How to Be More Outdoorsy Without Making It Another Thing to Be Good At
How to Be More Outdoorsy Starts With What You Already Like
If you’re wondering how to be more outdoorsy, we wouldn’t begin with a massive hike, a new wardrobe or trying to look the part. Start with whatever already gets you out the door.
That might be walking after work, taking the dog somewhere green, swimming, riding, fishing or disappearing into the bush for a few hours. If it’s the big mountain, brilliant. Learn what it takes and go after it.
We’ve just learned that outside gets a lot less enjoyable when every weekend has to beat the last one. Not everything needs a personal best attached to it.
Being outdoorsy isn’t a level you unlock
Outdoor culture loves turning everything into a ladder. Short sits below long, a day hike below an overnight trip, and the local hill starts feeling a bit pathetic once you’ve climbed something bigger.
We love a hard day. There’s something bloody satisfying about getting back to the car wrecked, filthy and quietly pleased with yourself.
But harder isn’t always better. We’ve also had two-hour walks that fitted the day perfectly, when eight hours would’ve been a complete pain in the arse. The shorter walk didn’t need to lead anywhere bigger. It was good on its own.
Ask what you’d choose if nobody was going to hear about it
Take away the photo, Strava upload and story afterwards. What still sounds like a good day?
Maybe you’d get up in the dark for the summit. Maybe you’d sleep in and wander through the trees later, or skip the hike and go for a swim. The honest answer can change from one weekend to the next.
Achievement still matters. A summit you’ve worked for can stay with you for years. We’ve just found it means more when you wanted the day itself, not only the proof that you did it. Otherwise, free time can start feeling suspiciously like unpaid work.
Easy walks don’t need a backstory
You can take the easy track because you like it. You don’t need to explain that you’re tired, recovering, short on time or saving yourself for something harder.
Some days we want the climb. Other days, an hour through the trees and home before lunch is exactly right. We’ve had plenty of short walks that suited the day better than the bigger plan in our heads.
They don’t have to be training for anything either. If the same little loop keeps clearing your head, keep going back.
You also don’t have to like hiking
Here’s the awkward bit for a hiking-heavy brand: you can love being outside and still find hiking boring.
Go paddle, ride, surf, fish, swim, garden, watch birds or sit around a fire talking rubbish with people you like. There’s no reason to force yourself through one hobby just because it looks like the outdoorsy thing to do.
If hiking does sound worth a go, our Beginner Hiking Guide covers the first-day stuff without turning a walk into a major operation. Start easy, see how it feels and decide from there.
Local outside still counts
You don’t need mountains at the end of your street or a whole weekend to hand over. Outside might be the park down the road, the beach you’ve walked fifty times or twenty minutes after dinner before it gets dark.
That’s often the version that fits real life, which makes it much easier to keep doing. Big trips are brilliant, but not every good day outside needs a tank of fuel, a night away and a spreadsheet.
Looking experienced and knowing what you’re doing aren’t the same thing
Gear is a terrible way to judge experience. Someone in an old T-shirt and cheap shorts might know the route backwards. Someone dressed like they’re leaving for Everest might be on hike number two. Neither gets more of a claim to the trail.
That said, some places ask more of you. A fading route needs navigation, river crossings need judgement and exposed or avalanche terrain needs proper skills.
You can belong outside and still look at a route and think, not yet. We’ve all been there. Pick somewhere that gives you room to learn, then work your way into the harder stuff.
Everyone who looks experienced was once guessing
None of us started out knowing what to pack, how fast the weather could turn or what all those contour lines would feel like under our legs.
We’ve brought the wrong layers, carried gear we never touched and left useful stuff at home. We’ve found out that “waterproof” can be a fairly loose promise and that a route described as “undulating” may contain a suspicious amount of uphill.
Most experience is just a decent pile of small mistakes you remembered not to make twice. You go out, work a few things out and come back slightly less surprised next time. That’s enough to begin.
