#OptOutside 2018: Why I Hike Instead of Shop

Back when my boys were small, I used to go Black Friday shopping with my best mate, Liz.  We would leave the house at 4AM, go to WaWa and get coffees, and I had planned a route to all the stores (mostly KB Toys, Toys R Us, Kohls, and Macy's).  It wasn't unlike planning a backpacking trip. In some years, we even had a driver to cart our post turkey butts around.

My kids got older, and I no longer needed to buy overpriced toys on sale.  My teenagers don't ask for a lot.  They want books and experiences. I may not have taught them how to tie their shoes properly, but I am so happy that they learned that the greatest gifts are the people in our lives and the memories we make together.

This year, instead of shopping, I joined forces with the backpacking outfitter, REI, to offer an #OptOutside hike on Black Friday through my MeetUp group for new hikers.   REI takes a great financial risk by being closed on the most major shopping holiday in our culture, so I wanted to offer my support and appreciation for the statement they are making.  It almost makes me want to buy some of their overpriced stuff (ok, no, it doesn't), but I do get my serious gear there because of their outstanding return policy.

Our hike today at Manasquan Reservoir was cold, but it was absolutely gorgeous.  The color of a winter reservoir is unlike anything film can capture.  You just have to be there to see it.



As a solo hiker, I don't often get to have conversations on the trail, so it was fascinating to have our chatter range from crunchy leaves to drones to the meaning of life.  We all agreed we wanted more times like this to fill our lives and less noise of the real world.

Halfway through the hike, my cell phone rang and it was one of the only three numbers I will answer from the trail.  Dad.  He is back in the hospital.  My father taught me to love nature, and as I finished the hike, I thought it was most fitting that when a phone call comes in from that number (it's usually his wife), I am out where he wishes he could be at any given time.  I think a lot about what he has taught me about nature, and the greatest thing, I think, is how nature can make me still.  As a passionate girl, I needed something, anything, to quiet my mind and make me stand still.  As a quiet man, he never needed nature to calm him down, but it gave him the freedom to think without interruption.


Hiking is a communion with nature, and every trail has taught me something about life.  Shopping on Black Friday only reinforces my idea that humans are inherently greedy and selfish, and to avoid becoming like what I despise, I opted outside.




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