Finding time to hike is hard.
Hiking Near Cincinnati
I know sometimes life comes at you from a thousand different directions and finding time for hiking near Cincinnati or any hiking is difficult.
We all have family and employment responsibilities that add to our stress but if you can slip away just for a few moments…
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Maybe you can do something just for yourself for a change.
You are the glue for your family and friends.
You need to be strong, clear headed, and happy.
I encourage you to go for a hike for yourself — there are plenty of hiking places near Cincinnati.
Even if it is just a wee-little hike
Take a moment for yourself when you are running errands or taking your break.
When I worked for the state, the building I worked in had lovely ponds behind it. The ponds were the remnants of an old fish hatchery and filled with scores of small fish.
I would slip away several times during the day, to stroll around the ponds to clear my head.
On my breaks, I did yoga while watching green and great blue herons stalk little fish.
In the fall, scores of migrating cedar waxwings would curl into the protected oasis of these ponds. The flock would fly in great right-handed swirling patterns, scooping low over the surface of the water stirring up the insects, and then the cedar waxwings would take turns diving through the cloud of insects much like various species of whales hunt.
You can capture time like this too.
Maybe wake a little earlier — this only works if you promise and keep your promise to yourself that this time is for you! Not so you can get done more stuff. Stuff to do will always accumulate.
Or, what if you actually took your lunch break?
Take a side trip on the way home and let the traffic clear while you go hiking.
Recently, we were returning from a trip to Indiana and since I don’t commute anymore, I forgot all about rush hour traffic. I was on 275 between Mosteller and 42 going no where fast when I realized, we don’t have to sit in this traffic we could be hiking in Hamilton County Park’s Sharon Woods or hiking at Trammel Fossil Park.
I took the Sharonville exit and we went fossil hunting at Trammel Fossil Park for almost two hours or hiking and exploring Cincinnati’s rich history!
We got a little carried away but I was watching the traffic from our vantage point and peeking at Google maps.
We wouldn’t have been home any sooner than we eventually got home because there had been a couple of accidents on all the roads we could have taken. Instead of sitting in a car with two bored children, we collected tiny brachiopods, corals, and hiked the rocky bots of Cincinnati’s ancient sea floor!
The kids still talk about it!
A hike through the woods sure beats sitting in rush hour traffic that isn’t going anywhere.
The holiday season is bearing down. Family is coming into visit. Your traveling to visit family. Ads are screaming for you to spend, spend, spend.
I’m begging you to spend time on yourself!
Here is my poem to help you remember to go hiking around Cincinnati or where ever you are:
Go on a hike
Any hike will do
Just go on a hike
A hike just for you.
HIKE OFTEN. LIVE MORE.