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.
It’s remarkable how a single day of nice weather can impact attitudes — and Amy is no different. In this episode of the Humans Outside weekly Outdoor Diary, Amy considers the huge impact a swing towards warmer temperatures has had on her. She also updates us on the project to remodel the interior of their 1997 Ford Coachman conversion van.
[:30] The promise of spring
[1:36] Updates to the Vanimal
[4:00] National Parks Week Giveaways
[4:42] Where to find Humans Outside
When Linda Mohammad immigrated to the U.S. from Malaysia it was not with the plan of visiting all of the country’s National Parks. But that’s exactly what she did — at least until the system added another one in late 2020, knocking her away from her goal again, at least temporarily.
Now she’s sharing with us some awesome tips and tricks for National Park lovers of all stripes. In this episode Linda shares with us insider info on visiting and experiencing the National Parks and even tells us her most and least favorite parks so far.
[3:23] Linda Mohammad’s favorite outdoor space
[3:55] Why Linda decided to visit the National Parks
[8:06] What’s up with this new National Park
[9:31] Why visiting a park is more than just visiting
[12:56] Linda’s favorite park
[15:08] Linda’s (totally surprising) least favorite park
[21:26] Where she volunteers and why
[29:41] How to be good citizen-advocates for the National Parks
[33:17] The role of National Parks in helping us get outside
[34:24] The secret to making it to all of the parks
[37:35] Linda’s tips for visiting the parks
[40:00] Linda’s favorite and most essential outdoor gear
[42:06] Linda’s favorite outdoor moment
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Linda’s favorite outdoor gear: Hydroflask (affiliate link)
Sometimes everything in normal life just seems harder than it should be. But for that we have a change of perspective gifted by heading outside, looking around, doing something challenging and seeing something new.
In this Outdoor Diary episode, Amy talks about three experiences she recently had that helped her hunt for and find the good.
[:30] When nothing seems to be going your way
[1:15] Finding the good
[3:24] A visit to Matanuska Glacier
[4:08] Making our own fun
[4:20] National Park Week + Giveaways!
In 2017 when Amy picked 20 minutes as her minimum daily outdoor time, she based that decision on some research she read in passing that said 20 minutes is enough time to spend outside and see health benefits from doing so. But Amy isn’t a social scientist or a scientific researcher, so her choice of 20 minutes wasn’t overly scientific either. That and every other outdoor decision she’s made is just based on gut.
So was she right? Has her outdoor experiment been aimed at the right thing — or has she been wasting her life on the wrong timing and wrong activities? In this episode we bring in an actual outdoor experience researcher and scientist, Dr. Kathleen Wolf, to weigh-in on not just what the research says about what Amy is doing, but on how everyone can get the most out of their own time in nature.
[1:49] Dr. Kathleen Wolf’s favorite outdoor space
[4:16] Kathy’s journey to outdoor researcher
[6:58] What the research says about nature making you feel better
[9:24] What the research says about spending 20 minutes outside a day
[12:26] Is Amy too worried about dosage or doing something different every day?
[25:41] Does what you do outside matter?
[28:18] Is some of Amy’s outside time worthless?
[32:23] A Seatac airport secret – shhh don’t tell
[34:56] How people can get the most of their outdoor time
[39:07] Kathy’s favorite and most essential outdoor gear
[43:11] Kathy’s favorite outdoor moment
Winter seems to be just dragging on and on in Alaska, and to pull herself out of a late-winter funk, Amy spent a week reminding herself about the things she actually likes about Alaska by doing some of her favorite winter activities.
Listen to this week’s edition of Amy’s Outdoor Diary to find out what those winter things are and be inspired to make the most of whatever season you’re in.
[:30] 1000th Winter
[1:00] Amy’s attitude adjustment
[1:45] How Amy got outside this week
[4:38] All of the winter things
[4:58] Pausing over wallowing
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When Ben Cross took over his family’s UK-based flower farm, he faced an uphill battle of competing against the cheaper flower imported from overseas into UK marketplaces. His British Flowers Rock campaign looks to teach flower buyers the importance of supporting local flower farmers not just for sustainability, but for bringing a slice of their local nature inside.
In this episode Ben talks about what spending time flower farming has taught him about nature, why supporting local farmers – food and flowers – ties us to the outdoors and how bringing cut blooms indoors can increase our appreciation of the outdoors.
[2:27] Ben Cross’s favorite outdoor space
[4:11] How Ben became a person who likes to go outside
[5:50] About Crosslands Flower farm and the British Alstroemeria flower
[8:09] How Ben went from a Marine biologist to a flower farmer
[13:22] The problem with British flowers
[19:57] How cut flowers connect us with nature
[26:44] The importance of local blooms
[30:25] Why it’s important to be connected to your outdoor growing community
[34:00] How to connect with flowers in your local community
[40:51] Ben’s most essential and favorite outdoor gear
[42:11] Ben’s favorite outdoor space
Hitting 1,300 days in a row of heading outside for at least 20 consecutive and starting work on a book proposal has Amy thinking about the gifts of building an outdoor habit and the things she’s learned from heading outside.
In this Outdoor Diary Amy shares just a few of the things she’s learned during her outdoor diary.
[:27] Amy’s outdoor experiment
[1:25] The first few things Amy learned
[1:52] What Amy has learned after 1300 days
[4:30] The gift of the outdoors
We’ve spent years thinking about and experiencing going outside impacts your life. But we never once realized that getting into nature would help us learn how to forgive. But all of that changed when we found the work of Sara Schulting Kranz. A wilderness guide, a life and leadership coach and a certified Multidimensional Partner Trauma Model therapist, Sara’s book, Walk Through This, guides readers through getting to forgiveness and understanding the freedom it gives by heading outside.
In this episode of Humans Outside Sarah shares her powerful story and insights on how nature and getting outside can bring you to a powerful place of forgiveness.
[2:11] Saraa Schulting Kranz’s favorite outdoor space
[3:38] How Saraa got where she is today
[10:41] What nature teaches about comfort zones
[14:57] How doing hard things outside helps us forgive
[16:51] The definition of “forgiveness”
[20:27] Why it’s different than forgetting
[22:49] Why nature is a great vehicle for healing
[25:47] The difference between goal and intention
[35:44] The journey of forgiveness
[39:59] How nature fits into that journey
[42:16] Sara’s most essential and favorite outdoor gear
[45:01] Sara’s favorite outdoor moment
How are you embracing spring? In Alaska it means marking the Vernal Equinox and finding ways to lean into those bright spring sunshine hours. Hear in this Outdoor Diary how Amy is doing that, plus details on how to submit your crazy wildlife story and appear on an upcoming Humans Outside episode.
[:30] The significance of Spring Equinox
[1:52] Finding your passion outside
[2:28] Pandemic reflections
[2:50] How Amy got outside this week
[3:32] You could be on the Humans Outside Podcast!
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Here’s an edited transcript of this installment of Amy’s Outdoor Diary. Listen to the episode on iTunes, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite
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