I have just returned from the Midwestern United States and it's 14 degree windchill. It is windy, snowy and just beginning the long winter cool down. People are out sledding, skiing and generally enjoying the weather both there and in the comparatively balmy New York City, but there is one major difference-here everyone is seems to be ill. Granted, here it is much more crowded in NYC and the likelihood of coming face to face with someone with the flu is pretty good, but I think it is also impacted in part by how people dress for the weather.
Over a year ago I decided to weather proof myself as an experiment. Could I enjoy life here in the city more if I were out in the elements and prepared for them? It seemed like a simple solution to my complex situation of being an outdoorsy person in our country's largest city. I would get to be outdoors a lot more, I would notice subtle changes around me, and I would get pretty fit in the process. I had become a Starbucks clutching, impatient subway rider, and that had to go. I decided to forgo my monthly metro pass and the Starbucks for several months an used that money to purchase gear. The plan was to walk to my destination instead of wait for transportation. I only used public transportation when I was really far from something. Waiting for the crosstown bus became a thing of my past.
With any lifestyle change comes initial adjustments and the occasional setback, the most obvious one in this case was time. Where was I going to find the time to do this? It ended up being a simple early to bed early to rise solution that helped with the initial changes in my commute around the city. Walking takes time, but so does waiting. Walking resulted in a predictable arrival time where the transportation wait times varied wildly. It also fostered a better sense of community because I ran my errands while in transit, allowing me to shop locally and become aware of the small businesses that I want to support. I was able to come up with various routes that would combine something practical with something beautiful- I could have a picnic breakfast in Central Park and watch the migrating birds for a couple of minutes instead of staring blankly down a subway tunnel for morning entertainment.
In the next posts, I am going to go through some of the gear trials and explain what I found useful in my experiment.
