this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2023

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Nature and Gardening

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All things green, outdoors, and nature-y. Whether it's animals in their natural habitat, hiking trails and mountains, or planting a little garden for yourself (and everything in between), you can talk about it here.

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What is your favorite hobby for connecting with nature and why? (feddit.de)

submitted 2 years ago by hamborgr@feddit.de to c/greenspace

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Mine probably has to be mountain biking. I just love riding through the forest, sometimes catching some air time and swallowing the occasional fly whilst going downhill at 30km/h.

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[–] bird 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I'm a bird watcher. I go birding every week. I built many sub-hobbies around it: photography, birdsong recording, blogging, cross stitching, and more. I find that when I'm out in nature, I can truly disconnect from my regular life stress and just be present in the moment.

I took this further by training and becoming a Master Naturalist though my local region's chapter. This opened the door to a great community, learning, and volunteer work.

[–] dillydogg@lemmy.one 3 points 2 years ago

I love birding. What I think is most beautiful about it is that, (for me at least) it takes a goal-oriented activity of hiking, and turns it into pure discovery.

My approach to hiking was something like "well let's go around 5 miles". Then, I would find a hike about that long, go to the end, then turn around and walk back. This kind of approach is such an anemic way to enjoy nature. It's something to conquer and then I go home when I've finished.

With birding, I do essentially the exact same activity, but I have thousands of excuses to just stop and appreciate the world around me. I know many people enjoy hiking in this way, but for me it was about the destination. Birding has transformed the way I go outside.

Besides this, I think the meditative nature of birding has made me more grateful in all aspects of my life.

[–] Rand 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Possibly frowned upon by some but going fishing. Really feel in nature and I only keep what I know I will eat. Feels great to be out in nature and catch your own food.

[–] hamborgr@feddit.de 7 points 2 years ago

As long as you're respectful and sustainable, I'd say it's totally cool. I also went fishing a couple times and it was pretty fun. The biggest thing I caught was another fishing rod however...

[–] helloworld55@lemmy.one 6 points 2 years ago

I'm also a fan of fishing. It is a good mix of being relaxed but also attentive to the water and nature. I do catch and release, but some people also get the benefit of taking home some pretty cool fish

[–] ericjmorey 6 points 2 years ago

Kayaking followed by hiking.

[–] helloworld55@lemmy.one 6 points 2 years ago

My personal favorite is backpacking. It's pretty common but I like the simplicity of just walking out into the wilderness and being so exposed to the elements.

[–] bettyspaghetti 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Kayaking for sure. I’ve been wanting to get into geocaching, which I think would be another great way to connect with nature.

[–] Sass 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Floating in the kayak on flat, clear water, under the trees, gazing at the little fish and salamanders darting through the reeds and lilies, sigh. Dragonflies make me giggle. Fast is fun too.

[–] hamborgr@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago

I go canoeing sometimes and it's the exact same for me as well. It's really relaxing.

[–] psysok@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I like to go camping during the summers. I get about as far away as I can from other people. Its really nice to be able to just walk around, observe the birds and lizards and bugs. The stars at night. I would love to be able to have a cabin and live out in the woods, but if everyone acted on that instinct there would be no nature left. Just suburb after suburb.

[–] hamborgr@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah, camping is a really fun and unique experience that I would also enjoy doing again. But compared to the US and Canada, Germany's camping grounds seriously suck. It really is almost like a mini suburb but with tents and RV's instead.

[–] NataliePortland 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Is that right? I had no idea. Hermann Hesse made it seem like you just grab a crusty piece of bread and a bottle of wine and walk out into the Black Forest. What a bummer! Does Germany have Right to Roam?

[–] hamborgr@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago

It seems that there's a limited right to roam. But it's still pretty limited. Germany is a very urbanized country with not that many large national parks and if there is a forest or a park then large portions of it are also wildlife sanctuaries that you're not allowed to set foot in. Because of that, there isn't a big camping scene and instead camping grounds are created with very little space between the individual lots to save space.

These camping grounds are meant to be convenient and accessible, so you tend to have a lot of people concentrated in an area of a forest that you can barely call wilderness.

[–] snoopfrog 3 points 2 years ago

Photography. I like birds, amphibians, and insects. I upload with location data to iNaturalist, which crowd-sources biodiversity. To that end, I will go to several different sites in my area at different times of the year so that I can contribute a variety of species at a variety of locations.

If you're well-versed in identification, you can confirm species identification on the app too. I'm familiar with the calls of all the frogs in my area and will help identify frogs in recordings.

[–] Sass 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Swallowing flys at 30mph, snicker, sniker, snicker