Focus on What Matters in Life

Having to slow down through COVID made me realize the important things in my life and focus on what matters moving forward. I really missed the social connections with my friends and family. Spending lots of time outdoors was a necessity for my mental and physical health. It made me understand how much I relied on it to get through challenging situations. COVID also taught me to do things that make me happy, such as spending time doing my hobbies: quilting and playing guitar.

With so much downtime, it made me realize that I love the outdoors, travelling and sharing my experiences. It pushed me out of my comfort zone to start blogging! I’m so thankful for this new adventure. The best part of the pandemic is that it strengthened my relationship with Kris to find new ways to spend time together while being spontaneous and creative when the whole world was shut down.

Love for the Outdoors

I’ve always loved the outdoors but COVID really enhanced the importance of exercise for our mental and physical health. When movie theatres, restaurants, and entertainment centres amongst other places were shut down, the outdoors was always available. I could go around my neighbourhood or discover new places to walk in other parts of the city. Remember when you couldn’t wait to get out of the house but you had to figure out what on earth you’d do with your time? Since meeting up outdoors was often better than indoors, it allowed friends and I to meet up for social get-togethers while enjoying the fresh air and getting a break from inside our houses. It encouraged Kris and I to get more exercise hiking or cross-country skiing at Chickakoo or Cooking Lake Blackfoot. We also enjoyed skating with friends at Hawrelak Park.

Tip: If you ever get tired of walking the same loops around your house, think of checking out other areas. It makes it fun to explore new places and you’ll get to see what else exists in your city.

Live for the Outdoors

Focusing on what matters, Kris and I took any opportunity we had to be outdoors. It gave us lots of time to work in our backyard. We put a gate in our fence, dug up sod and placed pebble rocks to deter mice from digging their way through and creating tunnels in the winter. Kayaking was available at Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures. I would head out west to go paddling a couple of times throughout the summer. It provided the freedom to go in my own direction and not be surrounded by people.

Booking Trips

Once the world opened up, we focused on what matters and took the opportunity to book our backpacking trips to do the Poboktan Trail and the West Coast Trail. I was able to camp at Martha Lake Provincial Park in British Columbia and explore another area while kayaking on Revelstoke Lake with my parents.

Tip: Always keep in mind what you want to do to keep yourself happy in the outdoors and make sure to include it in your daily lives. You’ll never get back the time or opportunities you missed.

Focusing on What Matters: Family and Friends

I really missed my social connections with family and friends. We mostly met outside doing some sort of outdoor activity but it wasn’t often enough to fulfill my needs of seeing important people in my life. Social distancing while hiking and cross-country skiing was possible (thankfully the length of the skis gives you a two-metre distance between each other). Trying to take a selfie with two people on each side always made for a funny picture but we did what we had to do. It will be easy to identify COVID pictures moving forward.

We often had picnics with friends outside at a park. We could bring our own food, sit far apart and yet socialize. That was one of my favourite activities during the pandemic. Getting our own meals ready was super convenient; we met at a central location between all of us and saw some of the best people we know. I hope to do more of these fun get-together activities moving forward.

Tip: If you found something you really enjoyed during the pandemic, keep it going; there’s no need for us to stop having picnics or doing other fun outdoor activities now.

Surrounded by Loved Ones

Our engagement party was the biggest event we had near the end of the official pandemic. We weren’t comfortable hosting it inside but doing it outside at Hawrelak park felt pleasant. Many family members and friends were able to join us as well as friends of the family which was marvellous! It was so nice to connect with people again and catch up over the last two years. It felt natural and I think many of us realized how much we had missed seeing each other. We’ll be planning many more in-person events with family and friends in the future. We recently went to Pumpkins After Dark with friends and it was fun to do an organized activity run by the city. I’ve also enjoyed being able to host friends again for supper in our home and connecting in person.

Extended Family

I’m a very family-orientated person. Zoom and Google Meet allowed my extended family and I to see each other on a more regular basis than I ever had before (we live in different provinces). It’s been so wonderful to see them once a year online and I would love nothing more than to continue this tradition. It made me so happy to see them since we don’t normally get to see them very often. I had the opportunity to see my grandparents, some aunts and uncles as well as cousins this past summer. It was fantastic to reconnect with them in person. It made me realize how three years was a long time between visits. These encounters need to happen on a more regular basis.

Tip: Make a yearly schedule in the new year (say January) and figure out all the things that you want to accomplish this year and then make it happen. If family is important, make time to see them. If spending time in the outdoors with family and friends is important, do that. It doesn’t matter what you think is important; all our priorities are personal and different. Make the effort to prioritize your life to avoid missing out on the major things you care about.

Focusing on What Matters: New Experiences

North Light Dining Experience

Kris and I were looking for different activities to do together that were relatively close to Edmonton once things started to open up again. We found the Northern Light Dining Experience at the U of A Botanic Gardens. They offer winter domes with a heater inside and a fondue supper for up to six people. They are now accepting bookings from Wednesdays through Sundays, November 23 through December 31, 2022. This was a phenomenal experience for us! Such a fun date night! Even with the cold weather, it just added to the Canadian winter experience.

