Meet

The Reluctant Explorers

All About The Reluctant Explorers!

Well hello there you lovely lot!

Back in 2020, I had a bit of an epiphany. Something that came out of lockdown that was a bit unexpected… The Reluctant Explorers blog.

After spending such a long amount of time being cooped up together as a family, with our ability to go and do what we wanted when we wanted so tightly controlled, it was something as simple as a stroll up on the moors above our house that made me realise the positive impact that being outdoors and in the wilds of the world had on my mental health. On all of our mental health.

The contrast in mood after such a long time of being unable to get out into the wilds, away from pounding the pavements around our house was actually tangible, and it was that lightbulb moment that drove me to set up The Reluctant Explorers blog.

Little did I know that this blog would take us to places we never thought possible!

Wild Swimming in Wainwath Falls in the Yorkshire Dales

Our Journey

In the Summer of 2020, I set up the social media pages for The Reluctant Explorers on Instagram and Facebook with the aim of sharing our experiences of outdoors life, to provide information about Yorkshire attractions and our family walks along with a healthy dose of real family life sharing the struggles we can all face motivating kids to get away from their screens and outside!

The pages proved to be an instant hit, and it was in March of 2021 that the website and blog were born!

The aim of the website is to be all things Yorkshire and all things outdoors! We are proud to have collaborated with the Yorkshire tourist industry, many fantastic Yorkshire outdoors attractions and childrens outdoors brands.

We are also proud to have won a Yorkshire Bloggers Award in the parenting category in 2022!

Our aim is to continue to promote outdoors life with kids, the ups and the downs! Through the blog, we have experienced hiking, caving, climbing, wild swimming, camping, glamping, paddleboarding and pony trekking so why not follow our adventures over on Instagram and Facebook too!

Sam

Head Reluctant Explorer (and Mum!)

I’m Sam, the brains (kinda, I blame sleep deprivation) behind the Reluctant Explorers.

I have grown up with hiking holidays in the Lake District and moved to Yorkshire in 2002 to study. I qualified as a solicitor, but decided to take a break to focus on family.

I now teach music and work with children from babies to teenagers!

I love outdoors life! Whether that be hiking, swimming, paddleboarding, picnicking or camping I am passionate about being outside as much as possible!

As a Mum of two, I am TRYING to kindle that love for the outdoors in the kids too, but I know that’s not always very easy, which is why I am constantly thinking of ways to make outdoors fun!

Edie

Edie is 9 years old and a budding climber!

Edie has always loved being outdoors (but don’t worry, she regularly forgets about that!) She has hiked the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks at age 6, loves to swim and has just completed the Via Ferrata at How Stean Gorge (pictured right) She regularly shows me up whilst paddleboarding and her next challenge is learning to climb ‘properly’.

Ezra

Ezra is 6 and loves exploring caves.

We always say that Ezra is the most Reluctant Explorer as he is a 100% snack fuelled hiker but is in his element when he’s exploring something ‘cool’. Like ruins, or caves.

He loves to operate at 100 miles per hour, loves getting wet, extremely muddy and swimming, splashing and paddling. He is a massive fan of cycling, and his daily mission is to remind Daddy to get a bike rack so he can ride his bike to more places!

Oh and parks. He loves parks!

Would you like to work with us?

As an award winning blogger, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with some incredible Yorkshire based businesses over the last two years.

Our work has included working on the Summer 2022-2023 PR campaign with Visit East Yorkshire, we have worked with glamping companies, Yorkshire based attractions such as Stump Cross Caverns, the North Yorkshire Water Park and Stockeld Park. We have collaborated with children’s outdoor clothing companies such as The Little Adventure Shop and Dry Kids, we have promoted outdoors lifestyle products such as Toast’d Kits (our work is currently featuring in their social media advertising campaign). We have collaborated with Muddy Puddles and Little Trekkers providing guest blog posts for their websites.

I currently write for the Yorkshire Tots website, providing them with Yorkshire based walks and assisting with their PR work (most recently Mother Shipton’s Cave and Visit Harrogate).

Want to work with us? Tap here to see our Media Pack