This post has nothing to do with the following film.

I’ve been trying to spend more time outside lately, engaging in activities that get me out of the house. I already go biking every weekend, weather permitting, but I don’t think that’s enough. To be completely honest, I feel useless and lazy when I stay indoors, and that’s highly irritating to me.

Fear not, I’m not ditching my indoor hobbies, like my enjoyment of books, films, and video games (I’m currently addicted to Dragon Quest IX). Time spent outside just feels better, if that makes any sense. I can do indoor stuff whenever I want; I hate wasting days with great weather.

Here’s some of the ideas I’ve come up with. Some of these ideas do involve an up-front investment, and lack of funds is often a hobby killer, but it’s still worth recording these for later reference.

• Fishing. I haven’t fished since I was about ten or eleven years old. My grandfather would take my brother and I to a large pond located near his house, and he taught us basic skills in order to catch perch and other small fish. Those skills have faded into nothingness over the past two decades, but I figure I could at least to try to recapture them. It’s fishing, not rocket science, so I’m sure I could at least become competent at spincasting and catch-and-release. Oh, and I’d definitely opt for lure fishing rather than bait fishing. For all of my love of horror movies and death metal, I still find live bait repulsive.

• Boating. Big problem with this one: I do not own a boat. Nor would I have a place to store a boat, even if I did. Oh, and I get seasick. The closest I’ll come is buying one of those inflatable raft-boats for use on lakes. I’ll look like a total dork rowing around in an air-filled dinghy, but far worse things have happened to me.
• Biking. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, biking is a standard weekend activity for me, as long as it doesn’t rain. (When it does rain, I fly into a rage, and just end up going to the gym, which isn’t nearly as fun. I already hit the gym three times a week, and while that’s healthy, it’s still an indoor activity. Plus, quite frankly…it’s boring as shit. The barbecue joint next door doesn’t help, either.) I know the technical term for biking might be “cycling,” but I think that’s more reserved for racing bicycles and folks who do all of their riding on smoothly paved roads. Since I ride on roads as well as trails, I own a hybrid bicycle as it’s simply more adaptive to different types of terrain, not to mention more comfortable. Anyway, I’m thinking of biking more during the week; it’s just difficult to work around my gym schedule at times.
• Hiking. I’ve been a fan of this leisure activity since I was a kid. Wandering and exploring the woods is always great; I just have to be cautious, as I’m severely allergic to poison ivy. For spring or fall hikes, this isn’t much of an issue, as I’ll be wearing long pants. In the summer, it’s a considerable danger. I can also mix hiking with geocaching, if I’m so inclined. I’ve already planted one cache and found a few others, but I need to get in gear and do more. The one thing that’s holding me back right now? I seriously need a new pair of hiking boots.
• Camping. My girlfriend and I were supposed to go camping this summer, but we got a bit lazy, things fell through, and all of the state campgrounds’ good spots are taken. We’re going to be much more proactive next year. Camping’s a bit more fun in the spring or fall, anyways, as nothing beats sitting by a fire at night enjoying freshly cooked meats.

Halfway through the summer isn’t the best time to have such an epiphany when it comes to outdoor activities, but it’s better than nothing, and can certainly help set the standard for next year. That is, if my notoriously short attention span can even remember or remain interested in this shit by then!