Well that's interesting, but I think you also kind of hit a nail on the head. People DO say stuff like "Just getting outdoors will make you feel so much better" and "do wonders for your mood" and all that to the point that they're a cliche. And happy people say them. Or "sporty people" say them. And as a fellow 'was a chubby nerd in high school', I can say I think there is definitely a sense that there are the "kinds of people" who do activities like that and the kinds that don't. Part of finding pride in your identity, especially as a "not sporty person" can often be to devalue the use of "just getting outside" or in affirming yourself in general as "not into that kind of thing." Like not really so much that it's a matter of if it's healthy or not, but a matter of affirming who you are by affirming what you are not.
Then, you grow up and you're like, oh, maybe I don't have to identify as a "gym person", a "sport person", or an "outdoorsy type" but I can still enjoy that there are value to those things. Like learning to separate a refreshing human activity from the social implications we've attached to them.
At least that's what I felt about it.
Funnily, I had much the same hiking experience, though! I think it was my first big hike, I was around 15, and meant to be 2 miles. My dad had a map and such and we camped and then packed up the car and went to do the walk. Generally, he was a well-prepared camper, but for whatever reason he was like, well it's just a little 2 mile walk, we can take our little hip packs and do it. Likewise, I was in jeans and a tee and sneakers.
We did have some food and water, but it was like, a single can of beans and a single can of tuna. And, four and a half miles later, as we huddled in the snow and split the cans between the five of us, we were like... the crap, man. Where the hell IS this hot spring?! And we kept asking each other if we should go back, but we thought for sure that we were likely to come upon it -any- second. And, since the snow was now up to our thighs if you fell off the path too far, my dad was like... we gotta go just a little further because at least there will be some hot water waiting for us and that will be really valuable right now.
Once we made it, they found an abandoned bundle of bread under a log and my dad started a fire with the map (which was clearly bullshit anyway!) and toasted the bread. It was horrible, burnt on the outside and mush inside. Bleh!
By the time we got back to the car, it had been close to 12 miles round trip and was dark as hell! We drove to a restaurant, ate as much as we could, and then I fell asleep on the bench before the bill was paid. Now that I'm older, I always overprepare if I'm going out in the woods. Clearly, you never know!
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Then, you grow up and you're like, oh, maybe I don't have to identify as a "gym person", a "sport person", or an "outdoorsy type" but I can still enjoy that there are value to those things. Like learning to separate a refreshing human activity from the social implications we've attached to them.
At least that's what I felt about it.
Funnily, I had much the same hiking experience, though! I think it was my first big hike, I was around 15, and meant to be 2 miles. My dad had a map and such and we camped and then packed up the car and went to do the walk. Generally, he was a well-prepared camper, but for whatever reason he was like, well it's just a little 2 mile walk, we can take our little hip packs and do it. Likewise, I was in jeans and a tee and sneakers.
We did have some food and water, but it was like, a single can of beans and a single can of tuna. And, four and a half miles later, as we huddled in the snow and split the cans between the five of us, we were like... the crap, man. Where the hell IS this hot spring?! And we kept asking each other if we should go back, but we thought for sure that we were likely to come upon it -any- second. And, since the snow was now up to our thighs if you fell off the path too far, my dad was like... we gotta go just a little further because at least there will be some hot water waiting for us and that will be really valuable right now.
Once we made it, they found an abandoned bundle of bread under a log and my dad started a fire with the map (which was clearly bullshit anyway!) and toasted the bread. It was horrible, burnt on the outside and mush inside. Bleh!
By the time we got back to the car, it had been close to 12 miles round trip and was dark as hell! We drove to a restaurant, ate as much as we could, and then I fell asleep on the bench before the bill was paid. Now that I'm older, I always overprepare if I'm going out in the woods. Clearly, you never know!