the whole thing
Where Wild Ones Roam
Everything lives here under one label. Kids grow best in wild places. That's the frameworks, the field notes from the road — it all comes from a life spent on the trail.
since
2018
About
before the frameworks —
there was just a family, figuring it out outside.
Hi — I'm glad you're here. Years ago we packed up a conventional life and went looking for a slower, wilder way to raise our kids. We didn't have a method. We had a tent, a stack of park maps, and a hunch that children grow best when the world is big and a little bit hard.
Everything on this site came after that — earned the long way, on real trails, with real kids. This page is the short version of who's behind it and why it exists.
— Kris Murphy
what this word is
A few names, explained plainly.
If you've poked around the site, you've seen a handful of terms. Here's what each one actually means — no jargon.
the how-to guides
National Parks as Classrooms
Practical, tested guides for visiting U.S. national parks with kids — where to go, what to skip, and how to turn a trip into real, lasting learning instead of a checklist.
the parenting side
Raising Outdoor Kids
The parenting side: how outdoor time builds resilience, attention, and confidence — and the little things you can actually do, not just believe in.
the philosophy
The FAR Framework
Frame, Attend, Reflect — a simple loop that turns an ordinary day outside into a capability your kids keep. It's the backbone under everything else.
the credentials, for the record
Lived first. Credentialed to back it up.
The story comes first, for a reason — but the training is real and it shows how the work is built.
- YEARS
8 full-time outdoor education. Field-year learning, parenting, and guiding outdoors — not as a hobby, as the whole life.
- SITES
100+ national park sites, with kids. Every visit worked as a family — that's where the guides come from.
- TRAINING
Leave No Trace Level 1 Trainer. Qualified to teach the seven LNT principles — and to weave them through everyday practice.
- STUDIES
C&NN Environmental Educator. Certified through the Children & Nature Network — formal grounding in nature-based learning.
- STATUS
The FAR Framework. Frame → Attend → Reflect — an original method developed in the field, refined over years.
- WORKING
Doctoral curriculum work. Research-level study in curriculum and education — the theory behind the field-tested practice.
part of something bigger
This site is the start of Built for Wild.
Where Wild Ones Roam is where the work began. Built for Wild is the larger movement growing out of it — a community of families, educators, and guides who believe kids grow best in wild places. If this resonates, that's where it goes next.
work with me
Speaking, collaboration, or a good conversation.
I work with schools, brands, and organizations on outdoor and nature-based education — talks, workshops, curriculum, and the occasional partnership that fits. If you've got something in mind, I'd love to hear it.
the newsletter
Letters from a Wilder Life
Quieter, more considered dispatches from the road — straight to your inbox on Substack.
the podcast
Built for Wild
Conversations on raising outdoor kids, outdoor ethics, and the case for doing hard things together.