1000 Hours Outside

[gerberdaisy]

I know there are at least a couple of us that do it, but will you make it this year? 

I haven't been great about tracking, but we have around 11 hours left.  We're planning on skiing this weekend (if it can open, too much rain lately), and should make it no problem.  

Think you'll do it again next year? I think we've spent so much more time outside than normal, but not sure if we'll track or stick to the general idea of it.

[W.T.Faulkner]

I don't track our hours outside, but do follow the Instagram account, and I think even being aware of it helps me to get us outside more.

[sugarbear1]

I didn't know this was a thing, but I'm on board with the idea. I started walking during Covid shutdown and have noticed a significant mental health benefit. I will walk in all weather-- sometimes two miles, sometimes 6 -- and last year in a whim I decided to do a walking marathon -- and I look forward to it every day. My older DS plays baseball so he's outside all the time. My younger DS would sooner stay inside for almost any reason. We are working on it 😂

[macmars45]

I didn't know that was a thing. More outside time is good.

I'm outside during work hours for 1 hour and 20 minutes M-F when school is in session. I'm actively moving for at least an hour of that time. On weekends I try for a 20-30 minute walk around my neighborhood and/or walk my sister's dogs with her. If I walk the dogs it's a 40-60 minute walk.

H needs more outside time. DS needs more outside time on the weekends and breaks from school.

[cjcouple]

Add me to never hearing about this but I'm definitely on board.

[wanderingback]

Wow I’ve never heard of this! Cool idea.
Doing the math it looks like a little over 2.5 hours per day on average. I walk everywhere but def isn’t 2.5 hours. Probably more like 1 hour a day. I used to get outside during lunch daily if I had lunch but now I’m pumping so it’s a bit hard.

On the weekend will often just walk around and do errands if needed and that can take anywhere from 2-4 hours. I’ve mostly been exercising inside but maybe this would give me motivation to be more intentional about outside exercise more regularly in the winter.

[gottadobe]

Can I be sitting by the pool, holding a beer? If yes, I will probably meet this. Again.

[Susie]

Interesting idea!  I love workout metrics, but never thought to track outdoor time.

So far this year I'm at:

Activities 217
Total Distance 829.37 mi
Total Activity Time 130:23:36 h:m:s
Activity Calories 65,763

I would have a lot of additional outdoor time gardening, doing yard work, at the beach, etc.  No clue how it would stack up against a goal of 1000... I admit next 1000, my 130 seems pretty paltry!

I didn't go into the year with a running goal, but right now I'm at 485.84 mi.  I wonder if I can hit 500 by EOY.

[Leeham Rimes]

I’m envious of people who can do this. Between my intense allergies for 2.5 months out of the year and then 7 ish months of absolutely hellish summer, outside is my sworn enemy. Living in a swamp was not my brightest idea.

[mccallister84]

We did it during Covid (and my kids were preschool aged then). I am not sure how we would do it with the kids in school. They are gone from 8:30-4:10 with only a half hour recess. Fitting in two additional hours a day would be pretty tough.

[SusanBAnthony]

Dec 19, 2023 12:31:30 GMT -5 mccallister84 said:

We did it during Covid (and my kids were preschool aged then). I am not sure how we would do it with the kids in school. They are gone from 8:30-4:10 with only a half hour recess. Fitting in two additional hours a day would be pretty tough.

Walking/biking to school would be key but even with that it would be tough. I do notice a HUGE benefit to my kids when they bike to school. I think it's outside + exercise.

I couldn't even get close on work days, I get 30-45 minutes a day to walk the dog and feel accomplished lol. I'm not sure I could make that up on a weekend. In the summer I might also sit on the back patio for 15-60 minutes some nights.

[mccallister84]

Dec 19, 2023 12:45:39 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Dec 19, 2023 12:31:30 GMT -5 mccallister84 said:

We did it during Covid (and my kids were preschool aged then). I am not sure how we would do it with the kids in school. They are gone from 8:30-4:10 with only a half hour recess. Fitting in two additional hours a day would be pretty tough.

Walking/biking to school would be key but even with that it would be tough. I do notice a HUGE benefit to my kids when they bike to school. I think it's outside + exercise.

I couldn't even get close on work days, I get 30-45 minutes a day to walk the dog and feel accomplished lol. I'm not sure I could make that up on a weekend. In the summer I might also sit on the back patio for 15-60 minutes some nights.

The walk to the bus stop is approximately one minute shorter than the walk to school 😂 so wouldn’t help us out much. It was a great goal for us in 2020, not so much now.

