43-year-old Family Canoe Trip
24 comments
·March 18, 2025keithwhor
Great read. I think connecting with nature while you’re young is great — when you’re older, even better. Would love to read more of these.
bschmidt804
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nefrix
Nice story. I wish I were closer to the area so I could explore its nature.
Paddling is one of the activities that makes me feel more present—no time for scrolling while slowly moving through the water. For the last 10 years, I’ve gone once or twice a year to the Danube swamps to disconnect and recharge. We’re lucky there aren’t any crocodiles!”
timonoko
I traveled from the other side of the world just to make various trips on the Inside passage.
Verdict: Like Norway coast, but without services and Norwegians, who can be little bit tight-ass on their property rights.
plantain
Doesn't Norway have the right to roam?
timonoko
Nordic Countries always had it, because various nomadic lifestyles. But when it was written to law, Norwegians and Sweden invented 3 days limit on camping. Only purpose of this was to decimate the indigenous Sami-culture.
Finland does not have such limits, only vague statements of permanent settlements.
defrost
Sure, we couldn't stop it if we wanted to.
It does tend to move in lockstep with the other countries on the Eurasian Plate though, and its rate of roaming peaks at 14mm or so a year.
snickerer
This is beautiful.
I would really like to know how his father's trip influenced the author's life. He mentions this several times, but does not explain.
6stringmerc
Also relevant is Henry David Thoreau’s trip with his brother:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Week_on_the_Concord_and_Me...
It was very pleasant jail reading. In truth it’s about 30% trip diary and 70% musings on the nature of life, friendships, religion, and language.
keizo
cool to see paddling of any kind on hacker news. The short doc video was a great watch.
bschmidt705
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bschmidt703
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bschmidt901
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bschmidt906
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bschmidt808
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bschmidt804
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Portland callin. Great article. My friend has canoed the entire Willammette River a few times, solo and with friends, and loves it... he makes it almost sound like a Huck Finn adventure, stopping in at weird private landings, dive bars, river parties, sleeping in the parks, making friends with strangers. Personally, I'd be terrified to embark on a trip like this. I wish I had the confidence that I would be able to survive a bad day or two of food poisoning with nowhere to go.