Your pace is your pace
Some people fly uphill. Others stop for a breather, eat something and take three photos of the same view. Both get a day outside.
Pace matters when it starts eating into daylight, water or a safe weather window. Beyond that, chasing somebody else’s speed rarely improves anything.
We’ve done the miserable little half-jog behind a faster group, and it’s an excellent way to feel like you’re failing at walking. Things get much better once you know your own pace and stop apologising for it.
Turning around doesn’t erase the day
We’ve felt this one. Once you’ve told people the plan, driven all that way and spent hours climbing, turning around can feel worse than it should. You come home without the summit, the photo or the tidy ending.
But weather, daylight and your legs don’t care how much you’ve already put into it. If heading back makes sense, that’s the call.
It can still sting. We’ve walked back annoyed before, even knowing it was the right decision. The route will still be there, and we’d rather come home with unfinished business than push on because “we turned around” doesn’t sound impressive enough.
Normal outdoor days are much scruffier than the internet makes them look
Most days outside would make rubbish content. You park in the wrong place, someone needs the toilet before you’ve properly started and the view is buried in cloud. Lunch gets crushed, the waterfall is barely flowing and half the photos are useless.
Then you get back to the car tired, dirty and somehow very happy with the whole thing.
Online, we mostly see the polished few seconds: the sunrise summit, empty lake and perfect campsite. No wonder a normal Saturday can look a bit ordinary beside that. One is the whole messy day. The other is the edit.
Outside is scruffier in person, and most of the time, that’s the version we like more anyway.
You can still go after hard things
None of this means giving up on big days.
Train for the mountain. Take the longer route. Go find out what you can do.
There’s something bloody satisfying about finally reaching somewhere that used to feel a bit beyond you. We’d just make sure you’re doing it because you actually want the challenge, not because you feel like you need another thing to prove.
That difference matters.
Curiosity can keep you going for years. Trying to maintain some imaginary outdoorsy reputation gets old pretty quickly.
Your outdoor life can get smaller again
It doesn’t have to keep escalating.
Maybe there was a time when whole weekends in the hills were easy to pull off. Then work got busier, money got tighter, kids turned up or another alarm at stupid o’clock started sounding deeply offensive.
That’s life.
Some years leave room for big days. Others give you an hour on the local track, a coffee afterwards and not much else.
That still counts for plenty.
You don’t lose your outdoors card because the mountain phase gets quieter for a while.
Gear is better when it fixes something real
We’d keep using what we own until it starts giving us a reason not to.
If the shirt feels good, wear it. If the shoes still grip where you walk and your feet aren’t furious afterwards, leave them alone.
Eventually the problem usually announces itself. The shirt stays soaked on every climb. The shoes turn sketchy when the trail gets wet. You keep freezing the second you stop moving.
Now there’s something worth fixing.
If the annoying bit happens to be the shirt, our Hiking Shirts & Trail Tees are there if a lighter, quicker-drying option would genuinely make your walks better.
If the old shirt’s still doing the job, keep wearing it.
Good gear earns retirement. It doesn’t need to be replaced because the internet got bored of it.
Maybe “more outdoorsy” isn’t the useful goal
At some point, how do I become more outdoorsy? stops being a very useful question.
We’d rather ask what we actually want from being outside.
Maybe it’s more movement, some quiet after a shit week, better fitness, time with people we like or the occasional big day that properly empties the tank. Sometimes it’s just an hour where nobody wants anything from us.
Once you know that, the label gets pretty irrelevant.
You stop trying to become an outdoorsy person and start doing more of the outside stuff you actually enjoy.
Final take
Outside doesn’t need to become another hobby you’re somehow falling behind at.
Walk the easy trail because you love it. Try the harder one because you’re curious. Learn the extra skills when the places you want to reach start asking for them, and replace gear when the old stuff genuinely isn’t doing the job anymore.
Then let it change as life does.
Some weekends might mean a mountain, stupid o’clock and tired legs on the drive home. Others might be coffee and twenty minutes through the trees before heading back to real life.
