FOR THE ADVENTURE #<strong>222</strong> GET outdoors www.adventuremagazine.co.nz Digital, Hardcopy, Web, Social www.adventuretraveller.co.nz JOBS www.adventurejobs.co.nz Dogs always make you get outdoors EDITOR & ADVERTISING MANAGER Steve Dickinson Mob: 027 577 5014 steve@pacificmedia.co.nz The next person who tells me that they have really enjoyed lockdown, and that COVID has been like a forced holiday, is going to wish that they hadn’t. We have seen millions of dollars evaporate and the adventure industry struggle to cope. Travel businesses that have been a backbone of New Zealand tourism have closed and many folded for good. Many people have lost their jobs or feel that they could at any moment. Sure we have to learn to live with it; really there is little we can do except follow the rules and keep our country as safe as we can, but also we need to recognize that it is stressful, and for many that stress is bringing them to breaking point. You might not be able to make your job more secure, you might not be able to travel or have that wedding or keep your aged parents safe but there is something you can do to help deal with the stress. Here is the quick fix, ‘get outdoors’ Open the door: It has been clinically proven that the simple process of getting outside, actually outside anywhere, helps lower stress levels. If you add into that exercise and New Zealand’s glorious environment, be that beach, mountains or bush, it is going to help. Buy a dog: Apart from the companionship, the days when you don’t want to go for a walk there will be a fluffy face to remind you of the value of it, sunshine or rain. Rein in your digital life: When you are outside, leave your phone at home if you can. On longer trips, if you feel you need to take it, turn it off and put it at the bottom of your pack. Everything can wait. Do one thing at a time: Multi-tasking is a myth, if you are walking, walk. If you are talking, talk. If you are writing the next great New Zeland novel or cleaning the garage - do that. Get dirt under your fingernails: Having your hands in soil has proven to be good for you, it’s good for your microbiome (whatever that is) and that in turn has proven good for your mood. Plant a tree, pull out some weeds, grow some vegetables. Sleep outside: By the pool or in a tent does not really matter. Could be an all-night trip or a snooze in the afternoon but the important part is that it is outside and that you sleep. Steve Dickinson - Editor ART DIRECTOR Lynne Dickinson design@pacificmedia.co.nz SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES subs@pacificmedia.co.nz DISTRIBUTION Ovato, Ph (09) 979 3000 OTHER PUBLICATIONS (HARDCOPY AND ONLINE) www.adventuremagazine.co.nz www.adventuretraveller.co.nz www.adventurejobs.co.nz www.skiandsnow.co.nz @adventurevanlifenz PUBLISHERS NZ <strong>Adventure</strong> Magazine is published six times a year by: Pacific Media Ltd, P.O.Box 562 Whangaparaoa, New Zealand Ph: 0275775014 Email: steve@pacificmedia.co.nz adventuremagazine.co.nz adventurejobs.co.nz | adventuretraveller.co.nz Contributions of articles and photos are welcome and must be accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope. Photographic material should be on slide, although good quality prints may be considered. All care is taken but no responsibility accepted for submitted material. All work published may be used on our website. Material in this publication may not be reproduced without permission. While the publishers have taken all reasonable precautions and made all reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy of material in this publication, it is a condition of purchase of this magazine that the publisher does not assume any responsibility or liability for loss or damage which may result from any inaccuracy or omission in this publication, or from the use of information contained herein and the publishers make no warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to any of the material contained herein. HOMEGROWN TAIAO TAIAO ADVENTUREMAGAZINE.CO.NZ 01