390 Holly Worton ~ What to Do When You Don’t Feel Like Having Adventures

Transcript

Holly: Hello adventurers and welcome to the Into the Woods podcast, episode 390 – I can’t believe we are almost at 400 episodes! – this is your host Holly Worton and I am back with another solo episode. I will be getting into having guests again, but I have had a lot to say and I am still lining up guests for the first quarter of this year (I have got some exciting people that I have reached out to and some exciting people have confirmed, so stay tuned for that).

But today I am going to talk about outdoors adventures, what to do when you don’t feel like having adventures? This may sound kind of like a weird topic, but it is something that I have been experiencing lately: it is the middle of winter, it is freezing in some places, it has been really cold here, I am not feeling like going outside a lot of the time and I am not really feeling having outdoors adventures sometimes. So what do you do instead?

I think this is natural not just because of the weather, we tend to want to kind of slow down during winter, be indoors, rest, recover – like, it is very natural to feel this way and I know about the wheel of the year, I know about cycles, and yet, I tend to resist it, because I want things to be the same all year long, I want consistency, I want things to fit into my calendar. I can be very kind of head-based and I just kind of want to get things done without always listening to my body. So today’s episode is about what to do when you don’t feel like having adventures.

Before we get into today’s episode I want to say thank you to my new patron, Sally, thank you so much for signing up on Patreon and supporting me there. If you get value from this podcast, and you would like to support my work, you can head over to Patreon.com/HollyWorton and you can join me there. Tiers start at just $1 a month and you get exclusive access to stuff that I don’t share anywhere else. You can also access to free ebooks, all of my free ebooks, depending on what tier you sign up at – to Patreon.com/HollyWorton.

So into today’s episode, what to do when you don’t feel like having adventures?

So this is something that has been going on for me just this week really, because a couple of weeks ago I had this great 30k run, on a Monday with my husband, we had such a great time (I mean, it was terrible mud and the trails were streams, but it was really lovely, it was a great adventure together). And then last week I had a big, long, 40k walk from sunrise until after sunset, really great adventure, really enjoyable time. And then this week I was scheduled to run 33k on Monday… and I didn’t have a very good sleep the night before, so that I passed it on (and on and on!) and it is Friday as I record this and I think I am going to do it tomorrow, but I am not quite sure. I keep putting it off for various reasons, I have had weird sleep this week, and I tend to not want to go for a run in the morning if I haven’t slept well, or if I don’t feel rested, or I am just not feeling well physically.

But also, I don’t know, I just haven’t felt up to it – I have done other runs this week, shorter runs, I did an hour today, and an hour a couple of days ago and those were great, but I just wasn’t feeling up for a big, long, adventure. I was feeling kind of bad about that because I set these goals for myself, and I plan how to achieve the goals and what I need to do in order to achieve them and I block it out in my calendar and then if something goes wrong and I can’t do something the way I wanted to, I kind of beat myself up a little bit and I feel bad about myself and I am not always good at being flexible. So probably this whole pandemic situation has been good for me because it has had to teach me to reschedule and reevaluate and change things – which I have been talking about on the podcast lately.

So, I think it has gotten to a point where I wanted to stop and evaluate what was going on for me to see why I don’t feel like having outdoors adventures, but I have realised that I have had adventures in other ways. So I wanted to talk to you about – if you are in the same spot and you might be because whenever I share things like this I get emails with people saying, ‘I am in exactly the same place, thank you for talking about that’ – if you have been feeling like you don’t want to have outdoor adventures, what can you do?

So, I think one of the most important things is to know your why, and I did a podcast episode about this several weeks ago, it was episode 382, Know your Why for your Outdoor Adventures, and I will link to this in the show notes. I think it is really important to know why you do your outdoors adventures, why do you go walking? Why do you do trail running? Why do you do whatever thing you do that you do? And what do those adventures give you? Do they give you a sense of freedom? Do they give you a sense of exploring new places? What do they give you and how can you meet that need elsewhere?

I have realised that much like in the summer when I was stuck at home with Lyme disease and had zero energy to do anything, lately Agustin and I have really been into travelling – virtually – with documentaries. So we started out watching, I think it was, The Long Way Up, with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman where they do this whole motorcycle trip from Tierra del Fuego, at the south point of Argentina all the way up to, I think they went to Alaska – oh no they went up to LA on that one. So then we really go into that and we are not really, we don’t ride motorcycles, but we really like their adventure. And then we realised they had two other documentary series, The Long Way Down, The Long Way Around, and we watched those, and we really, really, enjoyed those. Again, we are not motorcycle riders, but it was really interesting to see what kind of places you can travel to, how far out in the middle of nowhere they went on these motorcycles and it is not a trip that I ever want to do – but I really, really, enjoyed watching someone else do it! {laughing} – because they went to some really exciting, remote places that were really, really, lovely.

