Podcast

Keeping a daily habit, any habit, comes with a risk that it eventually transforms from something you want to do into something that’s simply a chore. You do it without thinking. It’s so a part of who you are that you may not even remember if you did it or not.

I don’t want my outdoor habit to be a chore. I want it to feel like recess, a concept introduced to me by New York Times best-selling author Gretechn Rubin in her recent guest episode with Humans Outside.

What changes when I think about heading outside as recess instead of a chore? Listen now.

What would you find if you spent your outdoor time focused on experiencing life through your five senses? I don’t mean just soaking in the great outdoors by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting, but by adding an intentional focus to explore what each of them adds.

That’s a question New York Times best-selling author Gretchen Rubin asks through her new book Life In Five Senses and is actively exploring through her own one-year outdoor challenge that she’s shared with listeners of her Happier With Gretchen Rubin podcast.

In this episode Gretchen sits down to chat with us about all things five senses, outdoor habits, what you find by doing the same thing every day — whether that be going outside of visiting a museum — and how you can use your five senses to make your life even happier. Listen now.

Is it possible to lean into preservation and conservation while also spending a ton of time outside? And if you want to be earth-friendly while also being an avid earth-user, how can you balance a desire to leave no trace while still getting out there?

In this episode of the Humans Outside Outdoor Diary, I talk about a few simple steps I take to be earth-friendly while still using nature daily. And they’re steps you can take, too. Listen now.

Life is full of forks in the road — literally and figuratively. And over my more than 2,000 days going outside every single day for at least 20 minutes I’ve noticed something: the more I practice making decisions outside, the better I am at making them inside.

Why is that and why does it matter? Listen now.

When it comes to balancing a desire to spend time outside with indoor obligations that keep your job and life running, a little bit of organization goes a long way.

I’ve realized that powering through one simple planning task every one of us faces is the difference between living in harried chaos and feeling like everything is under control with plenty of time for everything I want to do, including heading into nature.

So what is it? Menu planning.

(Yes, seriously.)

But I have figured out a way to make it as painless as possible (while still hating it). Listen now to find out what works for me, why it has such a major impact and how it could help you, too.