View Full Version : Day trips into the simple life
Ultralight
4-22-16, 9:02am
Okay, admittedly I am not sure if I am putting this thread in the right category but give me a chance.
Many of our lives are more complex than we want, and that is out of our control. Things like work, for instance, can complicate our lives messily.
We may have much of our lives simplified but we still want to take brief forays into a much simpler life -- like an RV trip or going tent camping for example.
What I am wondering is what others do when you just need a day -- or maybe one day is all you have -- and you want to bask in some deep simplicity.
Obviously I will take my canoe out and go fishing for an entire day. That is an example.
I am sure others have their methods. Please share!
I just take a daypack and go hit a trail I love. It's a place that feeds me a great deal. I think of it as My Place. I take my time and try to plan to eliminate time constraints.
catherine
4-22-16, 12:19pm
This sounds boring, but I love to putter and just go where the day takes me. I might stay inside and read a book, or even tidy my office, I might go to our co-op farm and stroll or volunteer, I might sit outside in my own backyard and watch kids play ball in the field behind my house.
Just puttering is the ultimate freedom to me.
Ultralight
4-22-16, 12:39pm
Just puttering is the ultimate freedom to me.
I know I need at least one of these types of days a month. :)
I like to putter too in the quiet of my house and gardens. Having a day or two without expectations like that is very stress relieving.
Ultralight
4-22-16, 1:12pm
Bike ride
I would never have guessed this from you! ;)
freshstart
4-22-16, 1:23pm
take a day trip to museums a few hours from here, like Mass MoCA and the Clark. Free passes from the library and I'm set. It's like a re-set button for me.
Boy, I haven't done this in a long time and can't drive that far although I prefer going alone. Time to suck it up and go with somebody like-minded.
I need a half day every week that I do almost nothing interactive (especially electronic). So I don't check email or FB or this group, I will take phone calls but not too many people call me, I don't run errands during this down time either. I can have music on, a movie, sit and crochet or clean and do laundry. There is a set of things that feel ok and another set of things that feel stressy but it doesn't make sense to explain it. All I know is that it is deeply restorative.
And then a couple times a year I do my best to go on retreat! (like silent buddhists hanging out )
You know me....I can be kayaking with 5 minutes. I can find a quiet cove and almost doze off.
Napping outside. I have a very private back yard with 40 acres behind me. I take my fold up suntanning chase and a blanket, find a sunny spot and wrap up and sleep (I don't do this in the heat of summer but spring and fall are perfect). It's kind of like being a cat.
I've got several places I can take a quick hike and find a secluded spot with great views. In fact this afternoon I'm planning to hike on the highest point in the area, sit on the cliff and watch the trout fishermen way below me and the turkey vultures and hopefully an eagle at eye level or above. Tomorrow we plan to hike to the cliffs on an old homestead that is now a park. There are thousands of iris that should be in the early stages of blooming. There is space to find a quiet place and sit on a blanket, rock wall, or bench and just enjoy.
I connect with dirt, rocks, moving water. I can sit by a spring and be mesmerized for hours. That's partly why I enjoyed the diamond digging last week so much, just sitting in one spot running dirt through my hands is very calming.
Sometimes just closing my eyes and remembering some of my favorite times. I had a giant 5 gated horse named Stone that was so quiet and smooth. There was a dirt road up from my house that I loved riding him on and I can close my eyes and feel his gates, watch his ears moving (he was a joy to ride instead of the thoroughbred that I had to be very aware of everything that might spook her at any time or my quarter horse that was great for pole-bending and barrel racing but had a horrible bouncy trot). I basically rode from the time I could sit on the saddle in front of my dad till I was in college and I still miss that part of my life very much...memories and visualizations of that sometimes get me through a bad time.
frugal-one
4-22-16, 2:24pm
When I was working (thankfully retired now)... occasionally I would play hooky.... just curl up in bed and watch a good movie. Really had a stressful job and this was restorative. Was great just to get away from reality for a while.
Teacher Terry
4-22-16, 3:07pm
I find water very calming so love to sit at a lake. walk next to it, etc. I used to live a mile from Lake Michigan and went there everyday. Now I live in high desert so have to drive to water. We always camp at a lake and I throw a toy for my big dog and he fetches-we do this for hours. When I worked f.t. I would sometimes call in sick just to stay home and putter.
Ultralight
4-22-16, 3:10pm
This weekend I am going to pack a lunch, put it in my bicycle trunk, and take a long tide on the Olentangy Bike Trail. I think I will do this tomorrow.
