The Scandanavians have something called “friluftsliv”—enjoying the outdoors as a way of life. It also celebrates the skills of the outdoors—it’s not just passively sitting in a park—it includes the world of the picnic, too!—and so much more.
Here’s the first book in English (I think) about this approach to nature and everyday life:
www.naturalheritagebooks.com/bookdescription.php?bookid=367
I also note that 60-70% of Norwegians are active skiers. I recently saw a rec.skiing.nordic newsgroup post that quoted some Norwegian media that suggested that such a number meant that skiing wasn’t all THAT important to their people. However, I would think that in the USA that the so-called “national pasttimes” each only amount for maybe 1% of active participation from the public. Maybe there are a dozen physical activities that can claim sizeable groups, adding up to maybe only 15% of Americans who are actually enthusiastic about any physical activity—maybe half of these could be called fresh-air oriented. Bike, ski, run, hike, paddle, sail, hunt, fish…I’ll even admit golf. But square-field/court ballsports probably don’t count.
That’s still a lot of people doing healthy things outdoors with a strong interest in their surroundings and the life around them as they do these things. It’s just not so much a major way of life for us as it is for the Scandi folks.
So maybe they could be our role models.
This book is an international anthology—including the US and Canada—reflecting on fresh-air culture and how it’s expressed.
But I just mostly like the idea: friluftsliv!!!
What more do you need? It’s an idea that can take you a long way. If you start following it the blanks might be pretty easy to fill in. Outdoor Ed is out there. If you need some brush-up’s there are classes and courses and clubs galore.
NOLS and Outward Bound are still out there. As big as ever? I hope so!
Yet I think the pinnacle goal of culture is everyday, is local. I’ve never been able to afford a NOLS or OB scenario. I don’t think friluftsliv is meant to be class conscious. The goal is for everyone to benefit.
I note that bike touring groups are becoming almost strictly a retiree activity whereas they started out in the 70’s for young teens. I suspect the same people are involved. No new blood, statistically. (But I do love those exceptions!)
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US colleges used to have a strong Outing Club scene. Perhaps it was an extension of Scouting. It became strongly co-ed, at least as of the 1970’s, as far as I know. I hope it’s still going strong. I googled “outing club” and found scattered local and college clubs using variants of the term, with no national overview media. The last time I visited MSU’s OC they seemed to emphasize long distance outings (caving and whitewater) with a far greater emphasis than cheap local outdoor fun (canoeing and XC ski).
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There was a magazine in the late 1800’s called “OUTING” that expresses the traditional American take on friluftsliv. Here’s a searchable index to story titles and scans of all the issues. Neat stuff! It’s a huge resource—click the “Outing” magazine box to search it for whatever.
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I suppose we can say that “Outside” magazine promotes this worldview today. But I dunno…
