1000 Hours Outside

Mendon Ponds Park- Fairy/ Birdsong Trail

Last year we discovered 1000 Hours Outside.  It's basically a community of people who strive to spend 1000 hours outside, over the course of the year.  In an attempt to match time in nature with screen time.  A very noble goal in this day and age.  It's a huge goal for sure, especially during those months when the weather is less than idea for going outside.  We live in Western NY, and winters can be tough for getting outside.  The old saying goes... there is no bad weather- just bad clothing.  I must say, having this goal for 2020, gave us something to reach for.  We spent many more hours outside during the winter months, than ever before.  And the greatest thing was that we made so many memories in the process of tracking hours.

We previously started this goal last summer.  But I tried to keep track of hours digitally on my google calendar.  Not having a smart phone, that became a little too much effort to track hours.  So we started over on January 1, 2020 with our 1000 Hours Outside Tracker sheets (see below).

It's really quite simple.  You can print up a tracker here.  Color in 1 circle for every hour spent out of doors, intentionally interacting with nature.  There are no prescribed rules to follow.  It doesn't have to happen in a calendar year.  You don't even have to reach the 1000 goal.  It's all whatever you want to make it!  We use a different color for each month, and then we can see how months compared to each other throughout the year.  

Me and my kids all have our own trackers.  I didn't realize it, but every person having their own tracker is key.  Even while my kids are young, we don't necessarily all spend the same time outside.  Sometimes the Laird takes the kids out, while I make meals or clean up.  

If you have Instagram, you can join #1000hoursoutside, and be part of the community throughout the world who are committed to spending more time outdoors.  It's really neat to see the photos people post of their adventures and hours spent out of doors.  I decided I wanted to document our year with 1000 photos for 1000 hours outside.  Here are some of our memories so far!

January 2020

A Snow Squall- Sledding in Mendon Ponds Park

Highland Park, Rochester, NY

Corbett's Glen, Penfield, NY

Seneca Park Zoo

Seneca Park Zoo

Building an Igloo

DIY Kick Sled- testing it out on the trail

Lehigh Valley Trail

Largest snowman EVER!!

Lehigh Valley Trail

Seneca Park Zoo

Riding the Green Dragon (a.k.a John Deer)

Planting peas- April 2020

 Our hours are increasing each month.  We averaged about 1 hour/day in January and February.  March we were an average of 2 hours a day.  Maple Sugaring gave us some 4-6 hour Saturdays, helping to make up for the 1 hour days in Jan/Feb.  In order to reach 1000 hours in the course of 1 year, you have to average about 3 hours a day outside.  Tough to do through the winter.  We figure our cold winter months, we strive to make it outside for an hour.  Then the transition months of Spring and Fall, we need to shoot to hit that 3 hours/day mark.  And then during the warm summer months, we need longer days to make up the hours we didn't get during the winter.  We're somewhere around 150 hours for 2020.

Join the challenge and get outside!  You will be grateful you did.