New Year, New Outdoor Adventure Goals (and how to stick to them)

January 1, 2019

Skip the gym and diet - choose outdoor adventures as your New Years resolution!

In 2019, I will…

A new year is a natural time to look at our lives and review what we’ve accomplished in the past 365 days. It’s also a good opportunity to reset our aspirations and intentions for the next 365 days. Many individuals resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, drink more water and exercise more.

This is great, except…

Gyms begin to burst at the seams.

Avoid the onslaught of resolution-makers and make a unique goal this year: to get outside and adventure more.

Benefits of Outdoor Adventure

Most of us spend way too much time indoors. Our phones are stuck to our bodies like an extension of our arms. We can barely conceive being away from Netflix for more than an evening. But there is a cost to being alienated from nature, and even a term for it: nature deficit disorder.

You’ve felt it, haven’t you?

Most working adults spend at least eight hours every day sitting at a desk under fluorescent lights. Children grow up staring into iPads instead of touching flowers and dirt. Our intimacy with nature is dissolving, replaced by a dependency on USB-chargers and noise-cancelling headphones.

It’s unnatural. And it’s unhealthy.

When you step outside, you’ll soak in the sunshine’s vitamins. You’ll breathe in fresh air, meet new people, firm your muscles and learn new skills. Getting into nature can even reduce mental stress and increase life satisfaction.

If nothing else, outdoor adventures are a fun way to burn calories and get in your recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity.

Have we convinced you? Then it’s time to think about…

How to Stick to your New Years Resolution

One of the most effective ways to stick to a goal is to have an accountability group. Whether you turn to friends, family or an organized group like explore’s Adventure Challenge Club, sharing your goal is the first step to completing it.

Next, define your expectations. What is “adventure” to you? Does shoveling your driveway count? Is your backyard considered “the outdoors”?

Then, list the adventure activities you want to try in 2019. Make them ambitious and specific: cross-country skiing on the trails behind your house, winter surfing in Tofino, paragliding on your vacation this summer, mountain biking with your kids, trail running with your dog.

Pull up a calendar that shows your work- and responsibility-free days. Leaving a few spots open, plot your year of adventure.

But what about the weather? Last-minute work trips? Spontaneous adventures and unexpected emergencies?!

Keep it flexible. This is just a plan. Plans change, and that’s okay. It might not work out the way you want it to. But if you don’t make a plan, it definitely won’t.

Don’t have the necessary gear for your intended adventures? You can often rent gear from stores like MEC. Make a list of what you’ll need and plan time to get it.

Another option is to sign up for our quarterly Gear Box. Not only do we deliver seasonal gear straight to your front door, but our private Facebook group also hosts adventure challenges with serious gear prizes. We recently gave away double sleeping bags, hiking poles and Icebreaker base layers.