1,000 HOURS OUTSIDE CHALLENGE

I’ve talked about doing the 1,000 Hours Outside challenge this year a bit… But now that we’re more than a quarter into the year, I wanted to share something very interesting that happened.

Some background first: I saw this 1,000 Hours Outside challenge all over TikTok at the end of last year. The challenge is as simple as it sounds: spend 1,000 hours outside over the course of a year. That’s just under three hours a day… People were recapping their “year outside” with beautiful videos and sharing just how much time they spent outside. What really sold me was a video (which I haven’t been able to find again!) about what failing the challenge looked like. This family hadn’t hit the goal of 1,000 hours outside, but they had a full year of beautiful memories. They were sledding and gardening and playing on the beach and picnicking. Their “failure” was still such a win.

I originally pitched this idea to Mike because I thought it would be great for Jack. The part that has shocked me though is how important this has been for myself. I can’t really even tell you how transformative this challenge has been for me. My mental and physical health have never been better. My sense of community has never been greater. I get to spend the best time with Jack outside– and I love getting to watch him explore and test his physical limits and flex his curiosity. We are less rushed when we are outside. We are happier when we are outside. We can get out so much more energy when we’re outside.

There’s been a lot of good to come out of the 1,000 Hours Outside challenge for Jack and even more specifically how we bond and spend time together, but I’m going to make the focus of this post very self centered. This is what it’s done for me:

Three hours outside a day, to me, doesn’t sound like that much. (Especially when I get my screen time report back from Apple every Sunday 🫣.) I have to admit though, I’ve been shocked at how much we have to work to get outside. We HAVE to prioritize it otherwise we “fall behind” the 1,000 hours outside. Now for me, this push has been great. I am someone who is perfectly content to not go outside. I love being home. I love being comfortable. I do not enjoy my hair frizzing up in humidity or rain. I am Goldilocks– I only want to be outside when it’s “just right,” that is, not too hot and not too cold.

Being pushed to go outside with this overarching challenge has gotten me outside though and, wow, what a difference it makes. I truly feel a sense of grounding. As ~woo woo~ as it sounds, too, I genuinely feel more in sync with nature. (Judge me for admitting this out loud, but I swear I do 🤣.)

We start almost every morning with a solid walk and we do a lot of walking now throughout town. I’m not talking “take the dogs out for a quick walk down the street,” but a genuine walk. It’s just over a mile to Jack’s daycare. While I only count the time Jack himself is outside (and only the time he’s outside with Mike or me so we can track), I end up getting another mile on the way home. This has been amazing for me. I love it. Really regardless of the weather– I come back to the house feeling recharged and ready. And then I do the walk to pick him back up in the afternoon. It’s over four miles right there. If I get no other exercise in for the day, I still go to bed feeling like I’ve accomplished something. Our grocery stores by us are either a 10 or 20 minute walk depending on which one we go to and it’s an easy way to get more steps in and make running errands more fun. (Plus I don’t have to wrangle a toddler in and out of a carseat, ha.)

Physically I feel so good– especially pushing the stroller. It feels like a real work out– and my butt has never been more toned from walking up all the hills in our town. More than anything though, the walking has given me dedicated time every day to really think and process through different things. I sometimes listen to podcasts or audiobooks while I’m walking back from daycare alone, but when Jack’s in the stroller we chat every now and then and each kind of sit with our thoughts. It’s helped with my anxiety, without a doubt.

I’ve always felt a good sense of community in our town– I think it has an extra friendly “small town” vibe with a lot of good neighborly behavior. This has only gotten more pronounced since starting this. I’ve met more moms at the playground, have befriended all the school crossing guards, and end up running into friends for impromptu hangs more often.

My pace of life has also changed. I don’t know what exactly to attribute it to (is it that we’re walking? or just feel more relaxed? or that we aren’t cooped up inside trying to come up with activities? or that my house is cleaner since we’re not inside actively destroying it?), but unequivocally I feel less rushed and more calm about everything. Who cares if it takes 30 minutes for us to walk down to the center of town. I follow Jack’s lead and his pace and just feel so much better not feeling like I have to poke and prod him to move faster. Like, deep breath, we’ll get there when we get there.

And, to top it off, I feel less stressed about being a mom. I think I was so worried all the time about doing the right thing and providing the right learning moments and so on and so on. My brain was constantly racing trying to think of and plan and execute activities. This has been a great reminder as a mom that…. Jack doesn’t need that much. When we’re outside he is constantly entertained with literally zero input from me. He leads the way! He’ll simply walk. He’ll stand and watch a squirrel. He’ll pick up acorns. He’ll sit on the sidewalk and watch trains come and go. I can see him problem solving trying to figure out how to turn his tricycle around. Or his fascination with how an earth worm slithers up and down a sidewalk. Or his bravery overcoming a big slide at the playground. I encourage when necessary and step in when needed, but for the most part? I’m just observing. It’s amazing to know I’ll spend (hopefully!) 1,000 hours outside just watching him learn and grow. I feel like I’ve been able to really see him and discover him without this overarching pressure to perform as a mom. I had all this pressure (frankly) from social media about needing to set up sensory bins, and to set up special crafts, and to determine if things on TV are or aren’t okay to watch. I don’t feel that pressure really at all anymore. I do a lot more laundry and have had to buy more shoes (for him and myself) but…. the pressure to perform as a mom is off the table. It’s made me realize he has everything he needs!

Whether or not you have kids, I really recommend at least trying 1,000 hours outside! I’ve been so surprised at how hard it is to hit those daily three hours. It feels like it should be easy…. but it does take some effort to just get outside.