DISQUS

amy · 1 year ago

hey guys- thanks for another great article. i have been toying with the idea of trying to make a 'real' blog and am coming to realize how much work and talent it takes. congratulations on the fine job you do. i think you're just great.

Tyler @ Building Camelot · 1 year ago

It should be a requirement that all men spend time outdoors with other men. Not only do you experience the points you mention here, but you also get the much need and often overlooked male bonding time.

I think your second point is the best - we men seem to lose our natural manliness when we don't spend time one-on-one with mother nature. Modern times can easily zap us of our testosterone.

And I agree with Amy - you guys run a great site. You guys have some GREAT articles and I always look forward to new articles.

--TW

Bernard · 1 year ago

Honestly...are you inside my brain? Seems there's always an article about whatever is on my mind at the moment. I feel this just solidifies the plans I've been making of a summer journey experiencing the country.

Cameron Schaefer · 1 year ago

For my senior trip in high school, while the rest of my friends were off in Mexico getting drunk and sunburned, 2 guys and myself went on a 2 week long backpacking trip to Alaska. We had a bush pilot drop us off 80 miles into the Wrangell-St Elias wilderness and we spent the next several days experiencing the awesomeness of the wild.

This trip more than any other in my life made an incredible impression on me of the importance of spending time in nature. I think the reason why nature is so good for man is it's uncontrollable. Every other area of a man's life may be under control, but nature has a savage way of reminding us that we can't control everything. It's a huge revelation.

-Cameron

Elizabeth · 1 year ago

Excellent article. I just wish that the AoM had specified that real manly men experience nature without the aid of 4x4's or other motorized vehicles. Men who don backbacks and hiking boots and commune with nature are manly men. Men who tear up the earth with loud, belching vehicles or those who can't go anywhere with a generator to power their audio and visual toys are NOT manly men.

betsbillabong · 1 year ago

Um, I think this is a requirement for humans, not just men...

Brett · 1 year ago

@ bestbillabong um, this is a site focused on men, so we write about how it can help men...

iamsofaking · 1 year ago

I recently got into dirtbiking and it is a great way to get yourself out in nature. I am not so much 'roughing it' most of the time, but it feels good to get some dirt on me and sleep someplace where I can see the stars. I've gotten to see a lot of bits of forest and desert that I otherwise wouldn't and I have had to think and to grunt my way out of some pretty sketchy breakdown situations.
It probably isn't the Bill Bryson-type great outdoors that you had in mind, but I highly recommend it.

Eric · 1 year ago

When I think of getting out of doors and relaxing, recharging and renewing myself I don't think of the Bill Bryson-type great outdoor experience. If I remember "A Walk In The Woods" correctly he ended up driving most of the AT.
Anyway, thanks for a great article that reminds me that now that it's spring I need to get my ass outside again...

linuxpunk81 · 1 year ago

I enjoyed reading your article but I disagree with just about all of it. Of course this is just because of my personal preferences. Most men like the outdoors getting dirty fishing making things etc which is cool for some but would bore me to tears. I'd rather be inside in the A/C with various computer parts laying around, my laptop on some random tech site and my other computer compiling code all while a battlestar galatica marathon is running in the background on my 50in tv. I'm the part of the other set of men, the nerds, the geeks, the pale. We find the outdoos confusing wide open and buggy. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be "a man's man" but the world needs nerds to keep the word running while you're out shooting bambi.

Kells Hogan · 1 year ago

I started DEEP WOODS CAMP FOR BOYS in 1970. Back in those dark ages before electronic gadgets captured the hearts and minds of the young, it was easy to attract young boys to a summer of hiking and backpacking, whitewater canoeing and rafting, mountain biking and rock climbing. This program continues today, heading for our 39th summer, but we are in no danger of losing our claim to being the smallest camp in the known universe. All camps across the country are experiencing declining enrollment - all, that is, except the "fat camps". Young people are drawn now to the indoors, to gadgets that plug in or devour batteries. Lessons learned in the outdoors are no longer part of growing up. These have been replaced, by and large, by what has become known as "the professionalization of childhood". A child's early years are now spent learning how to be a successful (read: wealthy) adult. No time for the outdoors. What free time that might be squeezed into a tightly scheduled day is spent with the iPod in the ear, the cell phone in the other ear, the keyboard at hand, the video game in progress, and the monitor as the only window into the real world. In fact there is very little interest in developing or restoring "manly vigor." We in the outdoors are hoping there might be a return to sanity. But we are not holding our collective breath.

crowmagnumman · 1 year ago

Getting outdoors is important, but you guys have an overly rosy view of nature. It's not going to make all your problems go away. In fact, sometimes being in nature just makes your problems worse. The wilderness is as beautiful as it is dangerous. I believe that man has cut himself off from the wild too much, but we can't expect to solve our problems and commune with nature whenever we go hiking. You guys are romanticizing something that is inherently harsh and unforgiving. Mankind has gone way too far in separating ourselves from the real world and has destroyed far too much of it. But nature is not as glorious and wonderful as you're making it out to be. There is beauty in nature, and it is healthy to get fresh air and be in nature, but I just can't stand this over-romanticizing of nature.