I love my little bike. It's tiny.
http://www.pacific-cycles.com/CarryMe
Ultralight
4-22-16, 3:56pm
I love my little bike. It's tiny.
http://www.pacific-cycles.com/CarryMe
That thing is sweet!
freshstart
4-22-16, 4:57pm
I've never even seen a bike like that, very cool
It works really well in an urban setting - I park it in my apartment and it takes up almost no space. It goes on the light rail easily. It weighs very little so I can carry it up stairs and escalators. Which makes me feel like weight lifting guru when I'm not. 😄
It has one speed. It's geared so that it pedals like a regular style bike with one speed. I've taken it on ten mile rides without a problem.
One drawback - because of the 8 inch wheels it doesn't do well on gravel. Too easy to flip over when a big stone turns the wheel suddenly. Paved surfaces are best.
Oh - and you have to get used to balancing on it. It feels a lot more like ice skates than wheels, if that makes sense. Really sensitive steering. But after a few days I totally adjusted. It takes a lot effort to balance than a big bike so I think of it as my old age falling prevention exercise by keeping my balance good.
Williamsmith
4-22-16, 8:45pm
That bike looks like something James Bond might pull out of a briefcase. They even have electric assist.
I like to duck out to someplace with lots of greenery. In winter, visiting one of the conservatories in town and smelling damp earth and plants reminds me that things will grow again someday. In the non-winter months, I like to find a remnant of woods or a river bed. Fortunately, we have enough of those which don't require a day trip.
ToomuchStuff
4-23-16, 10:06am
It is spring, I like working in the lawn, and have been needing to get some exercise lately (been a bit down). I need to mow the vacant property next to me don't want it to get back over 5 feet, since this year it will be up for sale (want to try to buy it), which I will use the gas mower for.
Unfortunely for Packy, I may mow my yard for the third time this week, although it has been mowed with the reel mower (gets exercise and I sharpened it up last year, cuts great, gets the neighbors talking).
Like to get back into bike riding, this year. Might have to start as I am awaiting parts to get the antique VW up and going.
So the weekend is over? Any reports?
I did kayak twice this weekend. Once alone and once with a son home for the weekend. Both were great. The time alone was the best because I got to watch a mink for 30 minutes fishing for his evening meal.
I did hike one trail I wanted to, the cliff to watch the trout fishermen below. No eagles or even turkey vultures but some small birds catching bugs plus I found a huge patch of red/yellow columbine flowers - stunning.
Ultralight
4-25-16, 11:55am
So the weekend is over? Any reports?
I did kayak twice this weekend. Once alone and once with a son home for the weekend. Both were great. The time alone was the best because I got to watch a mink for 30 minutes fishing for his evening meal.
I did hike one trail I wanted to, the cliff to watch the trout fishermen below. No eagles or even turkey vultures but some small birds catching bugs plus I found a huge patch of red/yellow columbine flowers - stunning.
Sounds like a great weekend altogether!
The ultimate simplicity for me is not believing what I think. All other forms of simplicity flow from that.
ToomuchStuff
5-4-16, 12:53am
The ultimate simplicity for me is not believing what I think.
Or type maybe, since it starts as a thought? That might explain a science post.
In the post starting this thread, these words caught my attention: "when you just need a day -- or maybe one day is all you have"
I thought, if one day is all I have, what would I love to have in it?
And my best things are, to get up early and see the sun rise while the day is still quiet. To take chopped cheese out into the garden and wait for the crow family to turn up in hope of breakfast - chat with them, put little cubes of cheese on the fence posts for them. To eat easy, simple, healthy food, drink cold water from the spring, and hang out with family. To read a book; then towards late afternoon to go down to the seashore and spend a while watching the waves and the gulls. To walk in the woods near sunset. In the evening to light a fire on the hearth and put out food for the fox as darkness falls. To sit quietly, in lamplight, in candlelight; later to watch the moon climb the sky and listen to the hunting owl, and look at the stars. These are the things that bring me back to peace. If I had only one day left on earth, it would be happy with those things in it.
Very nice, Ember...thank you for sharing that. I could *see* your day!
freshstart
8-11-16, 7:43pm
me, too. beautiful
printslicker
8-11-16, 10:18pm
Life challenges are always a a part of our everyday living. Just to make it simple, I think we must spend each day by doing something meaningful. Personally, I always give myself the best shot that I could give to my loved ones and friends. I mean , enjoy and just take my life to the fullest besides we may never know our last day here on earth.
messengerhot
12-20-16, 9:55pm
I'll just sleep all the day cause I'm not that adventurous person. Hang out with friends? Noooo.. They'll just give me stressful thoughts :~)
Williamsmith
12-23-16, 9:50am
Ember's post reminded me of the following: Peace! And Cheers!
There is pleasure in the pathless woods,There is a rapture on the lonely shore,There is society, where none intrudes,By the deep sea, and music in its roar:I love not man the less, but Nature more,From these our interviews, in which I stealFrom all I may be, or have been before,To mingle with the Universe, and feelWhat I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.
LORD BYRON, Childe Harold
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/b/byron_lord.html#QveXyVrSSlW1L2rg.99
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