1,000 Hours Outside

Palm tree oasis hike

This year, we decided to take on the 1,000 hours outside challenge, inspired by the podcast of the same name.  This challenge encourages families to spend more time outside throughout the year - 1,000 hours specifically, which works out to an average of 2.7 hours outside per day.  We're not quite at the end of the year, but we're rounding the bend close enough that I thought I'd write a blog about it - why we did it, what were the best and hardest parts, how did it go, and whether we will do it again.  

Kenny and Josh watching sunset in Oregon

Why do it?

The benefits of outdoor time are huge.  Just some of these benefits include:  more physical activity; more time playing / using imagination / taking risks; less time on screens;  good health and sensory effects; great memories; exposure to natural beauty; and the list goes on.  

Spooner Lake

This challenge seemed like a good way to really measure how we were doing at getting outdoors, and to encourage looking for any and every space that would get us outside more.  We are reasonably outdoorsy in the warm weather months, but I would guess in past years we were only getting to about half the amount of hours in this challenge (maybe??  if even that much??).  I wanted to see if we could ramp our hours way up and turn sustained outdoor time into more of a habit.  

How did it go?  What were the best parts and the biggest challenges?

The first challenge we faced was weather.  As I wrote about previously on this blog, our region received record breaking amounts of snow this year.  There are some kinds of weather where it's unpleasant, but not impossible, to be outside: days that are unpleasantly hot, unpleasantly cold, or precipitous.  I felt like it was one of the unexpected benefits of this challenge to try to take these uncomfortable days on - to learn how to dress appropriately, to find the fun and motivating activity that gets you out (sledding!), and to strategize about what's the best time of day with this kind of weather forecast.  An hour outside in dreary January does as much to boost the mood as 8 hours outside in beautiful May, and this was one of my favorite takeaways from the challenge.  However - while we did get a little time logged in that snowy first quarter, probably much more than we would have without the challenge - we were still mostly indoors and we were WAY behind by the time April hit.  

Zoey writing poetry at Evans Creek

Partly because we were so desperate for hours, I started doing school outside once the warm weather arrived.  And this was great!  It provided some fresh energy during that fourth quarter when everyone is worn down.  It should be noted here that this was a great answer to the two other main challenges:  1) finding the time, and 2) killing boredom.  It's great when your outdoor hours can be filled with adventuring, but to fill 1,000 hours, much of it is going to need to take place close to home with everyday tasks.  Chores are great for this - watering the lawn, tending a garden, walking the dog.  Outdoor exercise is great for this - running, bike rides, baseball, skiing.  And if you can combine the outdoors with things that you want or need to do anyway, but might have normally done indoors - things like meals, board games, art projects, reading, school - that will really rack up the hours during the warmer weather months, when it's comfortable to be outside.  I really liked that this challenge encouraged me to move indoor things outside whenever possible, and I hope that continues past this year.  

Once school was out in June, we conducted our summer pretty much as normal, which includes lots of outdoor time at various bodies of water and a couple camping trips.  This reminds me of another thing I appreciated about this challenge - it encourages you to say yes to adventures.  Whether this means coming up with your own plans, or saying yes to someone's invitation to get together outdoors even when you might be feeling lazy (or introverted!) - it's good to have this extra push to do outdoor outings.

We were blessed not to have any wildfire smoke this summer (some years, smoke impacts up to 60 days - there's no way we would have met the hours in a year like that).  Between the school hours in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall, combined with summer being so amenable to outdoor time, we were able to catch up.  We haven't officially finished our 1,000 hours yet, but we are down to the final 50 hours, so we are in the home stretch.  

[A note for those who are also doing the 1,000 hours:  There were certain tracking rules that we did not follow.  If we slept in a tent, I counted those hours.  If the kids were playing in the backyard while I was inside cooking dinner, or if I was outside for a run while the kids were inside, I counted those hours.  All of the "broken rule" hours combined probably make up less than 200 of our total hours - but I want to disclose that, in case anyone is wondering, and to own up that we wouldn't have made it to 1,000 without breaking a couple rules.]

Andelin Farms

Favorite outdoor memories

This is one of the great parts - outdoors time makes great memories!  Some favorite memories include skiing at Sky Tavern with the kids; sledding Village Green; hiking through a palm tree oasis in Palm Springs; going on a lichen hunt on a spring hike; night swimming with glowsticks with the cousins; diving into the waves on a choppy day at Lake Tahoe; middle of the night run through Genoa during the Reno Tahoe Odyssey; paddle boarding at Boca on Zoey's birthday; having a campfire dance party with friends; spotting whales on the Oregon beach; and telling ghost stories in the tent.  

Sky Tavern

Will we do it again?

I'm undecided.  I'm glad we did it once, and I do hope lots of the outdoor habits stick.  But it was pretty challenging to get all these hours and keep track of it all; also, getting outdoors is just one priority among many in life; so I'm thinking we might drop the tracking at the end of December.  

Have you done this challenge?  Are you thinking about doing it?  I'd be very interested to hear about others' experiences!