Taking Advantage of Nature During a Global Pandemic

As I start this post, I am sitting up on the shared roof deck of my apartment building in Boston. I am thrilled and relieved that we finally have a day nice enough to sit outdoors during this global pandemic, which has temporarily altered the lives of every single person around the world. The pandemic I am referring to is, of course, the coronavirus, or COVID-19, and its rapid spread around the world. Just this morning CNN informed me that the US surpassed the amount of cases in both Italy and China, and right now things seem far from returning to “normal.”

When this all started, I was not very scared of the virus. I am 26 and healthy, therefore I did not think I had much to worry about. I realize now this mindset was naive. However, even though I didn’t feel scared of COVID-19 yet, I was scared of something. I was terrified of a statewide or nationwide lockdown, thus forcing us to stay indoors without a definitive end in sight. The idea of being unable to get a breath of fresh air for multiple weeks truly panicked me. On an average day, I spend upwards of three hours outside between walking to and from work, taking my dog on several walks, and running a few miles along the Charles River. As I anxiously watched the news in those first couple of days of things “getting bad,” waiting for them to order me to stay inside, it got me thinking about my job. 

I currently work as a Program Coordinator for Elevate Youth, a small organization working to empower young people through outdoor experiences. We work with kids from low-income, urban neighborhoods, 80% of which are youth of color. These are kids who truly do not have opportunities to spend quality time in green spaces near their home, most of whom have never hiked, fished, kayaked, camped, or skied a day in their life. 

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine not having opportunities to play outside as a kid? As a young, healthy, able-bodied woman who had the privilege of growing up with all of these opportunities, I simply can’t imagine where my life would be without them. But as I near my 2.5 year mark with Elevate Youth, I have become more than aware that the life I had growing up is far from the reality for many young people. 

Of all the kids we work with, I approximate about 1% have tried the outdoor activities we do prior to joining Elevate Youth. Some reasons for this are as follows: their families do not recreate outside, they are unaware of or unable to access green spaces near their homes, restrictive costs of outdoor activities & outdoor gear…and the list goes on. Further, the long history of marginalization of communities of color in outdoor spaces adds an additional, more complex layer to why our youth have not spent time in nature. 

So, why on that day watching the news did my mind wander off to my job? Because while I started to become claustrophobic at the mere thought of being ordered to stay inside, it made me realize that so many people live their lives without the outdoors, even when things are business as usual. While they might not feel that they are confined to their homes, they also may not even be aware of the abundance of benefits they are missing out on by not utilizing nature, whether it is because they don’t have access, or because they simply don’t even think about it.  

Last weekend I went hiking. I was careful not to touch surfaces and I kept my distance from others, but this proved more difficult than I anticipated because there were so many people there. Bars, restaurants and malls are all closed, but what remains open is nature. While at first I was a bit irked that the trail was so busy, I realized I should be glad, because as I looked at my fellow hikers it was clear that many were trying out this hiking-thing for the first time. Sure, I still wasn’t thrilled to be hiking on a crowded path, but it was also nice to see that people who never would have chosen a hike over brunch were now getting the opportunity to appreciate the outdoors. 

What I am getting at is this. We are at a crossroads; a time when fresh air and the ability to go on a hike should not be taken for granted. Both for the veterans of outdoor recreation and the newcomers, we can all use this as a time to recognize and appreciate how wonderful it is to be able to escape into nature. But more importantly, to realize that all people should have this opportunity, because the Great Outdoors should be a place where all feel welcome and included. So during this time of quarantine, shelter-in-place, stay-at-home-advisory, or whatever the experience may be for you as an individual, I challenge you to reflect on what the outdoors means to you. Whether you are an avid outdoorsman who backpacks on the regular, or if you are someone who just appreciates a nice long walk, I will leave you with a few questions to dwell on:

- What would you do without the chance to get outside everyday? 

- Where would you be in your life if you had not recreated outside as a kid? 

- How can we help the kids who need these opportunities the most, but do not have them?

by Annie Hayes