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.
As so many faith traditions celebrate holy days in the spring, Amy has been thinking about the spirituality of heading outside and the ways her faith background misses the boat on understanding and appreciating spirituality in nature.
[:47] Is nature spiritual?
[1:03] Why we rarely talk about spirituality on Humans Outside
[2:05] The mistake of some faith traditions
[3:27] Where the Bible talks about the spiritual connection of nature
[3:58] A scripture connection to nature
If you spend time with nature you might start to feel like the great outdoors is a friend that you want to take extra care of. Even if you’ve been interested in conservation before, it might now seem more personal, more important.
But spending time outside also means you’re using nature more than you used to. So how can you maximize your time in nature while also creating a minimalist lifestyle? Today’s guest, Meg Carney, offers help for environmentally-minded outdoor uses through her podcast Outdoor Minimalist and upcoming book of the same title.
[2:51] Meg Carney’s favorite outdoor space
[4:01] How Meg learned to love to go outside
[5:54] Why people get into conservation
[7:15] What is “minimalism?”
[11:45] Meg’s book and podcast
[13:55] How to be a minimalist without also living in a tiny house
[23:40] Does one person’s minimalism matter in the big picture?
[30:00] How should the outdoor industry fit into this?
[36:34] Simple steps you can take towards minimalism right now
[40:00] Meg’s favorite outdoor gear
[44:30] Meg’s favorite outdoor moment
The great thing about nature is that it will always have what you need. But how do you know what that is? In this episode, Amy talks about a little bit of her journey to understand how to get what she needs from heading outside.
[:45] How seeking what I need got started
[2:00] The unique thing about a relationship with nature
[2:11] Why you’re not actually giving anything back so don’t say you are
[2:25] Why nature is like a buffet
[3:00] How people figure out what they need
[3:40] What you really have to do
[3:51] What I’ve been up to
If you love spending time in nature like it’s your job, you might start looking for ways to make that literally true. If that’s you, you’re not alone — it’s the inspiration behind the careers of many members of the outdoor industry. But how do you make the jump from one industry to another? And is making nature your job a good idea?
Those are just some of the questions Jenna Celmer helps address through the outdoor industry job company Basecamp Outdoor and its Facebook-based networking group. In this episode Jenna talks through the why and how of making the jump into the outdoor industry.
[3:31] Jenna Celmer’s favorite outdoor space
[4:01] How Jenna became someone who likes to go outside
[7:05] What is Base Camp?
[8:27] How Jenna got involved in Base Camp
[12:51] Creating accountability in the outdoor industry
[15:50] Why it’s easy for people in the outdoor industry to be taken advantage of
[20:00] Why does going outside make you want to make it a job?
[22:41] Is it easy to break into the outdoor industry?
[24:41] How to break into the outdoor industry
[27:17] What is networking?
[30:44] What does Jenna tell people who want to get into the outdoor industry?
[34:04] What to expect in the outdoor industry
[35:03] Tips for breaking into the outdoor industry
What are your expectations for yourself? For how you get outside? For what you find there? For what you do there?
As the weathers changes into spring and summer, it’s easy to look outside and expect yourself to want to be there more or experience certain things when you get out there. But what would happen if you simply listened to yourself instead?
In this Outdoor Diary episode, Amy talks about getting outside without self-judgment and how hard it is for her to do so.
[:45] The deal with expectations
[1:10] What the real problem is
[1:29] What I can control
[2:04] The balancing act
[3:13] Start listening
[4:37] Why spending 20 outside is perfect for this
[5:22] What I’m working on
[5:40] What I’m doing outside now
Spend enough time outside and you’ll start to notice all of the things growing around you — and that some of those things look delicious. From greens to berries, to gardening, fishing and evening raising chickens, nature in your backyard can be full of food.
For today’s guest Tamar Haspel, the possibilities of gathering or growing at least a portion of her own meals, an experience she calls “first-hand food,” became the spark for a personal challenge to eat at least one thing she sourced herself each day for a year. In this episode Tamar talks about first-hand food, how growing and sourcing it connected her with spending time outside and how you can get started on a first-hand food journey, too.
[2:41] Tamar Haspel’s favorite outdoor space
[3:47] How Tamar became someone who likes to go outside
[6:14] Tracking her first-hand food challenge
[8:10] Going from city-dweller to farmer
[9:33] Best and worst first-hand food experiences
[11:59] Why first-hand food is such an appealing idea
[14:17] Don’t be afraid of foraging, Amy
[17:54] How to balance first-hand food around the rest of your life
[19:43] Amy is a first-hand mooch
[25:07] How first-hand food has changed Tamar’s experience of nature
[27:41] Has it changed how she feels about her place in nature?
[31:23] Why first-hand food doesn’t have to be extreme
[32:52] Is there a middle ground and what is it?
[33:50] How to get help doing it
[38:32] Tips for getting started
[39:34] Tamar’s favorite outdoor gear
[40:33] Tamar’s favorite outdoor memory
We all have a type of weather we just really can’t stand. But what if you paused to find a reason to at least appreciate it? What would you find?
In this Outdoor Diary episode, Amy talks about her recent experience learning to like the notorious wind in her part of Alaska.
[:45] The wind as an Alaska origin story
[2:32] The wind comes off the what?
[3:39] Getting over it
[4:08] Finding yourself in the wind and what to do about it
[5:07] What you might notice
It happens: sometimes life is just busy. So how do you make time to go outside when you’re busy? How do you keep it a priority? How do you fit it in?
In this Outdoor Diary episode Amy talks about how she fits her outdoor time into every day no matter what, and gives you a few tips for how you can do so, too.
[:47] Why it’s hard to get outside
[1:45] Tips for making it happen
[1:47] Write it down
[2:37] Be specific
[4:03] Remember your why
Just because nature is right outside your front door doesn’t mean everything you want to do in it must be done alone or leaning only on your own experience and knowledge. There’s a world of people out there who want to assist you if you just ask them. That can be a hard mindset for Amy, who likes to do things on her own. But asking for a little help has made her outdoor time much better than it was when she was trying to fly solo. In this episode she talks about two easy ways you can get help with heading outside.
[:45] Amy’s solo mindset
[1:15] Why asking for help can make outdoor time better
[2:15] The first kind of outdoor help
[3:59] A second type of help
[5:00] Help from the Humans Outside 365 Challenge
Listen to this episode on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The following is an edited transcript of this episode of
Listen to this episode on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The following is an edited transcript of this episode of
Listen to this episode on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The following is an edited transcript of this episode of