When you push your limits and things get a little uncomfortable, you often learn something about yourself. When you repeatedly do it for years, we reckon you must learn some universal truths about humans and how we tick. As a professional adventure racer, Nathan has spent much of his adult life pushing his physical and mental boundaries and helping those in his racing team do the same.
Hame came across Nathan watching World’s Toughest Race on Amazon, which Nathan and the Kiwi team won by some margin. But it was the fact they did it with so little fuss that struck Hame and made him want to get in touch with Nathan. (It must have annoyed the TV producers so much that the winning team was seemingly doing it with no drama! Kiwi’s don’t get worked up enough to make good reality TV!)
But beyond adventure racing Nathan has been an outdoor educator, team building consultant and event producer, helping people of all backgrounds safely push their limits in the outdoors. So, when he and his wife Jodie had kids they saw no reason to change things, and have been taking their kids on, in Nathan’s words, “epic adventures” from a very young age.
But this chat is not just for outdoorsy adventurey types, Nathan’s wisdom can be universally applied. He explains how he tries to incorporate the same philosophies as captain of the NZ adventure racing team as he does at home - Offer respect and composure at all times, no matter what, to ensure that communication is always open. To have a strong team you need to know how people are feeling and no one opens up to an erratic yeller!
Nathan also beautifully explains how his Samoan heritage helps him bring “Polynesian chill” to his parenting and problem solving, how he and his wife helped each other develop their own individual parenting styles, and how he fosters independence and freedom for his kids, while offering support at every step.
Like all our great guests, Nathan is the first to admit he hasn't got it perfect, or even close. But as he says, your family is your most important team, and the commitment he shows to his is clear. We really loved spending time with Nathan, he’s an inspirational guy and we can’t thank him enough for taking the time to come over to Wellington and have a chat. (And his no questions asked cancellation clause in the event of good powder skiing was equally inspiring, and readily agreed to by us!)
You can find out more about Nathan HERE. And if you like getting outdoors and still eating tasty food, check out Nathan’s REAL MEALS - awesome tasting and nutritionally great freeze dried food for adventurers. And yes, they ship to Aus.
You can get in touch with us at howotherdadsdad.com - we love to hear from you, and thanks to all of you that have written in.
—
And as always, big thanks to our friends at HERTZ. For this adventure across the ditch we took our kids and lots of gear, and to make our trip seamless and hassle free we used HERTZ. The pick up at the airport in Wellington was a breeze, the cars were sparkling clean, smelled great, the kids seats were pre-fitted and dropping it back was equally straightforward. If you’ve got an adventure planned in Australia, go to hertz.com.au/hodd where you can grab a 25% discount off the base rate. T&Cs and exclusions apply - see website for details.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How Other Dads Dad with Hamish Blake