As confusion disappeared, we found freedom, time, and energy to do more of what we love. We started hiking more and added weekend and weeklong camping trips. In doing so，we realized more and more benefits of being outdoors.

The physical health benefits from being outside may be pretty obvious at first, but there are more than I realized. Studies have shown that besides the vitamin D intake, being outside can even reduce recovery and healing time. Activity outdoors can also have a higher fitness benefit than exercise done indoors.

A walk in the woods or even just a quick trip to a park can help reduce anxiety, improve short-term memory and reduce mental tiredness. Any time I need a boost in my mood, spending even five minutes in the sunshine will help. Imagine the benefits we receive from spending an entire day or even more outdoors.

As I’ve made it my preference to be outdoors, I find myself inspired and excited about life. Many people claim that their best ideas come to them in the shower. I have had the same happen when in nature. My creativity, confidence, and focus all increase after a hike or a weekend spent camping.

In between my generation and the generation of my children, there has been an extreme decrease in the amount of time kids spend outdoors. In his book How to Raise a Wild Child , Dr, Scott Sampson gives several reasons why kids are spending more time indoors than ever before and shares shocking statistics of how little time kids get out VS hours of screen time each day. This has given rise to many negative consequences such as poorer physical and mental health.

However, as mentioned previously, all the benefits we as adults can receive from time spent outdoors, it is even better for our kids. It is clear that time in nature is good for both adults and children.

Several years ago, Chris Williams was driving home on a Wednesday night in Conroe, Texas, just like he always did. “It was dark and raining hard, and I could barely make out two people walking on the road,” he recalled. Born and raised in Louisiana, Williams often watched his father go out of his way to help people in trouble. So he did something his dad would have done. He asked the two women if they needed a ride.

They jumped in, and Williams learned why they were walking. Their truck had been in the repair shop for nearly three months. “I asked the woman who owned the truck why it was in the shop so long, and the woman hung her head and told me, ‘I can’t afford to fix it,’” Williams continued.

Williams had always dreamed of opening his own auto repair garage that would help women in need. “Right then and there, I decided I needed to figure out a way to get my dream of opening a free garage off the ground,” he said.

As a father of two girls, Williams had a calling to help single moms, widows and military wives. Williams borrowed money and asked people he knew for donations to start his new career, and several months later, he opened The Garage, a nonprofit that repairs vehicles for women in need-at no cost. The organization gives renewed vehicles away, too.

Williams understood the economic difficulty being carless can cause, and how his nonprofit could help. “Car repairs can be expensive, and where I live, it’s very rural.” Williams explained. “So if you don’t have a car, you can’t get a job. And if you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a car. It’s a cruel dilemma.”

The Garage ended that dilemma for a whole lot of women in the surrounding community last year. The nonprofit gave away 146 vehicles and repaired 127. One of those recipients was Jeanne McGowan. “Several years ago, I became ill and could not maintain my job and I lost my car because I could not work,” she told a local TV reporter. “I’m thrilled to be a receiver of one of their cars.”

Several years ago, I read about William Helmreich walking every street in New York City. I told my husband, “I can do that for Montreal.” With little hesitation, I devoted the next five years to the project.

I’m a walk-lover, but I did little preparation for this undertaking. All I did was to buy a map. It didn’t even show all of Montreal. So, when I say I walked every street in Montreal, I actually walked the full length of every street on my map.

From one end of my map to the other, all houses were well looked after. People made great efforts to decorate their homes, and with this came one of the greatest pleasures of my walks: the different measures they took to decorate their frontages.

I discovered that pigs are a popular decorative element throughout the city. The type that is dressed up as humans, I mean. I saw pigs wearing dresses, shirts and even swimming suits. They weren’t the only animals around either. One garden’s giant deer was particularly eye-catching.

Every outing has its wonders. Never assume a neighborhood has little of interest to offer. You must be trained to seek out strange things. Otherwise, you might never spot the clothes on the sidewalks. If I stopped to collect everything I saw lying around abandoned, I could equip a small country. Where did they come from? How did people lose their shoes while out walking? A puzzle.

There was enough fun on my walks that I’d have a few laughs and come home lighter-hearted than when I left.

As my project progressed, I felt like I owned the city. I could get off at any metro stop and my feet remembered the route to the best shops. They also conveniently recalled the place of the closest washrooms.

Anyone can get in on this walking game. I admit with some shame, I used to feel completely satisfied staying in my part of town, but after I joined in the game, I found walking its streets had truly opened my eyes to Montreal’s full menu. So just head to a neighborhood to nose around. I can assure you that you’ll feel like a pioneer with the discoveries you bring back.