Aloha Tammie Professional services

Aloha and welcome back to the blog! Happy New Year my friends! Today I want to share a little bit of insight I gleaned from a Podcast that I have on regular rotation, the 1000 Hours Outside Podcast, hosted by Ginny Yurich. Ginny has a lovely podcast that is focused on helping families spend more time outside, battle screen addiction and truly connect with one another in a meaningful way. You can also find her on Instagram @1000hoursOutside or check out her podcast 1KHO where ever you listen to podcasts.

She recently interviewed Alastair Humphreys, an author and a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. He recently released a book called the Door Step Mile, which gives practical advice to people of all ages on how to just GET STARTED on your goal, your dream, that adventure or whatever it may be that you have been putting on the backburner.

Alastair has done some pretty incredible things. He went from being Mr. Humphreys the biology teacher, to world traveling, adventurer. At just 24 years old, Alastair biked and camped his way around the world, raising money for a children’s charity. Along the way he was invited to give a talk at a local school, then another, and another. It became a wonderful way to meet others, share his mission and would later become the foundation for a series of children’s books, The Boy Who Bike The World. Not only has he cycled around the world, he rowed a boat across the Atlantic Ocean with a crew of 4, as well as many other grand adventures.

He talks about something he refers to as retroactive pleasure. He means that somethings, like his rowing adventure may not be pleasurable or fun at the moment, but in retrospect will bring happiness, joy and pride. Paddling for days across the ocean. As a paddler who paddled for 17 hours from the Bahamas to Florida on a Stand Up Board, during the Crossing For CF, I can relate! In the moment, it can kinda suck, but there is an unparalleled joy that comes from completing such an endeavor.

Alastair has written a book called the Doorstep Mile, which refers to a Norwegian Term: dorstokmilla. Essentially the longest “mile” of a hard journey is the first one out of the door. It’s the mental threshold you must cross simply to begin. He offers practical advice and inspiration for taking that first step, no matter how daunting the journey may be.

One thing he brings up, a few times, in the interview is that we will not be looking back someday and reminiscing over our urgent errands. Those dishes CAN WAIT for you to have an adventure, go outside, do the thing that makes you happy. He talks a bit about creating microadventures in your life and these are the perfect activites to replace those urgent chores. Those are the things that will carve out memories in your mind. I have to say as someone who has a very hard time doing anything, until things are in order in my home, this was such a great reminder, that while those things are important, they are not the MOST important. What is important is living life, connecting with my family, my son, and my friends, those damn dishes can wait. (It also inspires me to create better systems, so that I am not wasting time on these things, that they are automated and looping which I will share more about in my next post).

I want to touch on one more thing, before I give away the entire podcast. Alastair talks about the importance of trying new things. Our brains actually group similar things together as one memory (because our brains are a little lazy). Several different paddling activities, in my case, will eventually get grouped together as one memory. They stop being individual experiences. He talks about the importance of experiencing new things, trying to get out of your comfort zone, and that this is actually good for your brain! He shares a very funny adventure he went on, with a violin and beautiful hikes across Spain (I highly recommend you tune in to the podcast or check out his YouTube channel to hear it from him! I laughed so hard at this story, it has such a relatable sentiment).

All in all, I really ended this podcast feeling uplifted and inspired to tackle my own adventures, to change it up, and to let those dishes sit for a little bit longer, because we only have this one life, this one moment and then it’s gone. All of these routine moments will just zip past us and it is up to us to shake it up, create memories, enjoy our loved ones and live our best lives!