How to Get Outdoors More When You Just Don't Have the Time
Tips for outdoorsy workaholics + how to curate a more adventurous Instagram
Welcome to the Offbeat Update published by Souls Like Wheels: a newsletter featuring all things creative, adventurous, and quirky. 🤓
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How do you make time for adventure when if feels like you have no time to spare?
How about about when you just can’t seem to schedule time off from work?
These are some of the questions I’ve been asking myself for the past few weeks.
Let me tell you, thanks to long hours at the office, I’m learning the hard way that a passion for the outdoors and maintaining a desk job don’t go hand in hand — they clash more often than not.
Out of sheer necessity I’m learning how to be more strategic with my time so I can do the things I love. And at the same time, I know that I can’t be the only one who struggles to make time for adventure!
So straight from the horses’ mouth, here are three ways to seek adventure on a very, very tight schedule:
Work a Flexible Schedule
Maybe you can’t take a Friday off, but can you start early and end early to get a jump-start on a weekend adventure?
That’s what I did this past weekend… and it worked!
Here’s my advice:
Pack your car and get your gear ready on Thursday night.
Start work at 7 am on Friday
Conquer your to-do list
Block your Google Calendar from 3-5 pm — This is KEY to avoiding the dreaded Friday late-afternoon meetings!
I dashed out the door to a mountain pass before evening set in and I completed a 4 mile hike before nightfall. Next, I camped overnight close to where I wanted to mushroom forage the next day to ensure a very full day in the woods!
I know it’s not the same as a true 3-day weekend but with a bit of planning, you can give yourself a bit more time out of pocket, out of cell service, and put yourself in a better state of mind.
And not to brag, but check out all the mushrooms I found thanks to a very full weekend at my secret foraging location:
Sign Up For a Weekend Class
It’s tempting to stay in and binge Netflix all weekend when you’ve just finished a long, exhausting workweek. And while it’s absolutely okay to temporarily transform into a couch potato, remember that exercise or a change of scenery can be just as rejuvenating as a lazy weekend at home.
If you’re having trouble getting out on your own, look for a workshop or class to attend! Chances are you’ll have a memorable weekend and possibly discover a new passion!
I recently attended a mushroom foray and mushroom dyeing workshop over Labor Day weekend. I signed up for at the very last minute, totally on a whim, and the sign up fee was less than $50!
I transformed my lazy weekend ahead into a road trip and educational experience. And I came back with some nice photos!
Here are a few of my favorite snapshots:
Seek Out Motivation and Inspiration
No matter how busy I am, I still find a way to mindless scroll through social media for at least a few minutes each day. Sound familiar?
Instead of browsing through life updates from high-school acquaintances and watching obnoxious reels that have been re-hashed for months on end, inject a bit of mindfulness into your social media!
An easy way to do this is to follow pages and influencers who will make you want to get your butt out the door.
Here are a few of great adventure accounts you should follow:
Alpine Paintings with Nikki Frumkin
Nikki Frumkin is watercolor artist based out of Seattle. She documents mountain peaks on her alpine adventures and her work speaks for itself — it’s gorgeous!
Nikki’s work has me convinced that watercolor is the perfect medium to capture alpine glow! What do you think?
National Park Service
You can’t go wrong filling your social media with photos of some of the most spectacular places on Earth! And how lucky are we that many of those places are located right here in the US and are protected through the National Park system?
Go ahead and fill your feed with mountain goats, bears, and prairie dogs. You won’t regret it!
Side note: whoever runs the social media account for NPS is a marketing genius. The captions for these wildlife photos make me cackle with laughter!
Great Gram of Gary
Do you love skiing, outdoor adventure and cats? There’s an Instagram page for you too!
This Canadian Cat named Gary rides up chairlifts and enjoys the ski slopes on his owner’s shoulder. In the summer months, they go for forest hikes and even get out of the water. I’m not joking!
Check out Gary’s photos for yourself and follow Great Grams of Gary all winter long to make your ski season even more enjoyable.
State of the Craft
Between a heavy workload and juggling a few too many hobbies, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to craft!
Right now I’m finishing up a test knit (which I will write about soon) and I’m still wandering around the woods looking for the last remaining dyeing mushrooms before the season ends.
For now I’ll sign off this week with a few of my favorite photos — I hope you get a kick out of them!
Let’s Chat!
How do you get outside and away from work when you just can’t take time off?
Do you have a favorite artist who you follow on social media? Tell me about them and what type of art they create!
Crafters, what projects are you working on right now and what do you plan to work on this coming fall?
Action Steps:
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Great post! Getting a dog definitely changed a lot of things for me. Now, whenever my wife and I are planning our weekend, we try to think where to go with our outdoors-loving pet. We rarely stay somewhere, but we definitely go about exploring the surrounding forests more often.
This is such a great message and that watercolour class looks amazing! I like the way you talk about being organised helping your get things done. Couldn’t agree more...not that I always do it!! :) thanks for the message and reminders too