The joy of my entire life is getting outside with my family. I plan epic road trips for us each summer. My goal is to get my children to all 50 states. This summer, we will travel to New England and visit states 44-49 (Hawaii is the last one for us!). I love sharing ideas of our journeys to encourage others so that they, too, can create memories through seeing the diversity of this amazing country we live in.
Getting outside can take effort and planning. Honestly, when we have a four-day weekend from school, no one ever wants to leave the house! And at the end of those weekends, we are not refreshed. The more we stay in, the more we want to stay in, and the more challenging it is to get outside.
Routine and rhythm play a big role in motivation. These days, it does not come naturally to most of us. To start small, think through your day to see when you can get outside. First thing in the morning? Right after breakfast? Right after lunch? Right after dinner? What routines are already in place that you can enhance by some outdoor time?
My husband started getting outside by setting alarms to go on walks. He works from home and has realized that his mental health demands a break from his home office every day. So, he walks. He walks our dog around the block or he listens to a podcast and goes on his own. Now, walks are part of his routine. If he misses his walks, he becomes irritable and work takes longer. He knows how important they are. This would be a Small-Effort Endeavor, although it takes consistency.
Many people do not get enough vitamin D. According to Mayo Clinic, it is vital for calcium absorption, and lack of it leads to all sorts of things— fatigue, a weakened immune system, osteoporosis, depression. The main way to get vitamin D is through sunlight. So make a plan and get outside!
Small-Effort Endeavors
Taking neighborhood walks tops this list of Small- Effort Endeavors to get outdoors. Grab a buddy if you’re having trouble staying motivated. Tom Hawkins noticed that his friend David Watson was having
difficulty recovering from surgery. He did something about it. He invited David to walk with him to regain strength. The first day, they walked two houses down. The next day, three. Both men have since had total knee replacements and are determined to overcome that difficult procedure. They are walking about a mile these days, with hopes of making it to two. They really do not want to go on walks, but because they motivate each other, they keep going.
Did you know that riding a bike around the block is much faster than walking? Fill up those bike tires and ride around your neighborhood with your family. Or by yourself! Bike Town can help with getting bikes “West Texas ready” for all the sticker burrs in the grass and streets.
During one particularly challenging day substitute teaching at my kids’ middle school, I took my lunch break outside. I walked over to the tree in the courtyard and gave it a long hug to ground myself before finishing the day. I was better able to regulate my emotions after that. One of the more rambunctious young men that I had taught that morning saw me do this. He asked me about it and even brought it up in class several months later. He said he tried it, too, and it helped him.
Walk barefoot in a yard with no stickers (hopefully of someone you know). Hug a tree! Plant a small garden! Get your hands dirty. For the whimsical, make up a seasonal photo scavenger hunt. Send it to friends and see who can find the most squirrels or various types of birds or different types of trees.
Medium-Effort Endeavors
Outside sports are a great way to get the whole family outdoors. Baseball, football, soccer, tennis, pickleball, swimming in the summer—anything to get moving and get that vitamin D.
My family chooses to participate in Scouting America for our extracurriculars. That organization prioritizes being outside. We all go on monthly campouts and learn lifelong skills of leadership and resourcefulness.
Medium-sized road trips are a great way to get a change of perspective. One long weekend, we went to New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands. Getting out and having an adventure breathed new life into our souls. Climbing up the dunes of crushed gypsum wore us out in the best way. We used muscles that had become dormant, in our bodies and souls. The next day, we hiked down into the cool depths of Carlsbad Caverns—a cave I remembered from my childhood. I loved reliving this experience with my own children.
We are finally taking that trip to Big Bend this spring. I had put it off for so long because I was intimidated by the drive. Recently, I saw my friends on Facebook visit with their families for just a few days. If they can visit Big Bend over a long weekend, so can I! And so can you!
Sherry Luttrell hosts a preschool called Stepping Stones in her backyard and converted garage that encourages outside play. Children create delectable (pretend) meals in the mud kitchen, toboggan down tables as if they are penguins on icebergs and march in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades with homemade balloons.
Kendra Durrington, the second teacher of Stepping Stones says, “Having God’s creation as our backdrop is by far the best part. The chirping birds, the leaves blowing in the wind, the kids cutting endless zinnia bouquets, turning over bricks to find bugs (which led to getting a bug identifier app and the kids creating a bug journal) and even Pancake, the stray neighborhood cat that has joined our class. Everything really is better outside (minus the allergies)!” Encouraging outside play can be as simple as having an old mess kit in the backyard mud pit and sending the kids to go play.
Large-Effort Endeavors
Larger trips are a great way to see various places in our great big world. I find that I am more likely to want to go outside when it is not West Texas. Many people love the ease of all inclusive resorts or cruises. The local company, Bilbrey Tours, has wonderful options for travel via motorcoach—even “Mystery Tours” where the destination and itinerary are a surprise! Whatever gets you outside and moving is the point!
We traveled the Midwest one summer, staying with family and friends most of the way. Our favorite memories from that summer were waterfall hunting in Wisconsin, scrambling over rocks to get to a lighthouse in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (terrifying, actually!) and staying in a covered wagon on the Ingalls Homestead in South Dakota.
Last summer was probably our most epic adventure. We took my advice from last spring’s issue on Road Trips to hunt for shark teeth near Sherman, Texas on our way to pick up my oldest from Scout Camp in Oklahoma. And I found some! Then we traveled to the Badlands (my son’s favorite) and Custer State Park in South Dakota, over to the east side of Glacier National Park to hike the Hidden Lakes Trail (my favorite) and up to Calgary. We side-stepped over to Drumheller to visit the most amazing dinosaur museum before heading west into Banff. Every picture you might have seen of Banff does not do it justice. We canoed in Lake Moraine and hiked the Lake Agnes Teahouse Trail. We crossed the continental divide and spent a day at a forest adventure park in Golden, British Columbia. We drove south to experience the western side of Glacier National Park on our way to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. I thought we would be tired of the insane beauty, but we were not. We each hiked between 40 and 60 miles during that trip, and the complaining was minimal.
These trips obviously took quite a bit of planning, but it was worth it. We discovered that our favorite moments are in nature, not in cities. We feel grounded and lighter. When we accomplish a challenging hike, especially ending in a beautiful vista, we feel euphoric.
Maybe traveling is not possible. There was a movement several years ago, started by blogger Ginny Yurich, to encourage families to get outdoors for 1,000 hours each year, called “1000 Hours Outside!” Ginny created clever hour-trackers to fill in as a family, like the feathers of an owl, a four-seasons quadrant or even the original grid with 1,000 boxes. To achieve 1,000 each year, she encourages families to spend quality chunks of time outdoors—four to six hours—every couple of days. This movement has inspired families around the world to forgo screen time as the go-to time-passer and to reclaim risky play and getting dirty.
Maybe you feel that your traveling times are over. Let Ellie Hamby and Sandy Hazelip be your inspiration. These local ladies are known throughout the world now as “The Traveling Nanas” (or “The Traveling Grannies” on TikTok). At 81-years-young, they traveled around the world in 80 days, staying in remote places and finding joy in each twist and turn. Their book, “Here We Go,” chronicles that adventure, and encourages readers to discover their own adventures, big or small.
Living life outdoors does not have to be this major, but it certainly is fun when it is! Whether starting small or planning an epic road trip, my encouragement to you is to just do it.
By Laura Daulton
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