We live in a world where many attractions happen indoors. Whether that’s indoor sports, shopping indoors, eating inside, and the list goes on . . .
I understand the reason why we have things indoors; for instance, bad weather. Indoor activities are a great escape for a rainy day or beating the heat. But recently, I have started noticing how much time I spend inside, especially on days with wonderful weather.
What originally started with me thinking I spend a lot of my time outside . . . I was faced with the reality that I don’t get as much outdoor time as I imagined myself having. After I rationed out how much time I spent inside and outside, I have become more conscious of what choices we make for our family every day.
Since being more aware of our outdoor time, making the effort to be outside, and soaking in the vitamin D from the sun, we noticed a difference in our moods. Being outside has made us joyful and calm. I have also observed that we are becoming more in touch with nature and enjoying the little things in life such as bird watching or recognizing different local plants that grow in the area . . . all the fun, amazing, positive things that come with being outdoors.
While being more aware of outdoor time for myself and my family, I made a list of ways that we swapped inside time to sneak in more time outdoors.
Ways to Spend More Time Outside
- Eating our meals outdoors
This one was an easy thing to swap. Instead of having my cup of coffee inside my house on my dining room table, I started drinking coffee outside on my porch. For our meals, we started packing our lunches and setting up picnics. My kids and I have been getting into making snack boxes for picnic time. If we were to eat out from the wonderful restaurant selection the Lowcountry has to offer, we choose to eat outside if they offer outdoor seating.
- Starting my day and ending my night with a walk
We always love taking the time to walk outside. The idea of waking up and starting the day off on the right foot, being outside sets a positive tone for the day. We love exploring areas that offer great trails to walk around. I was surprised by how many scenic trails we have here in Charleston.
Another bonus: the sunrises and sunsets here in the Lowcountry are breathtaking. That itself is motivating to take a walk outside. My absolute personal favorite is to wake up extra early and brew my cup of coffee to go. Then I take a walk on the beach early enough to catch the sunrise with my family.
- Crafting outdoors
We usually do our crafts inside. However, now we are taking them outside. I love to turn crafting into nature-based crafts. This varies from painting an outside scenery (my daughter’s favorite) or creating happy rocks (another family favorite of ours). The fun, nature-based crafts are endless.
- Choosing activities that are centered around nature
This involves camping, exploring our state parks, exploring our local gardens, kayaking, and bike riding. We also love to take advantage of the beach, so we enjoy collecting shells and trying to find shark teeth.
Our family is getting into gardening together. We enjoy spending our time planting plants and harvesting what we grow, like fruits or vegetables. When it comes to grocery shopping, we love supporting our local farmers and taking advantage of outdoor farm stands or the farmers market.
I am so happy that I became more aware of how much time I’ve been spending my life indoors, to make those little changes to embrace an outdoor lifestyle. Even down to when I do computer work — we now set up a space outside to do those activities. I do not regret being more aware of how much time I spend outside. We are extremely fortunate to live in an area that also offers extremely breathtaking sceneries. The Lowcountry offers a variety of places to enjoy your outdoor time!
What are the ways that you spend your time outside with your family?