Neither needs to prove anything.
Go outside. Find the version you keep wanting to come back to.
How to Be More Outdoorsy FAQ
How do I become more outdoorsy?
Spend more time outside doing something you actually enjoy.
That might be hiking, but it could just as easily be cycling, swimming, fishing, gardening, camping or walking somewhere local.
What does being outdoorsy mean?
There isn’t one useful definition beyond enjoying time outside.
It doesn’t require a particular hobby, fitness level, style of clothing or amount of experience.
What if I don’t feel outdoorsy?
That’s completely fine.
You don’t need the identity before you can enjoy the activity. Try things first and let the label sort itself out, or ignore the label entirely.
How can I be more outdoorsy as a beginner?
Start small enough that you can actually enjoy learning.
Pick straightforward places, keep the first few outings simple and add difficulty when you genuinely want more.
Do I have to hike to be outdoorsy?
No.
Hiking is one option among plenty. If you’d rather paddle, ride, swim, fish, garden or walk around the park, do that.
Can I be outdoorsy if I live in a city?
Absolutely.
Parks, beaches, urban trails, rivers, bike paths and regular neighbourhood walks all count.
You don’t need wilderness nearby before being outside becomes worthwhile.
Do short walks count?
Of course.
A short walk doesn’t need to lead to a long one before it has value.
Am I still a hiker if I only do easy trails?
Yes.
Trail difficulty describes the trail, not how legitimate the person walking it is.
Do I need expensive outdoor gear?
Usually not when you’re starting.
Use what suits the activity and conditions. Buy more specialised gear once you’re doing things that give it a real job.
Can I hike in normal clothes?
Often, yes.
For simple walks in decent weather, comfortable everyday clothing can work perfectly well. Technical clothing becomes more useful when sweat, rain, cold, sun or longer days make those features worthwhile.
How fit do I need to be to start hiking?
Fit enough for the route you choose.
That might be a flat thirty-minute walk today and something steeper later. Start with where you are now.
Is it embarrassing to hike slowly?
No.
Your pace only really matters when it affects the practical side of the day, like daylight, weather, transport or whether you can safely finish.
Is turning around a failed hike?
No.
Sometimes the route changes. Sometimes the weather changes. Sometimes you change.
Heading back when it makes sense is just part of being outside.
Why can outdoor culture feel intimidating?
A lot of what gets shown is the dramatic end of it: big trips, technical gear, difficult routes and experienced people.
The ordinary stuff gets much less attention, which can make the entry point look higher than it is.
What is outdoor gatekeeping?
It’s when somebody uses experience, gear, knowledge or achievements to make other people feel like they don’t belong.
That’s different from honestly explaining that a particular route needs skills someone hasn’t learned yet.
Is saying someone isn’t ready for a trail gatekeeping?
Not automatically.
Some terrain genuinely requires particular skills or fitness.
There’s a difference between explaining the risk and helping someone progress, and simply making them feel small.
Do I have to keep doing harder hikes?
No.
Go harder because harder interests you, not because the easy trails somehow stopped counting.
What if I hate camping?
Then don’t camp.
You can spend your whole outdoor life doing day trips and sleep in a proper bed every night.
What if I’m not adventurous?
Outside doesn’t have to be adventurous.
It can be quiet, familiar and close to home.
How do I find an outdoor activity I actually like?
Try small versions of different things before buying loads of equipment.
Borrow or rent what you can, keep the first attempt simple and notice which activity you genuinely want to do again.
Can being outdoorsy just mean walking?
Absolutely.
There’s no technical minimum that ordinary walking has to pass before it counts.
How do I make more time to get outside?
Make the easy version easy to do.
A twenty-minute walk from home will fit into ordinary life far more often than a trail that needs three hours of driving and an empty Saturday.
What’s the biggest mistake when trying to become more outdoorsy?
Trying to build the identity before finding the activity.
Find something outside you actually enjoy first.
Everything else can come later.