FROM YOUR OWN FRONT DOOR | BLOG THEME FOR APRIL

Each month we are inviting a member blogger to set and introduce a blog theme for the month. This is meant as a way of getting to know each other better – and giving us some inspiration for our own blogs. If you would like to, please take this theme and write about it on your own blog and share with the other members in the network using #OutdoorBloggers and by commenting below with your links.

This month our author is Zoe from Splodz Blogz. Zoe is one of our organising bloggers and loves to get outdoors as often as possible.

I am a huge advocate of enjoying the outdoors from our own front door. It’s something I think many people are guilty of forgetting; it’s easy to see getting outdoors as requiring a journey in the car or on a train, but what about the things we can see within a mile of where we live? Adventure and exploration might seem bigger when you are far away from home, but the fact is we are all blessed with beautiful things wherever we are and can have an equally good day outdoors without doing any driving.

I live on the outskirts of the fairly rural but ever growing city of Lincoln, well known for its sausages, potatoes and the Red Arrows. My house is just four miles from the city centre, with its jobs, factories, supermarkets and takeaways, and even closer to the fields and farms of the Lincolnshire countryside. In many ways I have the best of both worlds in that sense.

Just under a mile in a straight line from my house is the Viking Way, a 147 mile long distance path between the Humber Bridge and Oakham. I’m about half way along, I think, where the path follows the ridge that runs south from Lincoln. Getting to it involves walking up a hill, yes an actual hill – we have a trig point here that sits at 86 metres above sea level. Don’t laugh! The trail is a lovely easy winding route with some great views across the Lincolnshire flatlands over towards Nottinghamshire.

The best thing about going for a walk from my own front door is how quickly I can breathe in the fresh air and feel like I’m in the middle of the countryside. Within 10 minutes I can be off tarmac and concrete and on a muddy trail. Yes I can still see houses in the background, but I get all the sights and smells of rural England at the same time. Fields with crops, cows and sheep, trees, water, insects, birds, mud, and if I’m lucky the odd wild rabbit or two enjoying the weeds.

I plan to walk the whole path one day, but in the mean time I will continue to enjoy the easily accessible parts I can reach even when I only have an hour in between the chores (or the rain). And while you may not have a way-marked long distance path that close to your front door I guarantee you have some kind of green space, park, river or something within 20 minutes of home. It’s a shame not to make the most of what we have on our doorstep.

Why don’t you show me? I’d love to see what outdoor adventures you can have within a mile of your front door.

Zoe x

Splodz Blogz | http://splodzblogz.co.uk | @Splodz | Zoe believes that life is all about the journey – we have to make the most of the travelling. Trying new things is a sure way to making memories that last a lifetime. Splodz Blogz aims to demonstrate that life is all about the journey by encouraging readers to try new things. I focus mainly on the outdoors, travel, adventure, and having fun experiences at home and away.