OS Champion

Tamsin Travis

Meet Tamsin Travis, founder of @thelittlesandthelakes – Outdoor Adventures | Family Fell Walks | Days Out

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you like to get outside?

I’m Tamsin, and spend most weekends exploring the Lake District with my family – husband, Mike, kids, Oscar (7) and Milo (2), and dog, Archie. I’m passionate about raising intrepid, confident and independent kids who are totally at home outdoors, and hope to give our children a similar upbringing to the one Mike and I had growing up in the Lakes – less about screen time and more about adventure time.

We’re most often found in the fells (Oscar’s mission is to complete all 214 Wainwrights before he turns 8, which may or may not be achievable – time will tell!), but we’ll have a bash at anything. We’re aiming to get out on the water more often this year, and Oscar is keen to spend more time caving, bouldering and fell running.

We’re hoping to encourage Milo up his first unassisted summit, and I take him out for solo walks every Friday in preparation, which is a great opportunity for him to explore the world at chilled out toddler speed. I’m also a massive advocate of babywearing (never too early to get kids outdoors!), and love the freedom and flexibility that comes with confidently using a sling to carry babies and toddlers.

at the summit looking out to the view of the lake district with @thelittlesandthelakes

What’s your favourite route or place to go and why?

Tamsin Travis’ Favourite Place – Buttermere Valley

Without a doubt, Buttermere Valley. It was a frequent haunt when I was growing up, and I spent countless hours here with my dad, who was a volunteer with the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team and introduced me to fell walking as a kid. Home to my all-time favourite summits (High Stile range, Mellbreak, Haystacks), plus hands down the best views in the Lake District (in my slightly biased opinion!). And for low level walking, a loop of Buttermere followed by a stop at Syke Farm is hard to beat. I love bringing my own kids here now, and we’ve had some of our most memorable family fell walks to date in this area (including one that broke my ankle, but I’ll gloss over that!).

Explore Buttermere Valley

Want to find out more about how to start hiking?

Read our complete guide to Hiking for Beginners, everything you need to get started from essential equipment to fitness and safety advice – Hiking For Beginners

What’s your fave bit of kit available on the OS Shop?

Tough to choose, but I’d say the Garmin InReach Mini 2. We’re often hiking in remote areas with limited or no connectivity and two very young kids, and the InReach gives us additional peace of mind in the event that something does go wrong. When I take the kids out solo, I activate tracking mode so that Mike is able to follow our progress remotely, and let him know roughly where I’m headed and the route I’ve planned in advance. It’s a fantastic piece of safety kit – robust, super lightweight, easy to clip onto a backpack, and the battery lasts for ages. It’s a bit of an investment, but something I wouldn’t be without.