Tip #1: We went when the weather was extremely cold so unfortunately, we weren’t able to walk around the grounds to see the Christmas lights but if you go early enough before your booking and the weather isn’t too cold, I suggest checking out the beautiful lights.

Tip #2: If it is extremely cold and they don’t cancel your booking, the heater helps but make sure to dress in warm layers as you could be sitting there for two or three hours. We had our snowsuits on, no exaggeration. Dress warmly if the weather is -20°C or below.

Fantasyland Hotel

Kris and I have started doing staycations in Edmonton. My friend suggested this idea. It saves the hassle of driving. We can find cool things in our own city and it typically costs way less than going to the mountains. We’ve stayed at Fantasyland Hotel in theme rooms a couple of times. We’ve enjoyed trying out different rooms and seeing what our city has to offer.

Tip: Try a staycation in your city and see what you want to accomplish as a tourist. Do you want to do something you’ve never done before and go on a new adventure? Or would you rather enjoy a relaxed stay or maybe a bit of both? The choice is yours. Have fun planning it and discovering your city.

Pushing Myself out of my Comfort Zone

I’ve always liked sharing my experiences and travelling trips with friends and family. I have communicated my experiences in the Galapagos and Ecuador with the travelling community via live seminars. I decided that I wanted to focus on what matters by sharing all my expertise and knowledge in a blog to reach a broader audience. Nomadic Matt’s blogging course helped direct me in the right direction to start my blog, for which I’m incredibly grateful. His course has been an extremely useful tool in my blogging adventure.

Focusing on What Matters: Networking

By signing up for different newsletters, I had my very first guest post on Believe In A Budget which was awesome! It’s been a phenomenal journey so far! I’ve loved writing about things I’m interested in whether it be about the outdoors or going on different adventures while travelling the world. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but decided to try blogging anyway and it’s been an amazing adventure so far!

I’ve also had the privilege from Janice at Gather and Go Travel (who was also part of Nomadic Matt’s blogging course) to be featured as a new travel blogger for her Instagram Q&A which helped me reach more followers. She also reminded me to use Ubersuggest which helps users search for the best SEO results to rank high in Google. With this method and indexing my pages and posts (so they show up on Google), I’m now consistently getting Google notifications, indicating how many people have clicked on my links in Google. At the end of September, I had sixty clicks in the previous twenty-eight days!

Success Blogging

It’s really incredible considering I had no idea how blogging worked over a year ago! It’s challenging and yet so rewarding that I’m putting all this time and effort into a website that I created myself and it seems to be magically paying off! Don’t get me wrong I put in many hours (roughly twenty hours) a week but the payoffs are coming much quicker than I anticipated. It’s awesome to see that my motivation and determination to figure things out on my own are working out.

I had the opportunity to go to the Outdoor Media Summit conference in Reno, Nevada at the end of October. The networking was so beneficial in person. I met incredible people that I look forward to working with in the future. I was happy to continue my learning on how to best succeed with the many sessions I attended. The learning never stops and I love it! It pushes me out of my comfort zone which we all need once in a while in order to grow. It will be wonderful to do more networking at the Women’s Travel Fest conference in New York in the new year and see what else there is to know. There are always many avenues to take; I just need to decide in which direction to go.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to try something because you’re scared. It might just be your best adventure yet! Worse case, it might not actually work long term but you won’t know unless you try and you’ll miss out on the journey, which would be unfortunate. What do you have to lose?

Slowing Down

COVID taught me the necessity for social interaction but also the need to focus on what matters by slowing down and not always being incredibly busy. Blogging has been good for me to take time to relax and write. It also reminded me to plan dedicated time for my hobbies again. Some of my hobbies are playing outside kayaking, hiking, backpacking and cross-country skiing. I find it easier to incorporate them in my daily life because they are essential to my mental and physical well being.

I always find it trickier taking some down time while inside the house, but when we were forced to stay inside, I decided it was time to reinvest in those skills. It was nice to be able to dedicate time playing my guitar and learning different chords. I’m lucky to be able to detect by ear if the chords sound off, making it easier to learn a song more quickly. I was able to finish my beautiful Christmas table runner that I had been quilting on and off for two years. That was an amazing accomplishment. Yes, I am proud of it! The following year, I made table toppers for my family as Christmas presents. They appreciated the gifts and it was awesome to practice my sewing and quilting skills. I was delighted with them as well. What hobbies have you reintroduced in your life since the pandemic?

Final Thoughts

COVID taught me to focus on what matters in life by living in the now and not waiting until tomorrow to do it. We don’t know when circumstances will change our lives. In the new year, my calendar of priorities will include family and friend connections. I will keep participating in outdoor adventures in Canada and worldwide for my well-being but also share new resources and information in my posts to inspire adventurers like yourself to enjoy the outdoors as well. Hobbies and new experiences will also be scheduled in my yearly planner. Prioritize what matters and you’ll feel happy that you’re able to incorporate the most important pieces of your life. The rest will fall in place. Writing outdoor adventure posts for my blog motivates me to keep active!