[basilosaurus]

I've never even heard of this. How outside is outside? Like does dining in open air restaurants count? Having a coffee on a terrace? Reading for hours on the balcony of the apt despite going nowhere?

Between food in little more than shacks and sitting on a beach in the shade and walking everywhere, I probably got 10 hours today alone. But I live in the tropics, where sometimes I'm really just wanting to be indoors, so I'm not sure if that's in the spirit of it.

[gerberdaisy]

I will say ours was not a perfect system by any means this year. Figuring its way too difficult to track 4 individual people's times, we did a joint family one that was primarily based on the kids. Lots of discussions too on whether ice skating counts (indoor rink), same with swimming, indoor lacrosse. How does it work when only one kid is outside (half time).

And no, we don't get 2.5/day lots of the year, but summer camps, camping trips, ski days and days at the lake help make up for most of it.

[gerberdaisy]

Dec 19, 2023 12:54:54 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I've never even heard of this. How outside is outside? Like does dining in open air restaurants count? Having a coffee on a terrace? Reading for hours on the balcony of the apt despite going nowhere?

Between food in little more than shacks and sitting on a beach in the shade and walking everywhere, I probably got 10 hours today alone. But I live in the tropics, where sometimes I'm really just wanting to be indoors, so I'm not sure if that's in the spirit of it.

Its not an exact system, so you get to decide.  And just depends on your goal for the challenge.  For our family it was recognizing that we are all happier when we are all outside and this was a way to encourage that and reduce screen use.  Sometimes we just read books outside and that's enough to count.  

Other families count car time (we don't), don't count camping (we do), everyone is different.

[heygrey]

I’ve never formally tracked our hours, but I bet we get close. Maybe this year I will write it down.

[beerlover]

Dec 19, 2023 12:12:46 GMT -5 gottadobe said:

Can I be sitting by the pool, holding a beer? If yes, I will probably meet this. Again.

Yeah, I was going to say does day drinking on a boat count? Because I do that every Sat/Sun all summer so I should be good then

[fancynewbeesly]

Our nanny used to do that with DD2. She was huge into fresh air and they were outside pretty much all the time. (Unless literally freezing or pouring). Now DD2 is in kindergarten so obviously not going to make the 1000 hours this time.

[scm1011]

I loosely tracked this last year and hit 1000 by the fall for the kids. It helps that we walk/bike everywhere and that they get a lot of outdoor time at afterschool and summer camps. I live on our porch in the summer (if I'm home) and we spend lots of full days at the beach so that helps make up for more indoor hours in the winter. Running outdoors 5 days a week helps, too.

I definitely feel a correlation between outdoor time and my mood.

[deadwing]

My first thought is 1000 hours doesn't sound like a huge amount. Then I did some math. It's over 41 days! But, more math, and it's like 2 hours and 40 minutes per day. Which sounds more doable.

I don't track my time outside, but I bet I come close to 1000 hours per year. Just time spent outside with my dogs is huge. I have a fully fenced yard, but never leave them unsupervised for longer than it would take me to run inside to refill my water. I also spend a ton of time reading on my patio in the summer. I could easily spend 3 hours/day on the patio with my dogs, a good book and some tunes.

[basilosaurus]

Dec 19, 2023 13:02:55 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

Dec 19, 2023 12:54:54 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I've never even heard of this. How outside is outside? Like does dining in open air restaurants count? Having a coffee on a terrace? Reading for hours on the balcony of the apt despite going nowhere?

Between food in little more than shacks and sitting on a beach in the shade and walking everywhere, I probably got 10 hours today alone. But I live in the tropics, where sometimes I'm really just wanting to be indoors, so I'm not sure if that's in the spirit of it.

Its not an exact system, so you get to decide.  And just depends on your goal for the challenge.  For our family it was recognizing that we are all happier when we are all outside and this was a way to encourage that and reduce screen use.  Sometimes we just read books outside and that's enough to count.  

Other families count car time (we don't), don't count camping (we do), everyone is different.

OK. So, it's not an exercise count or exposure to sun or to fresh air or any specific metric? 

I can see how specifics vary based on response/feeling. For instance, although most places for me are open air, I do feel different with 3 concrete walls and the standard street side rolling shutter open vs a covered marina restaurant/bar roof pool open on all sides. I feel different inside with windows open (have only ac in one small room) vs on the balcony. Windows down vs sunroof or convertible or motorbike. Actually, I consider those all outside because to be frank, give me my chance at windows up a/c without the car's system shitting the bed every few weeks! I'm happy if my only outside time is at night, so no sun/vit d, for hours with my (kindle) book, just hearing and watching the weather or sunrise or squid boats.

