With lockdown once again upon us and the cold, dark month of January looming like a bad smell I have been trying to think of ways to break the monotony.
It’s difficult to entertain the thought that we can’t venture further than our front doors unless it’s for work, food shopping or our one daily walk. But here are a few ideas to make adventure on our own doorsteps.
Look At The Stars
It may be cold outside, but crisp winter nights are sometimes the best time of year to stargaze. Wait for a night that is free of cloud cover, wrap up in your warmest clothes, hats, gloves, and scarves, and head outside. If you have a garden, get out a chair or lay out a blanket. If you don’t, then save your walk for when the sun has gone to bed. Once your eyes have adjusted to the night sky, try and find some constellations. A great place to print out the different constellations to look for is at Astronomy Now . See if you can spot Jupiter or the Milky Way. Some Northern parts of Scotland may also be in for a treat as during the winter months the Northern Lights can be visible.
Take Some Photographs
We may be so used to walking around our local area that we miss some of the highlights that it offers. Next time you’re out for your daily exercise walk, try to spot the things you may have missed before. The best way to do this is look at it with a different eye. And this can be achieved by taking photographs. Try to take pictures of angles of doors, little signs that catch your eyes, or windows that look pretty. Looking through a lens (or the screen of your camera phone) can focus your eye on quirks of your local area that are worth taking more time to look at. You can spend time afterwards editing your pictures or placing them in an album if you wish, but the real act of adventure here is coming from taking the snaps in the first place.
Climb A Mountain
Just like Captain Tom Moore who walked 100 laps of his garden to raise money for the NHS (what a hero) you too can scale a mountain in your own home. If you have stairs, head over to this NHS based site where you can plan to scale Scafell Pike (6180 steps) or Ben Nevis (8810 steps), or if you’re feeling energetic you can even have a go at Kilimanjaro (38,680 steps) or Everest (58,070). Not only will you be keeping fit with all the ascents on your stairs, you can take it in turns with all members of your household climbing to victory.
Walk Every Street In Your Town Or City
If, like me, you always tread the same roads in your city, this is a great one for getting to know your local area better. As we’re restricted to only exercising locally, try to find a map of where you live, or print one off, and draw a circle around a five mile radius. Over the next few weeks of lockdown, try to walk your way around all of the streets and alleys and roads (making sure they’re safe first of course). Colour them in with a bright pen so you can track your progress. You may find some shops you were unaware of that you can pencil in to visit once lockdown is over. Or a new park that you’ve never been to before. I found a small coffee shop that I’d never set eyes on before that looks like the perfect place to sit and write when it’s safe to do so.
Sleep Somewhere Different
I don’t mean pack a tent and sleeping bag and trek a few miles to a camping spot. Not only would that be against the rules right now, it also requires equipment that lots of people don’t have. No, when I say sleep somewhere different I mean a different room in your house. Or if you’re in just one room, move your bed to the floor. You can set up a bed with duvets as mattresses strewn on the living room floor, or sleep in a spare bed that doesn’t get a lot of use. Changing up where you lay your head means you wake up with a different outlook and it can recharge your batteries. You could even set up a tray of coffee and tea sachets with milk cartons and biscuits and pretend you’re in a hotel. Because, as the saying goes, a change is as good as a rest.
