Focused travel in nature has been a leading trend in recent years and with the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a renewed focus on safe outdoor activities. In a time when ‘normal travel’ is largely discouraged or impossible, enjoying time outdoors offers respite and a chance to discover something new or the simple comforts of familiar natural surroundings. Cassidy Randall writes for Forbes that getting outside to spend time away from built areas is a safe activity that has a range of positive impacts on health. Randall says, “In fact, these positive effects that are so well-documented that more and more doctors are issuing “nature prescriptions” to help treat a range of conditions from heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes, to chronic stress, depression and anxiety, insomnia and even PTSD.”
In particular hiking in a range of forms, including trail and hill walking, are all experiencing a boom. As social restrictions have led many people to embrace local exercise, more and more people are opting to discover their own backyard or embarking on regional trips for the first time. The interest in these activities means that more people are benefitting from the holistic health returns of time spent peacefully outside doing a low-impact physical activity. There are many reasons why hiking is great for your health from giving you the chance to get more Vitamin D exposure to incidentally ‘turning on’ different muscles than you do in a gym. Further to this, it’s a safe way to socialize, meet people at a distance, and it’s nearly always free!
Even with this clinical and firsthand justification for getting into hiking, many people can still feel overwhelmed with hitting a trail. To help with getting started, Gabor Shoes developed this infographic resource ‘How To Prepare For Your First Day Hike’. With practical tips, data and prompts for where to begin, this guide is designed to have people getting outdoors rather than sitting at home before they know it even if it’s just for a couple of hours taking in a new part of their local area.
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