I guess I'm off to the google machine.

But how does camping not count? Or is it objection to something like rv camping? That I could see.

If my kindle app is considered not outside, well, subtract many many thousands of hours. 

[gardengal]

Dec 19, 2023 13:05:13 GMT -5 beerlover said:

Dec 19, 2023 12:12:46 GMT -5 gottadobe said:

Can I be sitting by the pool, holding a beer? If yes, I will probably meet this. Again.

Yeah, I was going to say does day drinking on a boat count? Because I do that every Sat/Sun all summer so I should be good then

It doesn’t have to be about exercise so I say it can count. Being outdoors, even drinking on a boat, can have huge mental health benefits! I’ve always thought the point was just to encourage people to literally be outside more, whether that’s relaxing, exercising, or something else.

I’ve not tracked but I suspect we’d be close. Most of our family time is outside as well as our vacations.

[gerberdaisy]

basilosaurus, I guess I should clarify that some don't count sleeping in a tent (re: camping). I say if I'm sleeping in a tent, it counts! We did decide that sleeping in an RV would not count.

Its funny thinking back about all the conversations the kids and I have had about this, we have lots of rules/guidelines.

[basilosaurus]

Dec 19, 2023 13:59:57 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

basilosaurus, I guess I should clarify that some don't count sleeping in a tent (re: camping). I say if I'm sleeping in a tent, it counts! We did decide that sleeping in an RV would not count.

Its funny thinking back about all the conversations the kids and I have had about this, we have lots of rules/guidelines.

a tent in the woods, presumably without power, running water, electricity, shitting in a hole you've dug, isn't enough?! Kumayagofuckyourself.

Hopefully they're fringe because I do see value in detaching. But reality is outside is dangerous for much of the world (see: a few months of the year where my aqi is 500 because of agrarian tradition)

[meanie]

I would have to stick my head out a window while I work, haha! Very admirable goal though, sounds like you had lots of fun achieving it!

[quesyrah]

I am planing to do this in 2024.

I homeschool our kids and we’ve definitely gotten into a rut where most days we don’t leave the house. We’re engaged with each other, playing games, reading, etc and not just sitting around being couch potatoes, but we need to get outside more.

I’m making a list of places we can go that will get us outdoors. We live less than an hour from the beach and my kids LOVE being near water so I’m making it a goal to hit the beach once a month. They don’t necessarily want to swim, but walk, play in the sand, and take our paddle boards out.

We have a pool so in the summer the kids and I are in it every day for about 2 hours, but the rest of the year we’ve gotten too homebound.

[RoxMonster]

I've never tracked my time but it would be interesting to do. I pretty much hibernate most of the winter because I hate the cold, but we do take the dog for a walk daily and if it's mild enough outside, we'll hike/walk on the weekends. However, I think my spring/summer/early fall would maybe make up for it. I LOVE being outside in the summer, even if just in my own backyard/patio. Many summer evenings, we sit outside for 2+ hours listening to music, reading, and chatting. Plus the other outdoor time sprinkled throughout the day. So I may be able to hit 1000 due to the warm weather months.

[lilac05]

I've always been curious how people track this. Is there a specific app? Do people really go to wherever they log it and count every 6 minute walk to the bus stop?

[gerberdaisy]

Dec 19, 2023 22:44:58 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

I've always been curious how people track this. Is there a specific app? Do people really go to wherever they log it and count every 6 minute walk to the bus stop?

Seems like lots of people use the "official" app, but you had to pay for it , so I just got a generic tracker app.  Beginning of the year, yes, I tracked every minute.  Now its more, at the end of the day or every couple days I'll add in what we did.  Our base is usually 45 minutes between walking to/from school and recess, the add on whatever activities we have or other time outside. Not an exact science.

[mccallister84]

Dec 19, 2023 22:44:58 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

I've always been curious how people track this. Is there a specific app? Do people really go to wherever they log it and count every 6 minute walk to the bus stop?

When I did it I just kept a stopwatch on my phone that I would start when we headed outside and stop when we went back in. At the end of the day I would log the total time rounded to the nearest quarter hour and reset the stopwatch for the next day. I didn’t include things like walking to the car or riding in the car. Again, it was different for me because my girls were first at home all the time due to Covid and then in half day preschool only a few days a week so much, much easier to be intentional about getting outside.