Today we’d like to introduce you to Jillian Cipresso.
Jillian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My husband and I share a great love for the outdoors. After moving to Los Angeles from Chicago, we began to explore as much of California as possible. We found so many diverse environments within a short drive that it further ignited our passion for exploration. In 2004, on a 2-week camping road trip around central and northern California, my husband surprised me at the top of Vernal Falls in Yosemite by asking me to marry him. Of course, I said yes. This moment cemented Yosemite and our National Parks into our personal history. Several years later, after our first child, we knew we wanted to pass on our love for the outdoors to our children so they could learn to protect and appreciate these beautiful places. Whether it was through hiking, camping or road trips, we would get away to places of natural beauty any time we could manage it. With two kids and several trips each year, we learned quite a bit about getting outdoors with kids. We would share our experiences with friends and family and we learned that what we found to be easy about getting outdoors with our family, was actually intimidating to others. We were asked for tips and advice on how to get started and were happy to oblige. Today, we’re sharing our experiences on social media and launching our blog in hopes of reaching more families and helping them build the confidence to explore the outdoors with their own families.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’m just starting my journey! Although we’re early on this road, I’ve found the biggest struggle is juggling all the balls of life – family, work and starting a blog! As a mom, finding time after the kids are asleep to be creative and inspirational can be tricky, but then I find energy when going through photos of our trips and the joy it brings us all! My best advice is to keep it personal and believe in yourself, and don’t give up! It’s daunting and you worry if no one is listening, yet your words will resonate with one person and it will act like ripples in the water, growing into a larger and larger movement. We all have something important and powerful to offer this world – you can and will make this world a better place!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Parkseekers – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Our goal is to provide resources for families that are looking to get outdoors with their children but aren’t quite sure where to start. We’d like to help them feel prepared enough to take the leap and plan that very first family camping or hiking trip. We do this by sharing our own experiences and the preparation that was involved.
We believe we represent a typical American family and while we work, go to school and have plenty of children’s activities to plan around, we prioritize unplugging from technology and being immersed, even if for just several hours, in places of natural beauty. There is a very different, yet valuable education to be had on the hiking trail or at the campground and we’re excited to have this opportunity to educate and inspire families to protect and advocate for our public lands.
Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
I am truly grateful to my parents for introducing me to camping and the outdoor life at a very early age. Growing up in Chicago, a very urban city, we explored our neighboring states for camping as often as we could. We camped with friends and sometimes just our family. I participated in Junior Ranger programs which cemented my true respect for our parks. As a family, we would talk about our trips and I was encouraged to journal my memories. This turned into a desire to blog about my family’ trips and hope to inspire others to get outdoors too! These experiences were so special to me that I knew I wanted to share them with my family. I now see the same sparkle in my kid’s eyes that my parents saw when we camped!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.parkseekers.com
- Email: contact@parkseekers.com
- Instagram: @parkseekers
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/parkseekers
Image Credit:
Jillian Cipresso, Mario Cipresso
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