Obviously (gestures widely around the website), I’m a fan of nature and all that planty mountainy good stuff. So I was quite surprised when I recently came across the term “forest bathing” and had no idea what the hell people were talking about.
The first image that came to mind was me lying in a bathtub in the middle of a forest. That. would. be. awesome.
Continue reading What the hell is forest bathing?
This is the time the leaves are turning all the most amazing shades of yellows, oranges, and reds. Go for a walk and see what colours you can find. You can either revel in the joy of finding one of each different shade, arranging them into some form of land art. Or you can take them home, look up the bazillion fall leaves DIY tutorials online, and make something gorgeous that will last.
Are you feeling like spending a lazy weekend on the sofa? Nothing wrong with that. But maybe you wish you could muster up the motivation to get outside a bit more, go for a walk, a run or even a hike? Check out these three badass women mountaineers’ stories, and I’m sure you’ll have a hard time finding any more excuses to hide inside.
Born in 1836, Lucy Walker is credited to be the first woman to make the Alps her playground. She first picked up hiking when her doctor told her to get more active to fight her rheumatism. That’s right, she suffered from a disease that would cause her horrible pain in her joints and to fix it she started climbing mountains. As you do.
Continue reading 5 badass women mountaineers to inspire you to get off the sofa
When I was a kid, my parents used to take me hiking. Each year, for a week at least. Sometimes two. I didn’t really care, because there were always other children around to play with and you just kind of go along with what your parents do anyway.
When I was turning from a kid to a teenager though, the whole affair started to get decidedly uncool. Why were we walking up hills for no reason? Why couldn’t I just stay in and listen to music? And good grief, why did those hiking boots have to be so ugly?
It was then that I decided that hiking was for old people only and that anybody with any sense of what was cool could clearly find better ways to spend their time.
I held on to that belief for way too long. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I decided to give hiking another shot. I was having a bit of a crappy time and desperately needed to get out of town.
Untrained as I was, I went on a trip to the mountains with my best friend and we hiked our way up and across some pretty challenging paths. It. was. awesome.
My anxiety couldn’t keep up with me, and I just mercilessly left it behind somewhere on the mountain. Coming out the other end of the trip, I felt sore but happy, and super proud of what we had accomplished. Clearly, those old people had known all along what they were doing. So what is it then, that makes hiking such an amazing experience?
