It was ingrained in me from a young age I suppose. In some ways my love of being in the great outdoors stemmed partially from how I was brought up, partially who I was naturally & also how that developed as I grew older. Further experiences, further places and all the people I found along the way surrounding themselves in the same world I was seeking out.
My parents were outdoors folk. My dad had spent years of his youth backpacking around the UK, surrounding himself with nature and camping under the stars. He had been part of the scouts when he was young, taking a great interest in foraging. He had learnt to fish, hunt & respect the wildlife/balance of nature by my great grandfather.
My Mum on the other hand, was raised in an army family. She spent a few early years in Germany, while my grandad was deployed out there. Eventually they came back to the UK & settled in the mining village my dad grew up in. Another lover of the outdoors, my mum at heart is a Horticulturalist. She has a deep love of getting her hands dirty tending to a garden, or pruning the trees or shrubs. In the beautiful weather, or not so beautiful weather, you can often find her, from dusk till dawn, enjoying the spenders of gardening.
When two people like that come together, it makes sense that a lot of their free time & eventually our free time as a family, would involve being outside. I naturally loved those moments and followed in their footsteps, enjoying all the wonders I could explore outside.
In part it started with a bike. A shiny little red one with stabilisers on, riding around for hours in the back garden, grinning from ear to ear, happy. Carving circles & figure of eights in the grass, until I could eventually master two wheels & we could go further, together as a family.
I loved feeling the wind against my face as my legs pedalled below. Before I knew it I was off, under my own power to discover a new place. As you can imagine it only grew from there, canal walks, forest rides & bigger hills.
Then it was being by the water, feeding swans, rock pooling at the coast, whiling away the hours on a lake, oars in hand (or in some cases, learning by watching my dad) as we glided across the water like ducks peacefully passing through the trees.
Not forgetting heading out to visit castles and gardens, running though the flowers while Mum watched over. As I got older it gravitated to wandering though the flowers, learning all I could find out from the knowledge of Mum. Searching for beautiful displays, hidden mushrooms & just enjoying the ever changing of the seasons.
From farm holidays, where I rode pigs & made friends with the farm dog, to my first time climbing mountains & taking in the views. Like in this trip to Ben Nevis, where we unfortunately had to leave my mum behind, due to her fear of hights. I have thankfully spent my youth camping, walking, riding and swimming all over the UK, either with my family, with friends or on my own.
Here’s the thing I have learnt though, since I first made a career in working outside, to then stepping away to try something new. It can be easy, as you get older to lose that connection to the things that make you feel most content, the simple things, that for me have often been found outdoors. It often happens slowly, with good reasoning or intent behind it & before you know it, years have passed and you can’t remember the last time you watched the sun going down from top of a summit. Those things you care about experiencing more have been pushed somewhat to the fringes of your time. Sitting at the edges of your daily life in the wait column, while life continues on & the world around you speeds past.
That is what some of this is about. It’s not just about trying to make the best clothing I can as sustainably as I can, or just connecting back to those favourite sports and activates. It’s about getting back out there to explore our worlds the way we like. So, we can all go back to being that kid in the long grass, running through the daffodils and climbing anything we find along the way.
Benjamin.
NEMETONA ACTIVE