They say spending time in nature can change your life. But in a world packed with indoor life pressures, how can you make getting outside just a part of who you are?
Welcome to the Humans Outside podcast, where we explore life in the great outdoors from our perch in Alaska, all while hearing from fascinating outdoor-minded guests.
You probably know that “solstice” marks the shortest or longest day of the year. But did you know why it’s worth celebrating?
In this Outdoor Diary, Amy talks about Summer Solstice and why it matters so very much. Listen now!
[:34] The big deal about the light
[1:10] What is solstice?
[1:55] How to understand solstice
[3:00] What happens in the winter
[3:20] What happens in the summer
[3:35] How we celebrated Solstice
[4:39] This week’s outdoor hero: Cairn subscription box
Stephanie Puglisi and her family want to make traveling a part of their lifestyle, but with twin infants, the idea of tent camping seemed kind of crazy and staying in hotels was just super stressful.
Enter: RVing. Stephanie and her husband Jeremy changed their entire lives by investing in an RV and making traveling, camping and spending time in nature just a part of who they are as individuals and as a family.
If you’ve ever thought about taking up camping but just hate the idea of sleeping on the ground or in a tent, this one is for you. Listen to this episode for great tips on purchasing an RV and shaping your professional life to support your personal goals.
[2:00] Stephanie’s favorite outdoor space
[3:24] Stephanie’s childhood in the outdoors
[5:16] Stephanie’s life before the RV
[8:31] Life with twins
[11:24] On the road with kids
[13:24] Making camping work for you
[23:45] Pivoting your career to chase your dream
[28:09] The impact of the outdoors on Stephanie as a person
[30:37] Stephanie’s book
[37:22] Stephanie’s top tip for RV newbies
[41:12] Stephanie’s favorite and most essential outdoor gear
[43:27] Stephanie’s favorite outdoor moment
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You know those moments in the outdoors where you’re standing on the cusp of things going very, very wrong? That was the beginning of Amy’s weekend adventure when her son, Dave, briefly went missing.
Hear the drama and all about Amy’s outdoor time last week on this episode of the Humans Outside Outdoor Diary.
[:30] How the Bushatz family spends the summer
[:58] All about David
[2:06] Where’s Dave?!
[3:20] A sigh of relief
[4:35] A day of running
[4:46] Did someone say hot tub?!
[5:00] Amy’s Outdoor Hero
Ptarmigan Lake, Alaska
Balega socks
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What if you spent your adult life living in vastly different parts of the U.S. because your job made you? How would you make sure you were making the most of it? Would adapting be hard? Would you never want to explore again? Would it be easy to take advantage of every space — or would you be just over it?
This week’s guest Rebekah Sanderlin is living that life and has some great advice for anyone who wants to make sure they are taking advantage of wherever they find themselves, no matter how long they’ve lived there or plan to stay.
[1:28] Rebekah’s favorite outdoor space
[2:20] Rebekah’s move from Florida to Colorado
[4:46] How getting outside is different in Colorado
[11:11] Pet peeves on the trail
[13:36] Rebekah’s favorite Colorado activities
[16:09] Rebekah’s tips for an outdoor bucket list
[22:30] Taking advantage of national parks
[28:00] Writing on the trail
[31:19] What’s next for Rebekah
[34:27] Rebekah’s favorite outdoor gear
[35:38] Rebekah’s most essential outdoor gear
[36:06] Rebekah’s favorite outdoor moment
The outdoors offers space — both physical and mental — for deep thought and conversation. And when it comes to sorting through the racial issues with which America is grappling right now, it’s the perfect setting for tough stuff. Here’s how Amy experienced that this week.
[:31] Why outdoor conversations are so great
[1:15] How Amy is addressing this Moment in our culture with her sons
[1:38] What Amy’s family did to listen last week
[1:54] Protesting as a family
[2:30] Answering big questions
[3:26] This week’s outdoor hero
If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last few months, it’s that life doesn’t always go the way you planned. Sometimes the world shifts in a way you didn’t anticipate, and you have to make a decision: are you going to let it derail you, or will you ultimately adapt and overcome?
