Remember the days when you were a kid playing in the back yard, never ready to come home for dinner? It’s because spending time in nature was an adventure most of us were already ready to take on. From finding odd colorful bugs hiding in the greenery to catching your first fish in the neighbor’s pond, these were the moments full of excitement that you may still carry to this day.
But these days, Americans are spending less and less time outdoors. A 2019 Outdoor Foundation study showed that nearly half of the US population doesn’t participate in any outdoor recreation at all, and only 17.9 percent got out at least once a week in 2018. As a result, there have been one billion fewer hikes, climbs, rides, and outdoor excursions than a decade ago.
A similar Yale study from 2017 suggested that the lure of technology and places people work, live, and go to school “do not encourage contact with the natural world," and "myriad competing priorities and activities push experiences in nature to the side.”
“In particular,” the report said, “older adults were concerned that younger generations are overly reliant on electronic media, unaware of how the natural world works, and unacquainted with the simple enjoyment of being outdoors.”
Here at Bored Panda, we hope that showing the little wonders nature can bring us will bring back everyone's interest in going outdoors and spending some time in the sunshine. Not only does it help to boost your immune system, lift your mood, and make you more active, it also gives you the sense of curiosity we all had in childhood and lost somewhere in our hectic schedules.
#9 Sunflower Growing Out Of The Sidewalk - Parent Patch Visible In Background
#15 The River By Me Flooded, Then Froze, Then The Water Receded Leaving These Hovering Ice Shelves On The Trees