I have just gotten back into Anthony Bourdain, we really, really, loved Hearts Unknown when we first watched it and that was his last series that he did before he died. And we recently watched The Layover, and now we are watching No Reservations. So these are travel shows with food, I really liked Hearts Unknown because again he went to some really remote parts of the world and really connected with the people there and ate their food, I really, really, loved it. The Layover and No Reservations is more kind of travel-y, those were done for the travel channel, so it makes sense, but these are great ways to see other parts of the world during a pandemic when you might not be wanting to engage in international travel and seeing other foods and other people experiences, that you might experience if you decide to go to these places once the pandemic lifts and it is safe to do so. Or now, some people are still travelling, if that is safe where you live, go for it!

I think kind of travelling from home, travelling from your couch, by watching travel documentaries and travel shows can be a really good way to give you that sense of adventure and to help you plan for future adventures – you might find a place that you have never thought of going, but it really piqued your interest, through watching this documentary or travel show, and you might add it to your list. So that is one thing that you can do to meet your need for your travel.    

Another thing is to just live vicariously through other’s outdoors adventures, watching documentaries and books and podcast, like I said we are really into watching trail running races and all kinds of stuff. We, a couple of weeks ago, were really obsessed with The Western States 100, which is a race that goes through California, a 100-mile race, which I would love to run, but I hate running and walking in the summer. And I don’t even do long distance walks here in England in the summer, because I am really sensitive to heat, so the odds of me doing a 100-mile walk in California are next to nothing, but I would love to! So we have just been watching, we watch loads of videos on YouTube, about The Western States 100, so that really satisfied my desire for learning more about the race and experiencing it without actually experiencing it, because I don’t want to do that.

I recently listened to Joanna Penn’s episode where she talked about walking the Pilgrim’s Way, which she did late last year, I think in October, and that’s on her books and travel podcast which I will link to in the show notes. I really loved that. When it is winter and I am not doing long distance trails, I love hearing about other people’s adventures of walking long distance trails, whether it is on podcasts or books. There are so many books that I have read about other people’s travel memoirs about walking long distance trails and I love those, and when it is winter I tend to read more of those because I am not walking as much usually. So, you might need to meet your need for adventure through reading, watching videos, listening to podcasts.

Or maybe you are just tired? And I think this is something that is really important to check in with yourself about, maybe you are mentally, physically, and emotionally tired, like I said, I ran 30k one week, I walked 40k the following week – those were big things. So it kind of makes sense that maybe I needed a rest this week and maybe I didn’t feel up to doing much, maybe I will do those 33k tomorrow and maybe I won’t, maybe I will leave it to next week. But a lot has been going on lately and I have been kind of mentally and emotionally stressed, in addition to physical stress from doing these things, so maybe I need a break. I don’t know I will reevaluate that tomorrow, because I did have a good sleep last night…finally.

So how do you know when you need a break?

It is time to check in with yourself and really be honest and this is something I struggle with, being honest with myself about whether or not I need to take a rest. But ask yourself how you feel emotionally, how do you feel physically, how do you feel mentally? This might be something that you want to journal on.

I have mentioned before that I use the Oura ring, and I will link to that in the show notes, what it does is it checks your temperature and your heart rate variation throughout the night, and it gives you a score in the morning as to how well you slept and how well your readiness is for doing physical stuff and exercise. I found that really useful. Sometimes I feel like it is really accurate and sometimes that it is not really accurate and both ways have been helpful to me. Sometimes I wake up and I feel like crap, and I will go downstairs and feed the cats, have my water, have my only cup of coffee and then kind of continue to tune in, ‘can I go for a run? How do I feel? Do I feel like going out and doing something?’ And I will check my readiness [on the Oura ring] and if my readiness says that I am amazing – I have got really high scale of readiness – but I still don’t feel it, even after waking up and getting into the day, then I listen to myself. I never prioritise what the ring says over what I feel, but if the ring doesn’t coincide with how I feel, it kind of triggers an extra layer of attention and paying attention to how do I feel? Why is it saying this? Why is it saying that I am in great shape to do something when I don’t feel very good? It is a good way to get kind of a second opinion on how I feel {laughing} — maybe it is just me that finds it really challenging to tune into my body, but I am probably not the only one.

