I've been in tech for over a decade and started working from home post-pandemic. Living close to nature, I thought I'd be outdoors more, but no, I found myself desk-bound from dawn to dusk. It made stepping outside feel like a chore, and my breaks were often spent scrolling through reels. It didn't hit me until I started feeling down everyday—I was spiralling into some monotonous, lonely hell. To break the cycle, I scheduled daily walks. The walks, coupled with casual chats with passersby/neighbours, really lifted my spirits. It's a change I wish I'd made sooner.
The best part of working from home is truly seizing the morning thanks to not having to commute or put on business casual. Little walks before works are liable to turn into full blown 3 hour hikes at dawn before long. Very energizing to start the day at 9am and feel like you’ve already had plenty of sunlight and activity, especially this time of year when the sun sets so early.
All of them if they reduced their television and Internet consumption.
I think a bigger issue is nature isn't so much accessible to many. They paved paradise and put in a parking lot. I'm house hunting and so many neighborhoods don't have sidewalks or parks.
Nature’s boring enough that it’s not really worth the downsides (bugs, travel for most people, humidity/ice/whatever) to go out and “enjoy” it in large stretches of the country.
There are cities where the nicest outdoor areas in 200 miles wouldn’t make the top-100 list of outdoor areas in the same radius, for other cities.
Worse. We paved paradise and put in a completely non-walkable big car hellscape and parking lots to go along with it, so most can’t or won’t walk to do things.
Moving to a walkable area was a game changer for me in so many ways.
Absolutely the case. I moved to Texas for work and quickly moved back home to California. Simply reminding myself that I was so far away from any nice nature was pretty distressing.
I think your second point also feeds into why people trend towards television and internet. It is harder to make the time to go somewhere if it's a long distance to drive and you have other housework tasks that need to be done.
> All of them if they reduced their television and Internet consumption.
Huh?
Those are in the evening. I can't pop into nature for an hour and a half after dinner the way I can pop into a TV show. It's like two hours away, if I plan the trains right.
TV and internet has literally nothing to do with it. My ability to schedule an entire Saturday or Sunday does. And not have it pour rain (or be during a snowing freezing month).
Yeah, I don't get the no ideal thing. Seems to be mainly in southern states, but has been creeping into nicer neighborhoods up north. Some could be because they were rural, but if you look at places around DFW, you see sidewalks just...stop.
Like, do they not expect people to want to walk anywhere or is it just too expensive due to property rights?
Instead, what you end up with are silly trails that are often not lit up at night, paving the way for robbery, rape, etc.
Much better than spending a few bucks on a legit sidewalk. (cough).
For me, it feels far more subtle. As a kid, I remember roaming my town, playing in the woods, spontaneous trips to a beach, etc.
Now, random kids roaming isn't possible without risking calls to police or child services, accessing nature areas requires arriving early to ensure parking, and getting into a beach needs a reservation made weeks in advance
Many people don't spend their evenings watching television. Many spend it working a 2nd or 3rd job, or going to school, or caring for a sick relative, or some combination of the above.
For many nature is far away, a car is unaffordable, and public transportation is non-existent.
It is not at all accurate that all Americans have free time to get outdoors if they simply limit their screen time.
absolutely. pavement is just everywhere. loads and loads of endless pavement in front of every freakin store, whether it's needed or not. It's disgusting and dipressing to be locked in a concrete jungle.
They may have way too much free time, they just choose to spend it passively watching shows instead of being actively engaged in an activity. Indoors vs outdoors probably doesn't matter as much as how they are choosing to spend their free time in the first place. Are they indoors doing home renovations or art projects? Or simply binging the next new show on the couch?
This is such a silly take, you're taking a real observation that people need to decompress but moralizing it rather than trying to understand it. While some activities you would call active can fill the need to destress the majority of them are passive. Creative hobbies are serious work until you're good enough at them you can turn your brain off while doing them. I can do it with programming but it's also my career and I've spent my 10,000 hours getting there. So people turn to reading, listening to music, podcasts, taking a bath, watching movies and TV, exercising, video games, or scrolling through their phones.
