I was a girl scout as a kid. Not a good one but one none the less. I wasn’t particullary outdoorsy but my mom wanted me to have friends and that’s what all the kids in the 90’s did. It started when I was 5 and I think I eventually quit around middle school. So we had a good 6 or 7 years. In that time we went camping in both cabins and tents. Learned (now useless) fire starting techniques and how to cook hot dogs on a tin can…. To be honest Bear Grylls has taught me more about outdoor survival in his books and tv show in like 2 months than scouts ever did.

Back then I HATED camping. I hated sand. I didn’t like the beach. Basically I was just a bratty ass child. When we went camping I always got the sloped part of the campsite and woke up in a ball at one edge or the other of my tent, always freezing because late fall and early spring are the only good times to camp in Texas. Whenever we went to the beach I demanded that I either get to wash off or we have enough water to get the sand off me. Now, well now, I couldn’t care less.

Bring on the sand! Bring on the sloped part of the camp site! Bring on the outdoors.

Now aside from my most favorite activity which is sleeping, most of my other favorite activites are outdoors. Texas isn’t the greatest place to live if you love the outdoors unless you’re ok with the murderous heat 90% of the year but it does have some good times and if you take advantage, it’s awesome.

In no particular order, these are my favorite things to do outside:

• SUP
• Swim
• Hike
• Bike
• Climb
• Surf

And generally just explore. The world, the earth is such an amazing thing. It provides us with so much beauty that as opposed to when I was younger, I am ready to take it all in. I want to cross that crazy glass bridge in China or go to the Bridge of the Immortals. I want to hike to Everest Base Camp. I want to see things like the Maldives and the Great Barrier Reef before they are gone.

Maybe it took 29 years of being couped up in classrooms and offices and cubicles to realize humans were never meant for a life indoors but at least I’ve seen the proverbial light.