Intentionally Chic

What are your reasons for getting outside?

When I first started the 1000 hours outside challenge, my main motivation was to get my (then) two energetic boys out of my house and give them a safe space to be loud and rough. As the saying goes “If they’re bouncing off the walls, just remove the walls”. Of course there are lots of ways that being outside is good for you, from sunshine to fresh air to forest bathing and so on, but at the time I was mostly interested in protecting my sanity.

Now on our third year of attempting 1KHO, while we haven’t yet actually reached 1000, we’ve increased our outdoor time each year and I’ve found more and more reasons to spend the majority of our days outdoors. This year, I’m focusing on exploring more of our local forest preserves and hiking trails, giving the kids (and me) a chance to increase our stamina and practice the skills we will use on our bigger outdoor exploration trips!