think those experiences will build resilience in them and also make them more familiar with the rhythms of travel and outdoor experiences. I’ve seen the results of that for myself now, especially during the pandemic when my oldest daughter was so eager to go travel again. We are so privileged to be able to offer these experiences to our kids and seeing them embrace the travel lifestyle has been greatly rewarding.

Jane: What would you say to parents who are nervous about taking young children travelling or camping, but want to?

Meghan: Start simple and small, especially if you haven’t done a lot of camping or travel yourself. For instance, find a campground close to home so that you can test things out before you do something more involved. Or, book a trip in a similar time zone and culture before you venture abroad and start dealing with jet lag and language barriers. You’ll gradually add tools to your toolkit and learn what works and what doesn’t.

Jane: For those nights when the kids are asleep and parents get some quiet time in the tent, hostel or hotel (if that indeed happens!), can you tell us your top 3 travel/adventure genre books?

Meghan: Great question! Three of my favourites are Kate Harris’ Lands of Lost Borders, Bruce Kirkby’s Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya, and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. I also really enjoyed Michael Lanza’s Before They're Gone: A Family's Year-Long Quest to Explore America's Most Endangered National Parks.

Jane: Finally, any online resources you can share for parents adventuring with young kids?

Meghan: I wrote a fairly comprehensive piece on my own blog called Tips for Travelling Abroad with Children, which gives my personal advice. Parents seeking help for adventuring with young kids should check out Tales of a Mountain Mama and Rain or Shine Mamma!

A big thanks to Meghan for sharing her insight! May it inspire families to step off the well-worn path and explore this amazing world we share.

Buy a copy of Lights to Guide me Home
Follow Meghan on Instagram: @meghanjward
Visit her website: meghanjward.com
All photos by Paul Zizka