#35: James Campbell -- Author of "Braving It", Canoeing The Alaskan Tundra With His Teenage Daughter

Like a Bigfoot

"I want an indelible bond with my daughter. I want her to remember this trip for the rest of her life. I want her to remember me after I am gone. I want Awe. I want to feel alive. I want Aidan to be filled with life and wonder."- James Campbell, Braving It Very excited to bring you this week's episode with author, adventurer, and family man James Campbell. Author of "The Color of War", "The Ghost Mountain Boys", and "The Final Frontiersman", I reached out to James specifically to hear about his latest book"Braving It" which tells the story of bringing his 16 year old daughter Aidan on three separate trips to the far north wilderness of Alaska. As a parent, and specifically a father of daughters, the book really connected with me. The end goal is to raise self-reliant, confident human beings, but reaching the moment where your child is becoming more independent and is preparing to "leave the nest" has to be an extremely tough time. I feel like a wilderness experience like James gave his daughter is of utter importance in both parent and child understanding the evolution of the relationship. Plus, how many teenagers get a chance to spend months in the peaceful quietness of nature....all while gaining a respect for hard work and learning how strong they actually are. Oh yeah...and there were Polar Bears. In this episode James shares the stories from the Alaskan tundra including canoeing rapids up the Hulahula River to the Arctic ocean, how they dealt with hiking and camping in bear country, why an adventure was something both him and his daughter wanted to share, and the time they had to face down a polar bear. Thanks so much to James for chatting with me! Within ten seconds of talking with him I knew it was going to be a great conversation! Definitely recommend checking out "Braving It". I have read it twice now and it really is a phenomenal read. Now I'm starting "The Final Frontiersman" and will probably add it to the book recommendations in the future. Thank you for tuning in this week and for checking out all the rest of our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/chris-ward-126531464 Help support this podcast by leaving us a review on iTunes and sharing it on whatever your social media platform of choice is! Go out and have an adventure this week!