Plan some winter adventures

Appreciate winter for itself, rather than counting the days until spring

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to plan some winter adventures. The post holiday
winter months can feel dark and cold, but by planning

(00:25):
in some winter specific adventures, not only will you have
things to look forward to, you will enjoy the season
for its own sake, rather than just counting days until spring.
So longtime listeners know that winter isn't exactly my favorite
season of year. I get cold easily, and the weather

(00:48):
here in southeastern Pennsylvania is often dark and gloomy until
about mid March. And yet I don't like the idea
of wishing time away. I am not alone in this.
Several years ago, I wrote a piece for Fast Company
called The Norwegian Secret to Enjoying a Long Winter, and
it became one of their most shared articles of the year.

(01:11):
It seems a lot of us want to know how
to appreciate this time rather than simply endure it. One
of the ways it seems that people in northern Norway
make the most of winter is by enjoying the things
you can only do in winter. Cross country skiing is
certainly a huge thing there, and it makes sense. Being
outside is a known mood booster, so it is physical activity.

(01:35):
If you can figure out how to combine the two,
especially in activities that require cold weather, you can start
viewing January and February as exciting months rather than terrible ones.
The folks in northern Norway also appreciate the beauty of winter.
Sometimes this is a more challenging, demanding beauty than a

(01:57):
June rose garden, but it is a beauty none the less.
So as we face down the next two and a
half months until spring, I mean, at least for those
of us in colder northern climates, it might be worth
figuring out how to plan some winter adventures that get
us active or expose us to winter's beauty. I know

(02:18):
a lot of people love skiing. I am not a skier,
but if you are, or you have friends and family
members who enjoy this, it can be a great winter activity.
Not all slopes are ridiculously pricey or difficult. We have
a lot of little ski mountains and the Poconos that
are well not that steep. Because the Poconos are not

(02:41):
that high, little mountains like this could work as a
day trip for people in this part of the world.
Even when I lived in the rather flat Midwest, I
know that there were at least a few small hills
that became ski slopes for the winter. Some of these
small hills also offer tubing, which can be really fun.

(03:01):
You don't need to have any skiing skills to get
into a tube and let gravity slide you down the mountain.
Speaking of sliding, if there is any snow in your
part of the world, sledding is fun as an adult too.
Buy a cheap sled, find a hill and enjoy swooshing down.
Play your cards right, and you can be outside for

(03:22):
maybe thirty minutes or so, and then come home to
warm and tasty beverages. It's just a little adventure, but
I know that one of my most recent experiences of
grinning ear to ear came while sliding down a snowy
hill in my front yard. Snowshoeing and cross country skiing
can work in places that have snow but don't have

(03:44):
big hills, and even if you don't have snow cover,
as long as it is cold, a trip to an
outdoor ice skating rink can be tons of fun too.
My family goes to the rink by the river in
downtown Philadelphia, and I always love swirling around the ice
under the winter sky. This is something you cannot do
in warm weather, and I do genuinely look forward to it.

(04:10):
As for appreciating winter beauty, I always like looking at
the sunrise and sunset. The sunrise tends to happen at
a time you might see it given the shorter days,
and with bare trees, the colors look even more pronounced.
Fresh snow makes a winter wonderland. But even if you

(04:30):
don't have that, frost glistens, as does ice in ponds.
Going on a winter walk in a place with lots
of evergreens or holly with its berries can make for
some stunning scenery. Of course, to have any adventure, which
includes winter adventures, you need to plant ahead. I recommend

(04:53):
a weekly planning session late in the week, such as
on a Friday, looking ahead to the next min day
to Sunday week. You can then take a minute to
look at the immediately upcoming weekend and tighten the plan
you made a week prior based on the weather or
new information. This helps with getting tickets or reservations for places,

(05:15):
but also with managing energy, which is really important in winter.
I know that I have never woken up on a
winter Saturday morning and said, you know what, I want
to argue with my kids to get off their iPads,
bundle them into my car, drive downtown and get them
into rental skates. I need to know I plan to

(05:38):
do this ahead of time. But then when I do
have this as a plan and do it, I always
have fun. Winter adventures, in particular, often require overcoming a
bit of inertia. Your house is warm, the world is not,
but soon you will be on the other side and
have great memories to look back on. So think about

(06:01):
what winter adventures you could plan, what would make you
excited about the next few months, rather than just counting
days to spring. Winter is all about mindset, and with
the right mindset, it is possible to have a lot
of fun in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,

(06:27):
and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

(06:55):
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