Outdoor Activities To Try Now

One of the best things you can do for your well-being is to add some form of exercise into your routine. It’s even better if you can move your body while outdoors — spending time in nature has been proven to boost your mood, lower stress levels, and help you sleep.

And if you really want to maximize those health benefits, moving outside with other people is the best option of all. That’s because connecting with others can help you avoid the health problems associated with feeling socially isolated.

To help you get started, AARP Foundation has put together a fun list of activities you can do outside to get yourself moving more — and socializing with other people along the way.

Meet & Move

Whether you cruise around the neighborhood or a local park, getting together with a group gives you an opportunity to walk and talk. When you plan to go alone, it’s easy to skip your walk because there’s no one to keep you accountable.

To get started, look at local community organizations who might already have a walking program you could join. You can also start one yourself by asking a friend or neighbor to join you on your daily walk.

Of course, wearing comfortable walking shoes and clothing is a good idea. As is starting out slow, and increasing your time gradually, to avoid injuries.

Hike a Nature Trail

Even if you live in the city, you can probably explore lots of hiking trails — along the water, inside parks, or near conservation areas. To find out available trails in your area:

• Visit your city’s official government website
• Search on Yelp for trail reviews.
• Go to AllTrails or TrailLink, which turns unused railroad tracks into trails

To find a regular hiking group, check Meetup.com or outdoor stores like REI, Patagonia, and Eastern Mountain Sports.

Sign Up for a Community Garden

With all that bending, watering, and weeding, gardening is an excellent form of outdoor exercise. It’s also a popular hobby, so if you catch the gardening bug, you’ll have no trouble finding people who want to talk about plants with you.

There are thousands of community gardens across the U.S. where you can join others tending to plants in a shared plot of land. To find — or add — one near you, visit the American Community Gardening Association. You can also volunteer with a community garden club, growing plants from pots or your own garden for their annual plant sale, usually held in the spring.

Take an Outdoor Exercise Class

During the warmer months, your local senior center, gym, or fitness studio may hold a variety of outdoor exercise classes outside. Tai Chi, yoga, and full-body workouts are the most common outdoor offerings.

To increase your chances of socializing, come early to class to get to know the instructor and other students. To keep conversations flowing afterwards, suggest grabbing a coffee or drink. Or if the class ends close to dinner time, see if anyone’s interested in joining you for a BYO picnic.

Do a Scavenger Hunt

You remember scavenger hunts? That game where you’d divide into teams and race around to find as many items on the list as you could?

Your city or town may celebrate an event or new offering with a free scavenger hunt. You may see flyers for one at the library, community center, or outdoor shopping mall.

But these days, scavenger hunts have gone digital, so you can find one almost any time you want. Here’s where to look:

• Create your own “wild” adventure with Goosechase
• Visit scavengerhunt.com to discover hunts in more urban areas
• Sign up for a hunt in the suburbs or city through Let’s Roam

Most of these kinds of hunts require you to have a smartphone, and do include a ticket charge. If you’re on a budget, inquire about senior discounts or look for Groupons to offset the cost.

Similar to scavenger hunting, geocaching is a treasure hunting game where you use an app on your smartphone to find containers hidden at GPS coordinates. The containers usually contain a logbook to sign and vary in difficulty, so you can work your way up to more challenging hunts.

Best of all, geocaching is free to do and there are three million geocaches worldwide. So if you’re looking to exercise outdoors with friends, you’ll never run out of new places to explore.