[benkuykendall]

It's hard for me to relate to this point of view. Sure, my local park isn't the Grand Canyon, but on a day-to-day basis, failing to make the "top-100 list" doesn't impact my enjoyment of the outdoors.

Fresh air, literally. Sunlight during parts of the year. Observing the changing seasons. Seeing plants, and maybe animals. Exercising by myself or in organized sports. Being in a shared space with others in my community enjoying themselves.

These all seem like pretty small asks for an outdoor space. Sure you probably won't appreciate them in a highway median, but I also doubt that most people would have to drive 200 miles to find something like this.

[hotnfresh]

Yeah, we take the kids to parks and stuff, maybe some really-lame like 30 minute trails, but hiking? Camping? Ew, no. Not around here.

[scruple]

Where is here? I started camping with my kids when our twins were 2, but we live in SoCal and have an abundance of amazing options within range.

edit/ I've also lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Texas, and spent significant time in the Carolinas, Alabama, and New Orleans. I'm stretching my brain to think of a single place where I've spent time that didn't have access to compelling outdoors. Texas is the one that really comes to mind, seeing as there's little public land there.

[hotnfresh]

A few largish “flyover country” cities don’t have many outdoor spaces within a half-day travel that aren’t ugly and generally unpleasant. Wading in a stream? Disgusting mud up to your knees, far deeper than the water was, and an odor that will survive multiple showers despite your being quite certain none of it touched your skin. You learn to avoid all water, because it’s simply gross. “Woods”? Short Mordor-like bunches of trees and if there’s not a well-maintained path you’ll be cutting your way through poison ivy, wicked sticker bushes, and cobwebs every step, while assuredly picking up some ticks. And you’ll be covered in mud if it’s rained in the last 72 hours. You learn to avoid wild areas with trees. Drive a couple counties over to a state park with “falls” in the name? It’s a four-foot drop and more “mud slide” than falls. Nice views as a reward for any of this? LOL.

There are parts of this country that make one long for the emptiness of Kansas. At least there’s a kind of stark beauty in seeing nothing until the Earth curves away at the horizon. And biking on those zero-elevation-change-for-miles arrow-straight country roads can be meditative.

[preommr]

> Fresh air, literally. Sunlight during parts of the year. Observing the changing seasons. Seeing plants, and maybe animals

You can do all of these by just opening a window.

>but I also doubt that most people would have to drive 200 miles to find something like this.

You're right, I don't have to drive anywhere, I can stay indoors and get all that by opening a window.

[coldtea]

Yeah, it's like sex, it's so overrated when there's p0rn!

[shrimp_emoji]

Show me the lie

The exception is in the context of a relationship, but you only enter those by meeting rare drop people with good chemistry (which is precluded by staying indoors all the time) or as a coping strategy for low single income (but you're on HN hahaaa $$$).

[iteratethis]

You'd do great in prison.

[shrimp_emoji]

Or on a Mars colonization mission!

The Earth, like socializing outside, is jejune. We are adapting for the new world.