Is Going Outside > Writing About Going Outside?
Reflections on an Accidental Newsletter Hiatus
For months now, Go Outside has been on the (never-ending) To Do list. And, time and time again, this bullet point on the To Do list is taken quite literally. Instead of writing a Go Outside newsletter post, we have been, well, going outside.
We spent the snowy winter months outside as much as possible: downhill skiing and cross-country skiing and sledding and skating with our kids. Annalise made good use of her Mountain Collective pass and packed in many full ski days and weekend trips, not to mention weekly ‘Shred Til’ Bed’ sessions with the kids and their friends at our local ski hill. Even the two-year-old was magic carpeting this year! We’ll be pulling out the ski boots again when Sunshine Village opens up for a rare two-week summer season later this week.
Delirium Dive at Banff Sunshine Village mountain resort in April
Cailynn and her family enjoyed the short but sweet x-country ski season right in the city at Confederation Golf Course. And after a major knee injury that derailed last year’s downhill ski season, and much work on strengthening, Cailynn was elated to return to the ski hill this winter. Another winter highlight was watching her preschooler finally try skating, on a community rink with quite the view.
The ice rink in Dead Man’s Flats in January
Once the weather warmed up, we were back to countless bike rides and playground hangs in the city. Cailynn’s family visited Jasper for the first time since the devastating 2024 wildfires, hiking through drastically altered trails. They stopped in Banff on the drive up and drive back, playing at the new playground in Sundance Park — an amazing spot Cailynn can’t stop raving about.
The Old Fort Point trail in Jasper in May
When the calendar turned to June, Annalise’s family busted out the hiking and camping equipment. They’ve been spending a lot of time in the mountains, in tents, and around campfires. Watching her kids not only enjoy, but really love the outdoors is truly a special experience. After two weekends of camping with friends, Annalise’s four-year-old has informed her he wishes he lived at a campground all the time.
Lac des Arcs campground on June 12
Life is good. The outdoors are soul-filling. And for whatever reason, we’ve just been in a season where writing about our adventures feels like a chore. We know this won’t last. We know this newsletter and community isn’t going anywhere. But we wanted to check in, thank you for your patience, and let you know all is well in our worlds. The advice, stories, trip reports, interviews, reflections, opinions, inspiration, Q&As, and outdoorsy goodness will resume soon. We promise! We have an ever-growing list of newsletter ideas that we will eventually get to.
Like many of you, our inboxes are overflowing and we’re constantly overwhelmed by just how much information is out there and how much good content there is to read — not to mention what AI is doing to our brains. We both keep coming back to a fascination this year with a few key ideas/themes:
Quality over quantity
Time is our greatest currency (so a true thank you for spending your time reading our words!)
Staring at screens all day and scrolling is ruining our society (rich of us to say, as you read this on a screen😬)
We both read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt late last year, and while our kids are a long ways from having cellphones, much of the discussion in the book about a play-based childhood has resonated deeply. Haidt writes about how physical play, outdoors, with other kids of a variety of ages, is the healthiest, most natural and most beneficial sort of play. We see this firsthand and are trying to cultivate it in our daily lives — on our blocks, in our neighbourhoods, and on weekend camping and hiking and ski trips.
Cousins going on a nature walk
But, play certainly isn’t just for kids. And we think those of you who are reading this, who love going outside, know exactly what we’re talking about.
Racing down a mountain, weaving through trees on skis feels like play because it is play.
Riding your bike, hiking a mountain, going for a run, laying in a hammock and looking at the trees — it is all play, and in today’s fractured and busy and overwhelming society we need more of it, no matter our age.
The Well newsletter from the New York Times is running a June “touch grass” challenge where they send readers a weekly “evidence-based exercise that will encourage you to step away from your screen.” We were pleased to see the first week’s task: Go Outside. From the NYT Well newsletter:
“For our first exercise, you’ll commit to spending 20 minutes a day in nature — not just this week but throughout the month of June.
Why? A landmark study of nearly 20,000 subjects found that when people spent at least 120 minutes in nature a week, they reported significantly higher levels of health and well-being. That’s 17 minutes a day.
So, this is your cue. Stop reading. Stop scrolling. Go Outside. Go play. Go for a walk or a run or a hike or a bike. Have fun. Feel the sun on your face. We’ll be back in your inboxes soon enough.