Encountered a paywall so apologies if missing some context, but when you say free time do you mean they live far away and need to drive distances to parks?
I’m American and I’m outside all the time. Walking the dog, or walking with my family, taking my daughter to the playground. I work full time and have a family but easily have time to walk every day.
But maybe “outdoors” here means activities like hiking? If so I think I understand what you mean. That would be something most people could only do on weekends.
A minority of people got more into those activities but the US has a population of 330 million and the outdoorsy hotpots have little carrying capacity so now they are swarmed and overwhelmed.
As someone who spends a lot of time on trails, I can always tell when I'm getting within a half mile of a trailhead— I see another person or group of people. The best I can tell is that people want to connect with nature; they don't want to be outside. That's good enough motivation to plan a trip, especially to an easily selectable location. It's not quite enough to turn you into an outdoorsy kind of person, or transform "hiking" into more than just sort of walking around without aim.
i feel like 3/4 of the people at ski resorts are on green groomers for 2 runs then day drinking. i think its just a place to be.
for both points, i think some of it is driven by social media too and it doesn't take a lot for those places to feel full. are outdoorsy people listening to bluetooth radios on trails? doubt it, probably some attention seeker looking for social media content
There's a lot of truth to this. Ski resorts will be slammed at 9am, rental lines out the wazoo, beginner runs flooded, food court swamped at 11-12, but the real solid runs at 1pm are free and clear. Seems like most people show up, do a couple green runs or lessons and leave before the day even ends.
Is it because of the work culture being too focussed on long working hours and lack of annual leaves? I don't really have any data to back it up. Just wondering if it's getting worse.
I don't agree with that. It's at its root a cultural issue. People need a realignment of values so that being outside or amongst others is a better use of their time than the status quo. From that perhaps a rebalance of work and life will result but I don't think starting there would move the needle much.
The work culture isn't putting kids in front of computer screens and discouraging outdoor activities.
It's not even something you can control as a parent. My kid, 16 years old, walks to school on his own - but he's always back right after classes. And it's not that he's an outcast. That's just how they roll in the SF Bay Area. Other kids go home too, or they are shuttled by their parents to some organized after-school activities.
In LA county it seems super common to see teens going out on their own. Not sure whats different up north. I think most students get free metro passes. Its super common to see teenagers riding the trains or busses, if I’d guess on account of the cost of insurance here for young drivers.
One thing i really liked about SF was I had 3-5 parks walking distance depending on how far you wanted to walk. (no they werent filled with homeless people) Its also something that keeps me in california. The author is in brooklyn, near my family, and every time i go back to visit i go crazy. There isn't anywhere out doors to go. In the winter its cold, everyone just stays inside. Even with family, the whole point of visiting, it sucks. Big cities are fun for a few days but I need to be back where I can walk around with space.
Have you ever visited the Adirondacks or hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail? I haven't spent much time on the east coast, but there's a little outdoor stuff, no? And I bet the fall colors are beautiful there in Central Park?
I think the point was "in walking distance". The Adirondacks from NYC is an entire planned trip, with rental car. Maybe there are more accessible outdoor activities near the city, but that in particular is definitely not a spur of the moment trip.
Yeah there are places to be outdoors, I don't think its as casual access as California while living close to the things make density nice. I can go on a few different hikes right now within a 10 min drive of my house. I go on short hikes on work breaks. I also have an international airport 30 minutes away.
I think this author is talking about the middle ground between remoteness with nature access and living in a place like brooklyn.
More seriously though, I feel this in my soul. I've worked remotely since pre-pandemic, so there's no need to leave the house to get money. I bought a weight rack, bench press, and created a solid at-home gym. Grocery runs were replaced with delivery during pandemic and never reverted. I'm currently single and more interested in technical passion projects than pursuing a partner. I've never owned a vehicle.
