STOP MAKING EXCUSES TO NOT GO ON AN ADVENTURE
1. YOU DON’T NEED A TON OF STUFF TO GO OUTSIDE
Sure having the latest hiking boots, trekking poles, and matching hydration bladder make you an extremely prepared hiker. But don’t forget that people used to go hiking barefoot wearing loincloths. I’m not saying that you have to go to that extreme but only in the past two decades has outdoor activities been so commercially exploited. Everyone thinks you need a ton of gear to get started in the outdoors and that is partially true for a few activities. There are multiple activities though where the start up cost is $150 or less: hiking, surfing, bouldering, trail running, etc. It is very possible to go on a hike with an old backpack, water bottle, and sneakers. Or buy a used surfboard and shred the gnar on a hot summer day.
2. SCHEDULE YOUR OUTSIDE TIME AND TREAT IT LIKE A PRIORITY
It amazes me how some people’s schedule are so jam packed that they cannot make a light Saturday morning hike. You’re telling me that out of the 168 hours in a week that you can’t afford 4 hours to hike? And that’s including driving time. Treat your outside time as a priority. You make time for Facebook. So make time for the outdoors.
3. MY FRIENDS DON’T WANT TO GO
Make new friends! Or go by yourself! When you were a child you made new friends with three insanely easy steps. 1. Introduce yourself. 2. Ask that person if he/she would like to be your friend. 3. Start chatting about ANYTHING. The process for making friends has not changed throughout our lifetime. It has actually gotten easier. Now that we are adults, we can remove step 2. Now you just have to introduce yourself and start talking to them. If you see someone hiking along the same trail as you at relatively the same speed, go introduce yourself to them. Boom. New friend.
4. IT’S TOO FAR
According to The Newsroom at AAA, the average American spends 17,600 minutes driving to work every year. That totals to over 293 hours per year or 5.6 hours per week. Which is a little over a half hour to your location of work. Now do a google search for adventures around you and there should be something interesting within 2 hours of you. The extra 3 hours you drive round trip is well worth the exercise, sanity, and pure joy you will receive from getting outdoors. And you’ll also develop some insanely sculpted calves.
5. I COULD DIE GOING OUT THERE!
Whenever I tell my mother I am going hiking, surfing, climbing, or anything outdoors, she always brings up a story about something she heard on the news about someone dying while doing the activity I am planning on doing. But the truth is you have a much better chance of dying in a car crash on your way to work than you do of dying by shark attack or skiing accident. And if you’re a numbers guy/gal you have to like your odds our there in the wilderness.