Brett McKay · 1 year ago

@Kells-

You put the problem at hand very eloquently. Those are my thoughts exactly. Kids today are way overscheduled and are missing out on some of the best life has to offer. I wish you luck with keeping your camp alive; it sounds fantastic and boys need programs like yours.

@Crow-

Yes obviously nature is harsh-tornadoes, floods, bears, and the like are part of nature too. But I'm not talking about nature in general, simply about outdoor recreation-camping and hiking in nature. All the the things I have listed here are things I have actually experienced. Whenever I spend time in nature I feel rejuvenated, peaceful, inspired, and invigorated. If it sends romantic, that's because it is.

crowmagnumman · 1 year ago

Maybe it's just that most of my experiences in nature have been negative. I think you are definitely headed in the right direction with the article, though. Man is barricading himself from nature too much. But we can't ignore the dark side of nature. The houses we have built to protect us are a good thing. But staying in those houses all the time is, of course, a bad idea.

I just have a very cynical view of nature I guess. I go into nature hoping it will give me a clean perspective, but nearly freezing to death in the wilderness seems to only exacerbate any problems I'm facing in life.

Aidan · 1 year ago

@Elizabeth: good point, and I agree that off highway recreation vehicles get a very bad rap due to many people who abuse their vehicles and the surroundings that they ride them in. However, as a dirt biker I want to take a stab at representing the better side of the OHV community. There are many riders who are active environmentalists and seek to preserve and protect the lands they ride on. These are the people who gladly pay their yearly sticker fees to have the privilege of riding in state parks, and carefully tune their bikes and ATVs to fall below the specified decibel range. Then there are the people you commonly see, making noise, tearing up roads that aren't designated riding areas, littering and acting like hicks. This is not to say that you are wrong because you are not - I am just trying to let the world know that there are some good riders still out there. Done right, an afternoon taken with the guys to rev up our motorcycles, rip up hills that are too steep, take a sharp turn without any idea what lies ahead, and invariably kiss dirt is incredible. It sort of turns down the volume on the rest of our lives so that our problems seem manageable again.

cory huff · 1 year ago

I just discovered your blog via Alltop.com. As someone who also writes about manliness - albeit from the perspective of how to be a better husband - I am really excited about your blog.

I'm also surprised at the reactions of those who are reading. I like the outdoors. I don't spend much time there, but I always find it refreshing, even though I am also one of the indoor types (I spend a great deal of time inside dark theatres since I'm an actor).

Great work Brett. Looking forward to reading more.

Timothy Siew · 1 year ago

Another good thing about the outdoors: man can pass on their skills to their children as they bring them along, or just experience something together.

There can be outdoor nerds as well. The guy who looks into every detail concerning plant life. Knowing every type of wildlife in the area, and knowing how to evade dangerous ones. How to capture certain kinds of prey. How to set up a campsite properly and safely in the best possible location at the best altitude and wind conditions. Knowing which is the best camping gear to use etc.

All these are useful skills, just that with modern luxuries all good skills are either put to waste or used too much in a gadget-like purpose. I'm sure MacGyver can survive both a technical problem and a nature problem.

I seem to be going off a tangent. Just one last thought. If all the technology in the world fails due to war or some J2K-esque epidemic, knowing his way around nature keeps a man alive.

Gary Slaughter · 1 year ago

I love my creature comforts, but in the past few years I've been teaching myself to do without them when possible. One great fear I have is being stranded in wilderness (plane goes down, cruise ship sinks, weather washes out the road) and not having gadgets to help me. It's another reason I carry a pocket knife (see other column).

I think as a whole our American culture has gotten soft and flabby. I went on a weekend backpacking trip some years ago and hated it, but later I realized I'd grown too dependent on technology and the notion of just coasting through life without challenging myself. Now that I'm a bit wiser about it I think I'd enjoy it more. Maybe I'll see if I can hook up with the guys I went with before.

iamsofaking · 1 year ago

@linuxpunk
Be careful not to focus too much on 'this is my kind of thing and that is not', as you may risk turning into a caricature of yourself and missing out on a lot of opportunities to grow as a person. You really should try to get over yourself now and then and try something a little outside of your comfort zone. Some things you will regret, but overall you will come out ahead; I promise.

Dale Muscle · 1 year ago

Ummm...I can almost smell the fresh air coming out of this web page.

What better way to chill out than to get outside away from the TV and PC and just wonder at the beauty of nature.

Like a famous poet once said...

What is life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare.

Message to me. Get off the PC more.

Paddy · 1 year ago

You guys rock my world! Keep up the awesome work, I love being a subscriber to the Manliest webzine out there.