#124 - The Story of the Largest Family To Hike the Appalachian Trail with Ben Crawford

Ben Crawford first appeared on the podcast for Episode 50, right after he and his family thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018. Since then, he’s been working on writing a book about their family story and just recently published it for all to read and enjoy. I had the pleasure of having Ben on the podcast yet again to talk about the book, the writing process, and the experiences he had putting it together.

If you’re a family that enjoys the outdoors, or you one day WANT a family that enjoys the outdoors, I’d highly recommend exploring what Ben and his family are up to and how they approach parenting. And, if you’re wanting to help support an awesome family, go buy the book (links below)!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Ben Crawford is an entrepreneur, author, and influencer who, along with his wife, Kami, and their six children, set the record in 2018 for the largest family and youngest female (7-year-old Filia Crawford) to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. His greatest goal is to discover the full potential of the human family, and to empower people to find freedom by questioning the status quo. Ben’s previous book, Unleash Your Family, details the Crawfords’ approach to turning the chaos of quarantine life into structured creativity. On his YouTube channel, Fight For Together, Ben aims to challenge existing perspectives on marriage, family, parenting, and self-awareness--through everything from running ultramarathons with young children, to experimenting with authority by living a year with no rules. The Crawfords live just outside Cincinnati, where they are currently planning their next adventure.

By Land,

Emory R. Wanger

BY LAND LINKS

LEARN HOW TO BACKPACK https://byland.co/learn-how-to-backpack

YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChSSISEgIfwYz2cc0aHQj3g

FACEBOOK GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1192723304224313/

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/byland.co

SHOW NOTES AND LINKS

How having a family can alter perspectives

Pursuing things that shift perspective

Life after the AT family Thru-Hike

How the AT changed the family dynamics

Why we’re quick to forget the pain of an ordeal

Why Ben wrote the book on hiking the AT

Reliving the trail through the writing process

Ben’s low point on the trail

On reading the kids’ journal entries from the trail

The power of journaling

Details on the book variations

How to find the book and support Ben

THE BOOK: https://amzn.to/3lYbTW3

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT2WgHiawhWgbahB0CNENkg

IG: https://www.instagram.com/fightfortogether