Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to plan some winter adventures. The post holiday
Speaker 1: winter months can feel dark and cold, but by planning
Speaker 1: in some winter specific adventures, not only will you have
Speaker 1: things to look forward to, you will enjoy the season
Speaker 1: for its own sake, rather than just counting days until spring.
Speaker 1: So longtime listeners know that winter isn't exactly my favorite
Speaker 1: season of year. I get cold easily, and the weather
Speaker 1: here in southeastern Pennsylvania is often dark and gloomy until
Speaker 1: about mid March. And yet I don't like the idea
Speaker 1: of wishing time away. I am not alone in this.
Speaker 1: Several years ago, I wrote a piece for Fast Company
Speaker 1: called The Norwegian Secret to Enjoying a Long Winter, and
Speaker 1: it became one of their most shared articles of the year.
Speaker 1: It seems a lot of us want to know how
Speaker 1: to appreciate this time rather than simply endure it. One
Speaker 1: of the ways it seems that people in northern Norway
Speaker 1: make the most of winter is by enjoying the things
Speaker 1: you can only do in winter. Cross country skiing is
Speaker 1: certainly a huge thing there, and it makes sense. Being
Speaker 1: outside is a known mood booster, so it is physical activity.
Speaker 1: If you can figure out how to combine the two,
Speaker 1: especially in activities that require cold weather, you can start
Speaker 1: viewing January and February as exciting months rather than terrible ones.
Speaker 1: The folks in northern Norway also appreciate the beauty of winter.
Speaker 1: Sometimes this is a more challenging, demanding beauty than a
Speaker 1: June rose garden, but it is a beauty none the less.
Speaker 1: So as we face down the next two and a
Speaker 1: half months until spring, I mean, at least for those
Speaker 1: of us in colder northern climates, it might be worth
Speaker 1: figuring out how to plan some winter adventures that get
Speaker 1: us active or expose us to winter's beauty. I know
Speaker 1: a lot of people love skiing. I am not a skier,
Speaker 1: but if you are, or you have friends and family
Speaker 1: members who enjoy this, it can be a great winter activity.
Speaker 1: Not all slopes are ridiculously pricey or difficult. We have
Speaker 1: a lot of little ski mountains and the Poconos that
Speaker 1: are well not that steep. Because the Poconos are not
Speaker 1: that high, little mountains like this could work as a
Speaker 1: day trip for people in this part of the world.
Speaker 1: Even when I lived in the rather flat Midwest, I
Speaker 1: know that there were at least a few small hills
Speaker 1: that became ski slopes for the winter. Some of these
Speaker 1: small hills also offer tubing, which can be really fun.
Speaker 1: You don't need to have any skiing skills to get
Speaker 1: into a tube and let gravity slide you down the mountain.
Speaker 1: Speaking of sliding, if there is any snow in your
Speaker 1: part of the world, sledding is fun as an adult too.
Speaker 1: Buy a cheap sled, find a hill and enjoy swooshing down.
Speaker 1: Play your cards right, and you can be outside for
Speaker 1: maybe thirty minutes or so, and then come home to
Speaker 1: warm and tasty beverages. It's just a little adventure, but
Speaker 1: I know that one of my most recent experiences of
Speaker 1: grinning ear to ear came while sliding down a snowy
Speaker 1: hill in my front yard. Snowshoeing and cross country skiing
Speaker 1: can work in places that have snow but don't have
Speaker 1: big hills, and even if you don't have snow cover,
Speaker 1: as long as it is cold, a trip to an
Speaker 1: outdoor ice skating rink can be tons of fun too.
Speaker 1: My family goes to the rink by the river in
Speaker 1: downtown Philadelphia, and I always love swirling around the ice
Speaker 1: under the winter sky. This is something you cannot do
Speaker 1: in warm weather, and I do genuinely look forward to it.
Speaker 1: As for appreciating winter beauty, I always like looking at
Speaker 1: the sunrise and sunset. The sunrise tends to happen at
Speaker 1: a time you might see it given the shorter days,
Speaker 1: and with bare trees, the colors look even more pronounced.
Speaker 1: Fresh snow makes a winter wonderland. But even if you
Speaker 1: don't have that, frost glistens, as does ice in ponds.
Speaker 1: Going on a winter walk in a place with lots
Speaker 1: of evergreens or holly with its berries can make for
Speaker 1: some stunning scenery. Of course, to have any adventure, which
Speaker 1: includes winter adventures, you need to plant ahead. I recommend
Speaker 1: a weekly planning session late in the week, such as
Speaker 1: on a Friday, looking ahead to the next min day
Speaker 1: to Sunday week. You can then take a minute to
Speaker 1: look at the immediately upcoming weekend and tighten the plan
Speaker 1: you made a week prior based on the weather or
Speaker 1: new information. This helps with getting tickets or reservations for places,
Speaker 1: but also with managing energy, which is really important in winter.
Speaker 1: I know that I have never woken up on a
Speaker 1: winter Saturday morning and said, you know what, I want
Speaker 1: to argue with my kids to get off their iPads,
Speaker 1: bundle them into my car, drive downtown and get them
Speaker 1: into rental skates. I need to know I plan to
Speaker 1: do this ahead of time. But then when I do
Speaker 1: have this as a plan and do it, I always
Speaker 1: have fun. Winter adventures, in particular, often require overcoming a
Speaker 1: bit of inertia. Your house is warm, the world is not,
Speaker 1: but soon you will be on the other side and
Speaker 1: have great memories to look back on. So think about
Speaker 1: what winter adventures you could plan, what would make you
Speaker 1: excited about the next few months, rather than just counting
Speaker 1: days to spring. Winter is all about mindset, and with
Speaker 1: the right mindset, it is possible to have a lot
Speaker 1: of fun in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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