JANUARY SUMMARY
TOTAL = 61 HOURS, 59 MINUTES

ALLOTMENT= 3 HRS
WALKING = 3 HRS 56 mins
HIKING = 3 HRS 36 mins
RUNNING = 36 mins
Holiday Fun (thank the Lord!) = 50 HRS 55 mins


January started off as a month of planning and promise in all of the fabulous ways that I was going to spend my time outdoors that month. I wrote down all of my regular work and life commitments and popped in days that I would cycle to work, days that I would go for runs on lunch times at work, and all the ways that I would spend my weekends in the great outdoors hiking and spending time at the allotment.

And then I went back to work in the New Year and all my planning went out of the window!

That's what happens I guess when you're in a very busy period at work, with projects and tasks to get done before you head off on holiday, and in the midst of winter when being outside in the dark and rain isn't the most appealing thought to cross my mind.

By the time I was half way through the month, I was seriously concerned at the lack of time that I had been able to spend outside. It was literally: a run here, a couple of hours at the allotment there, and wondering around a few city centres doing some retail visits for work. By the 15th January I had only managed 10 hours 52 minutes - and with the 5% that most people manage to spend outside a month being 36 hours I was seriously behind even hitting the minimum! Thankfully all was not lost as I knew that my up-coming holiday to Dubai and Sri Lanka would more than make up the 40-hour-a-month that I've set myself, but the lack of hours half way through the month still bought home a stark reality that I'm going to have to try A LOT harder if I am going to make The Outside Project work.

Please forgive the fact that I haven't split my summary stats for 'Holiday Fun' at the top of this post any further than I have. I was having so much fun, that keeping track of when I was eating dinner outside, walking, hiking, swimming, surfing, safari-ing wasn't very high on my list of priorities... What's the point of having all of this time outdoors experiencing this beautiful planet if you're not going to take it all in properly?!

A rough guide, however, could probably be something like this:
  • Bottomless Brunch at Zero Gravity-  7 hours
  • Quad biking - 1 hour
  • Water Parks - 7 hours
  • Whale Watching - 7 hours
  • Time at the Beach - 15 hours
with the rest of the time probably spent walking around and exploring! :)

The rest of the holiday crossing over into February (I didn't fly home until the 12th Feb!), so I guess t he first couple of months are going to a bit of an easier ride than when it's UK weather and back to the standard 9-5 job...

So all in all, not your average January - and February won't be all that average either with 12 days being taken up with nothing but being in the great outdoors.