This week’s guest Craig Vaream faced that decision when he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. One second he was healthy, athletic and living life to its fullest — and the next he was learning to live with and manage a complicated disease.
Rather than let it sideline him, he chose a different path — and used it to fuel his fire. In this episode Craig, now an inspirational speaker and author of the new book No Limits: Adventures and Lessons from Living with Diabetes, shares how spending time in the outdoors helped him do so, and how people can do the same.
[2:00] Craig’s favorite outdoor space
[2:41] Craig’s diabetes story
[4:44] The difference between working through diabetes today and in the past
[7:01] How diabetes changed his life
[10:06] How his diagnosis changed his life outside
[12:00] The role of intentionality
[14:14] Defiance vs. living with
[17:04] How learning to deal with diabetes changed how he deals with other challenges
[21:35] Diabetics and adventure sports
[22:42] Why Craig became a mountain climber
[26:39] How mountain climbing changed him
[32:11] Craig’s advice for people dealing with a big life challenge
[35:28] Craig’s favorite outdoor gear
[36:15] Craig’s most essential outdoor gear
[37:11] Craig’s favorite outdoor moment
As we confront racial injustice in our world, Amy reflects in this week’s outdoor diary on both her privilege and those providing inspiration as they fight that injustice.
[:05] Why this a different moment
[:30] What has Amy thinking about inspiration and justice
[:50] The truth about Amy’s privilege
[1:57] About Amy’s 1,000 days
[2:53] What the George Floyd protests have to do with this
[3:45] Amy’s inspiration this week
[4:15] What we have to work towards
What inspires a person to conquer big things outside or try for the seemingly impossible? Those are questions this week’s guest Darcy Gaechter had plenty of time to ponder as she became the first woman to ever paddle the Amazon River from source to sea. A journey now detailed in her new memoir, Darcy takes a break from her kayaking adventure business, Small World Adventures, to join us on the podcast to talk about that adventure and what she learned along the way.
[1:41] Darcy’s favorite outdoor space
[2:21] The problems with the Amazon River
[4:00] The challenges of taking on the Amazon
[5:35] Why Darcy decided to take on the Amazon
[7:10] Why Darcy likes going outside
[9:16] What Darcy learned on the Amazon
[11:05] Is defying stereotpyes an important part of Darcy’s “why?”
[13:36] How to become an amazing kayaker
[16:40] Did Darcy make the self-discoveries she thought she would?
[18:50] Is she could do it again, what would she do differently?
[20:35] How to mentally prepare for a big challenge
[25:15] Darcy’s favorite outdoor gear
[25:45] Darcy’s most essential gear
[26:12] Darcy’s favorite outdoor moment
As of May 27, 2020 Amy hits an incredible milestone: 1,000 days in a row doing her daily outdoor time challenge. That’s 1,000 days spending at least 20 consecutive minutes outside every day. In this week’s Outdoor Diary she gives a window into what those 1,000 days mean now that they are over.
[:30] Amy’s big accomplishment
[:50] The original goal
[1:20] Amy’s why
[1:40] How to spend time outside every day
[2:05] When going outside is actually hard
[2:55] Amy’s best and worst time outside
[3:30] Amy’s favorite outdoor outcome
Check out all of Amy’s outdoor time at #HumansOutside365
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Register for our newsletter to win a decal: https://humansoutside.com/newsletter Follow us on Instagram and share your outdoor life with the hashtag #humansoutside365. Here’s an edited
Register for our newsletter to win a decal: https://humansoutside.com/newsletter Follow us on Instagram and share your outdoor life with the hashtag #humansoutside365. Here’s an edited
Here’s an edited transcript of our conversation on The Humans Outside Podcast. Listen to the episode on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your