It's shocking to me how this confluence of factors has made it all too easy to go a week (or two!) without going outside! I've been glued to my computer since I was a pre-teen, but only in the past few years has everything come together such that I'm entirely self-sufficient indoors. Existing outdoors is no longer a natural byproduct of my existence!
FWIW, I do feel that there are benefits to going outside. I'm not championing my approach - just noting what's occurring. I feel our biology has not evolved at the same pace as our technology and I sense myself more at peace when I go for a run on the beach - even if I'm diligent with my Vitamin D supplementation :)
I want to like the article. I subscribe to the Atlantic, but the article ends abruptly and raises some disparate study results which awkwardly point to some sort of hazy thesis. If we spend more time outdoors, we are more connected and less lonely? It's the trend of "asking questions" rather than making a clear statement. Can being outside increase our potential to be happier and more aware of our community? Probably. Maybe? That's it. That's the article.
Readit News
I think a bigger issue is nature isn't so much accessible to many. They paved paradise and put in a parking lot. I'm house hunting and so many neighborhoods don't have sidewalks or parks.
There are cities where the nicest outdoor areas in 200 miles wouldn’t make the top-100 list of outdoor areas in the same radius, for other cities.
Moving to a walkable area was a game changer for me in so many ways.
Huh?
Those are in the evening. I can't pop into nature for an hour and a half after dinner the way I can pop into a TV show. It's like two hours away, if I plan the trains right.
TV and internet has literally nothing to do with it. My ability to schedule an entire Saturday or Sunday does. And not have it pour rain (or be during a snowing freezing month).
Like, do they not expect people to want to walk anywhere or is it just too expensive due to property rights?
Instead, what you end up with are silly trails that are often not lit up at night, paving the way for robbery, rape, etc.
Much better than spending a few bucks on a legit sidewalk. (cough).
Now, random kids roaming isn't possible without risking calls to police or child services, accessing nature areas requires arriving early to ensure parking, and getting into a beach needs a reservation made weeks in advance
For many nature is far away, a car is unaffordable, and public transportation is non-existent.
It is not at all accurate that all Americans have free time to get outdoors if they simply limit their screen time.
I’m American and I’m outside all the time. Walking the dog, or walking with my family, taking my daughter to the playground. I work full time and have a family but easily have time to walk every day.
But maybe “outdoors” here means activities like hiking? If so I think I understand what you mean. That would be something most people could only do on weekends.
What do you mean by this?
for both points, i think some of it is driven by social media too and it doesn't take a lot for those places to feel full. are outdoorsy people listening to bluetooth radios on trails? doubt it, probably some attention seeker looking for social media content
Also, hiking and skiing are not exactly the most social activities.
It's not even something you can control as a parent. My kid, 16 years old, walks to school on his own - but he's always back right after classes. And it's not that he's an outcast. That's just how they roll in the SF Bay Area. Other kids go home too, or they are shuttled by their parents to some organized after-school activities.
I think this author is talking about the middle ground between remoteness with nature access and living in a place like brooklyn.
More seriously though, I feel this in my soul. I've worked remotely since pre-pandemic, so there's no need to leave the house to get money. I bought a weight rack, bench press, and created a solid at-home gym. Grocery runs were replaced with delivery during pandemic and never reverted. I'm currently single and more interested in technical passion projects than pursuing a partner. I've never owned a vehicle.
It's shocking to me how this confluence of factors has made it all too easy to go a week (or two!) without going outside! I've been glued to my computer since I was a pre-teen, but only in the past few years has everything come together such that I'm entirely self-sufficient indoors. Existing outdoors is no longer a natural byproduct of my existence!
FWIW, I do feel that there are benefits to going outside. I'm not championing my approach - just noting what's occurring. I feel our biology has not evolved at the same pace as our technology and I sense myself more at peace when I go for a run on the beach - even if I'm diligent with my Vitamin D supplementation :)
Interesting times we're in, to be sure.