After N is for Nightlife the other day, we’re now more in my area of expertise: O is for Outdoors! Oh, there are so many outdoors activities you can do when you’re travelling!
Becoming outdoorsy when travelling
You might skip this one because you think you’re not the outdoorsy kind but I promise you, virtually everyone becomes more outdoorsy when they’re travelling. Even my mum will take her (Cotton Traders) walking shoes and poles and walk across the mountains when she’s on her summer holiday. I wouldn’t camp at home – that’s what my house, solid roof and proper bed are for – but I’d absolutely go off for a weekend camping by the sea or take my tent to Iceland. And you might not do outdoors or adventurous activities in your day-to-day life but I bet you would when you’re travelling.
What does “outdoors” mean?
It can mean anything from camping to hiking to bungee-jumping to dining al fresco and absolutely anything in between. I sometimes dither about this blog – where’s the line between outdoors and adventures? Is hiking outdoors when I’m doing it locally but adventure when I’m trekking the Laugavegur Trail? Which way does archery fall? Should snowmobiling come under the outdoors or adventure categories? You certainly can’t do it inside.
Really really broadly, I would maybe say that outdoors means anything that takes you into the fresh air and away from staring at your phone, even if you use your phone to do the outdoors activity (see using it as a navigational aid for hiking, or for identifying plants or stars). If you’re going to see the world, then seeing the outdoors is an important thing to do. Oh, cities and monuments and museums are great things but you want to see and experience the landscapes too. A long weekend in Reykjavik is great but I don’t think you’ve really seen Iceland until you’ve been out in the countryside and seen mountains and glaciers and waterfalls and islands that look like broken teeth. I’m sure there are lots of interesting things in Cairo but if I’m going to Egypt, I want to go on the Nile and see the desert. In the unlikely event I go to New York, I want to feel the breeze on my face on a boat trip out on the water.
Of course, not doing outdoorsy stuff is also fine! Some museums are world-famous for a reason and sometimes getting at the outdoors just isn’t practical but where you’ve got the time and the capability, appreciating the natural as well as the human-made is a good thing.
How to stay safe
This is really where we divide outdoors from adventure. As a general rule, use a reputable provider for adventurous activities. Read reviews, try to check instructors’ qualifications and experience, don’t just go with the cheap back-alley place that doesn’t seem sure if it’s a cafe or an adventurous activity centre. I don’t want to repeat all your mum’s ideas but there are some activities that just seem to have an unnaturally high accident rate – that thing where you get in a giant kite and get towed along the beach comes to mind. It’s not kite-surfing, it’s where you’re on the kite and it seems particularly popular in places with vast perfect beaches. Don’t try to do these kind of things yourself – instructors and qualifications exist for a reason. I shot an air rifle the day before yesterday, under the eye of an instructor with a (Girlguiding-approved) nationally-recognised qualification. It would be plain stupid to just buy an air rifle and give it a go myself.
Diving is a popular high-risk activity. Check that they’re PADI-certified and that they require you to be as well. The only exception, the only time it’s ok to not need it, is when you’re doing your PADI certification, of course. Any diving company that says “Oh, doesn’t matter if you’ve never done it before, just come along, we’re all good about that sort of thing” is a diving company to avoid. That’s the only sport I can think of off the top of my head that has an internationally recognised qualification scheme. All the others are national – my British Canoeing qualifications will mean nothing to a company even across the water in France, your Mountain Leader qualification will be irrelevant abroad – even the International Mountain Leader award is still a British thing. But you can still check whether the company is claiming qualifications and certifications and check yourself whether those look reputable. I know, it’s putting all the onus for safety on you, rather than on the company, but you can’t really expect an adventure company to hold a qualification recognised and relevant to every country a guest might come from.
For self-led things like going out for a hike or camping, the usual applies. Map, compass, know your route, have the right clothing and food, emergency procedures, know when to back out etc. When my tent is sodden or when sleeping on the floor without adequate pillows makes my head start to spin, it’s time to retreat to a guesthouse. When my blisters are so bad that I can’t even limp, it’s time to wash down my feet, put on blister plasters and sandals and call it a day.
If it’s an activity that needs experience and qualification and you have those, go ahead. I’m going to assume that you’re in a position where you know what you can do and what you can’t. Maybe you climb. Presumably you know where your limits are, what’s safe, what’s not and so on. You know what protective equipment you need and whether it’s in a fit state to be used.
I don’t want to nag on about being safe but adventurous activities are adventurous for a reason, and that reason is the level of risk involved. If you’re not doing this sort of thing regularly, you’re not necessarily going to think too much about the risk. You can almost always mitigate the risk, though – instructors, forward planning, qualifications etc. You know when something looks dodgy. Listen to your instincts and run.
Enjoy the outdoors
After all that – well, enjoy your outdoors experience, whatever it is. Enjoy the landscape, enjoy pitting your body against it, enjoy trying something new. I highly recommend doing something new, doing something outdoors, seeing a sunset over a beach, crawling around in a hole in the ground. Make it the purpose of your trip, make it a bonus feature of your trip, slip it into a corner of your trip – just consider doing something that helps you appreciate the outdoors.