So think about what you really need right now, do you need to have an adventure, do you need to push yourself physically – or do you need more sleep? Do you need self care? I have had a few nights this week where I have just had weird sleep, I have been falling asleep more quickly which was great, but then my sleep throughout the night was weird dreams and just kind of disturbed and not, great, deep sleep – so that is also something that can effect you, so pay attention to that and think about what you need. Again, do you need more sleep – maybe you just need to have a great night’s sleep and then you can do your adventures. And remember you may be rested physically but maybe you are stressed out mentally and emotionally and that takes it toll too. Ask yourself: could you be burnt out? Have you been doing too much? Do you need a rest? Do you need to reevaluate your goals? Your plans? Do you need to shift things around in your calendar? Could you have a smaller adventure? So this week, I kept pushing my long run later and later in the week, but I did have two nice one hour runs that were really love (cold, so cold, but really lovely!). So could you have a smaller adventure? Or could you just go to the park and walk around and get outdoors that way?

Or could you have adventures in consciousness? Maybe do some meditation, try something new with your mind? Yoga…. I don’t know, try new things. Or maybe you don’t need a rest? Maybe you need motivation? You can always force yourself to do something, and sometimes that works, there have been many times where I did not feel like going for a run, but I did it anyway and I loved it — and that’s one thing for me that is really tough about running, a lot of times I don’t feel like running, but I do it, because I know while I am doing it, and afterwards, I am going to feel great. I am going to really enjoy it, I am going to have a great adventure, I am going to have just a great time and it is going to make me feel good. So sometimes forcing yourself to do something is a good thing, sometimes it is not.

Figure out what would make you feel better, figure out what would make you feel motivated and excited and adventurous and do that thing. Or just do something different, you can try a different type of adventure, instead of outdoors adventures you could try something new with food, you could cook a new recipe, or go to a new restaurant (if restaurants are open where you live). Try a new craft or hobby, or new type of fitness – you can join classes even if you are stuck at home – learn something new, there are so many things you can learn. There are so many types of adventures that can satisfy your need for adventure without getting outdoors and doing the outdoors adventure that maybe you are not in the mood for.

Also, depending on what lockdown restrictions are in your country in your part of the world, call a friend, get motivated to have an adventure with them, or ask them to help motivate you. Sometimes it is easier, both of the runs I did this week were with Agustin and it was really, really, enjoyable to go out for a run with him – I am really enjoying going on runs with him. I didn’t think I would ever like running with other people because I like running alone so much, but it has been fantastic so that’s been a good way for me to get out of the house, have a smaller run – a shorter run – and really enjoy it. So sometimes if you are not motivated to do something on your own it can help to do it with someone else and again, if you are in lockdown where you live, try to do it with a family member or someone who lives at home, if not, do what you can.

So to quickly recap, know your why for adventures; know what your adventures give you and ask yourself how you can meet that need elsewhere. Really tune into yourself and see: are you tired? Do you need a break? How do you feel mentally, emotionally, and physically? What do you need now? Do you need more adventures, or do you need rest? Could you be burnt-out? Do you need to reevaluate and have a smaller adventure? Do you need external motivation? Could you try a different type of adventure that doesn’t involve physical activity?

So this is going to be a shorter episode today, but I though this was really important to share because I thought I am probably not the only one that is going through this — I feel like I have to be doing exciting things all the time and making the most of my time and my life (and everything) and sometimes you just need to rest {laughing} or postpone or whatever, but I hope this was useful in helping you identify what might be going on for you if you are experiencing the same thing and what to do instead. There are so many ways to get adventures and so many ways to experience adventure in your life and you don’t always need to do the same things. So if you are feeling like slowing down, because it is winter, if you are feeling like going within, maybe your adventures are journalling and meditation and inner adventures and things like that, this is the perfect time for it.

So related episodes if you want to check out: I mentioned episode 382 where I talk about knowing your why for your outdoors adventures – 382 Holly Worton ~ Know Your Why For Your Outdoor Adventures (now with downloadable transcript!).

Episode 380 with Sarah K Brandis, we talked about what to do when our passions lead to burnout – 380 Sarah K Brandis ~ What To Do When Our Passions Lead To Burnout (now with downloadable transcript!) – and I think that is a really, really, useful one, it is something that I am always kind of aware of, I am always kind of paying attention to energy levels, and managing my energy, because I have had such problems with energy levels in the past, probably because of my thyroid. But that is a great episode if you are worried about burnout.

Episode 379, I talk about how to reevaluate your goals, plans and projects – 379 Holly Worton ~ How to Re-evaluate Your Goals, Plans, and Projects (now with downloadable transcript!) – including stuff like your adventure and your goals.

So you might find any of those episodes useful.

But I would love to hear from you, are you feeling still that raging desire to go out and have adventures, or are you feeling like you need to slow down and go within? I would love to hear form you – drop me a line and let me know you can email me at  [email protected] or find me online and get in touch.

And that’s all, like I said this is going to be a short one. Hope you enjoyed this, and I hope you found it useful, and remember to visit: HollyWorton.com/390 for the show notes on this episode. Thank you.