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[: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

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How to Use ‘First-Hand Food’ to Get Outside (Tamar Haspel)

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.

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Some of the good stuff:

[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

Connect with this episode:

Join the Humans Outside Challenge
Follow Humans Outside on Instagram
Follow Humans Outside on Facebook
Visit Tamar Haspel’s website
Read Tamar’s book, “To Boldly Grow” (affiliate link)

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Outdoor Diary: Learning to Like the Weather You Hate

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.

Some of the good stuff:

[: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

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Outdoor Diary: What to Do When You’re Too Busy to Go Outside

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.

Some of the good stuff:

[: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

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Outdoor Diary: Here’s 2 Types of Help for Going Outside

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.

Some of the good stuff:

[: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

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Outdoor Diary: You Don’t Actually Have to Go All In

If you’ve been contemplating an outdoor habit, you may have fallen into a trap Amy constantly finds herself in: thinking you have to go all in. So what’s the real deal? In this episode of Amy’s Outdoor Diary, she talks about her own “all in” habit and how it keeps her from trying new things.

Some of the good stuff:

[:45] What does “all in” mean to Amy?

[1:25] What all in looks like in Amy’s life

[2:00] Why thinking about going all in might stop you from trying

[2:15] The dangers of this mindset for Amy

[2:41] Lessons from a recent interview

[4:20] Don’t let this thinking keep you from doing this

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Learn about Native Skywatchers

Read Tamar Haspel’s new book “To Boldly Grow” (affiliate link)

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Why Understanding Native American Astronomy Can Help You Go Outside (Carl Gawboy)

Editor note: Human error got the best of me, and despite actually discussing with Carl during our interview (before recording) the difference between astrology and astronomy, I proceeded to use the wrong term in the title of this podcast episode and throughout the post and podcast notes. Carl Gawboy is an astrologist. The below has been corrected. Thank you for understanding!

Modern American culture uses Greek mythology to refer to stars and constellations in the night sky. But a rich tradition of Natvie American astronomy and indigenous star stories is out there, too, waiting for us to learn it. Better yet? Native American astronomy and learning star stories can help us chart the seasons and help us enjoy heading outside.

In this episode of Humans Outside Carl Gawboy, a Native American astronomy, Native Skywatchers elder and Ojibwe artist based in Minnesota, guides us through his groundbreaking work in Ojibwe star stories and what they can mean to us today. At almost 80, Carl shares a lifetime of work, study and cultural understanding with us.

Some of the good stuff:

[3:32] Carl Gawboy’s favorite outdoor space

[5:55] How Carl became someone who likes to go outside

[7:31] How indigenous star stories because a part of his journey

[16:32] How he discovered the connection of Ojibwe pictographs to star stories

[26:19] What the Hegman Lake pictographs mean

[32:05] The Ojibwe words for what’s in those pictographs

[34:00] What do you indigenous star stories teach us about our world today?

[38:19] How Carl’s artwork and star stories connect to simplicity

[42:29] The role of myth in understanding our world

[45:44] Using star stories to chart the year

[48:57] How to learn more about star stories wherever you are

Connect with this episode:

Learn about Carl Gawboy’s art

Read the Forest Service pamphlet that doesn’t recognize the star stories

Learn more about the Hegman Lake pictographs

The Sun Dagger documentary

Talking Sky by Carl Gawboy and Ron Mortin

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Outdoor Diary: When You Don’t Want to Go Outside? That’s When You Should

Bad attitudes and not feeling like doing something are just a part of life. So is facing conditions or circumstances that aren’t fun or pleasant. And when it comes to those things being a part of your outdoor habit? There is a reason you should move into them head-on and do the thing anyway.

Amy’s been thinking about two reasons that’s true as she battles through some of her own bad attitude feelings, and talks about them in this episode of Humans Outside.

Some of the good stuff:

[:45] A Spring-ish confession

[1:20] What “over it” means right now

[2:30] Why this is when you need to be out there

[2:50] The muscle you build when you get out there

[3:40] The outside time you’ll absolutely regret

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Outdoor Diary: Finding Ways to Power Through Dragging Seasons

How’s the end of winter going for you? Across the northern hemisphere hints of spring are popping up, with daffodils and flowers pushing through the ground. That’s even true in Alaska, where the longer daylight and temperatures closer to 30 than to 10 are warming things up and offering glimmers of hope, even if they do come between arctic blasts and falling snow. In this Outdoor Diary episode Amy walks through the power of those hints and why it’s important to seize them when it comes.

Some of the good stuff:

[:27] Finding moments of hope

[1:36] An almost-missed opportunity

[3:45] A hint of what’s to come

[4:21] Humans Outside Challenge

[5:09] Where to find Humans Outside

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