Similar though slightly different to how I felt a few months ago when I wrote about being a bit homesick and was dealing with slight cabin fever among other things (you read about that here) this morning I was in a sort of funk.
It was a beautiful day, I wasn’t hungover after watching the UVA/GA Tech basketball game and tailgating with the local alumni association then meeting up with some other friends yesterday, and I really wanted to be outside. I knew the simple solution was to get moving and get myself outside but there were some (admittedly) silly things slightly in my way. One (again, I admit these are silly…) was that I wasn’t quite sure where exactly I should go outside…
In Arlington I could easily walk into DC proper and spend the day enjoying the outdoors and window shopping, or I could most likely find a friend to hike a nearby trail spur of the moment. In Richmond it was even easier to be outdoors; I could literally walk out my door and bump into someone in my neighborhood or in less than fifteen minutes drive to the river, park my car, and be on a trail. It would probably be even easier to find someone to go with me there if I didn’t want to be alone.
While I know there are tons of fun things to do outdoors in Georgia both in and out of the city, sometimes it’s hard to get yourself going. And despite the Atlanta hiking book my parents gave me for Christmas, sometimes it can be a bit intimidating to head to a trail almost an hour away by yourself just by following a guidebook.
I did a short OnDemand pilates video to kick-start my efforts to not sit on the couch all afternoon which did motivate me to get down to business. I opened the guidebook and began looking at nearby, short trails. I figured I would start small.
Since I was in a group text thread with some girlfriends down here I decided I’d ask if anyone had any interest in going on a hike. I knew one girl was wrapped up all day and I had really no idea if my oner friend even enjoyed hiking but she’s active and down for most anything so I thought why not.
She told me that she was signed up for a 3pm workout class but that she was actually considering canceling and walking part of the Atlanta BetlLine since it was so nice outside. She asked me if I had any interest in doing that. Since I really wasn’t looking forward to driving around 40 minutes to get somewhere and could see the selection of a hiking trail to take me just as long as my hike I told her I did.
Thirty minutes later we were on our way to one of the entrances to the Eastside of the BeltLine.
It was jam-packed which made sense because it’s one of the first super nice days of the year. Also because the BeltLine is a cool concept: a walkable (jog-able and bike-able) 22-mile loop around the city of Atlanta; a city that’s largely only navigable by car.
All in we probably walked a little more than 4 miles (maybe more, I still need to actually look at a map). My hip-flexers (which are often tight) even needed a stretch half-way through which means there was definitely some exertion!
I’ll get to some hiking trails later this year (north Georgia is home to hundreds of waterfalls that are supposed to be gorgeous!) but this hit the spot for what I wanted to do today: get outside, see a bit of scenery, clear my head. That it was urban and people watching scenery mattered none to me and I had the added bonus of a good friend and good conversation!
It was also a great reminder of the same thing I realized and re-remembered back in the fall; that when you’re really not enjoying what you’re doing in the exact moment in time you should simply change what you’re doing. On top of that it was a great reminder that there’s no harm in asking a friend along for the ride.
All and all it was a perfect way to spend a couple of hours on a gorgeous Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment