Family Adventures Offer a Cure for Digital Overload

07-01-2010

 

 

River Adventures for Families Structured To Accommodate

Children Ages 5 and Up ˆ and Detox Is Free

 

SALT LAKE CITY, UT, July 1, 2010 ˆ Seeking an antidote to communication overload and the digital world? How about journeying off the grid, unplugging and just „rollin‚, rollin‚, rollin‚ on the river‰ this summer.

 

Brandon Lake, Vice President of Western River Expeditions, worries about decline in quality family time as our lives become filled with constant communication and media. In an average day, AC Nielsen company reports that a typical teenager will watch over 3 hours of TV, spend nearly 1 hour on a PC, 23 minutes on the internet, 6 minutes talking on a mobile phone, send or receive 96 text messages, watch 17 minutes of a DVD and, play 25 minutes on a game console, watch 13 minutes of a mobile video, 6 minutes of online video, and listen to one or more songs on an MP3 player.

 

Contrast this digital overload with the amount of time being spent with family. TV Free America reports that average amount of time parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children is 3.5 minutes per week.

 

„Families need a way to log off and find quality time with each other,‰ said Lake. „Families struggle to find quality time at home. It can even be difficult to completely unplug on most vacations. This is why Western River Expeditions has created family adventures that offer the perfect setting to create bonds and lifelong memories.‰

 

„A multi-day rafting journey is different from other vacations,‰ continued Lake. „Getting out onto a river with no distractions other than rapids and wildlife offers the perfect escape for the entire family to have true fun, create lifetime memories and bond with each other instead of a keypad. It‚s very much like detox for that over-used X-Box.‰

 

Fifty year, river rafting veteran Western River Expeditions (http://www.westernriver.com/) reports that there are still openings for its family rafting trips in Idaho and on Utah‚s Green River this summer, recently ranked as one of the top 10 rafting vacations in the US.

 

Western River Expeditions accepts children ages 5 and up on itineraries that combine river rafting with off-river adventures. A four-night Green River rafting vacation covers 84 river miles on the Green River through Desolation Canyon with explorations of outlaw hideouts, dinosaur habitats and Native American petroglyphs. The per person rate, inclusive of guides, vehicles, lodging, meals and chartered flight is $1,210 adults and $920 children for a 4-night program (http://www.westernriver.com/trips/green/).

 

Also offered is a 7 Day Green River & Ranch combo that begins at Red Cliffs Ranch on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab, Utah where guests experience an off-road Hummer® Safari, an optional horseback ride, and some of the most inspiring scenery in the world. Rates in July are $1,580 for Adults and $1,270 for Youth ages 5-15 which also include a chartered flight.

 

Getting to Moab is easy. There are direct flights from Denver to Moab; air service is also available to Grand Junction, CO, a 1.5- hour drive to Moab, and Salt Lake City, a 4-hour drive to Moab.

 

Western River Expeditions

Western River Expeditions (http://www.westernriver.com/) is an adventure travel company headquartered in Salt Lake City, with operations and offices in Moab, Utah and Fredonia, Arizona. Annually from March through October it escorts more people down rivers on professionally guided rafting trips in Utah, Idaho and Arizona than any other company. It is the largest licensed outfitter in the Grand Canyon and the largest single tour provider in Moab, UT, through its division Moab Adventure Center (http://www.moabadventurecenter.com/).

 

Western River Expeditions, providing [Back to Press Releases Main]