I am not going to lie and tell you I have always thought counting your steps was a good idea. In fact quite the opposite was true. It seemed like a ridiculous marketing campaign to encourage non-athletic consumers to purchase athletic equipment. In reality, that may be the truth. Yet still I stand behind my opinion and say that this coordinated consumerism may have some validity to it.

A few months ago I started with a new organization and found out they had a step tracking program. I consider myself highly active so I figured this would be an easy way to boost my ego (just being honest). I have been nursing a IT band issue back to health  I signed up and downloaded Google Fit (they have all my other information, why not provide them with my body metrics also) to my phone and started tracking. I am a numbers person, I mean I struggle with math but I love to review the numbers I produce while participating in outdoor activities. I even wrote a post about my love for Strava a few years back. A week into starting the program I check in to see how high in the ranks I was. Hmmm. Not very high. I thought. So I set a modest 10,000 step a day goal and started checking more often. My steps began to increase and I started caring more about my performance. I am only shy about 150 steps from my goal. Fast forward and I am walking around the house brushing my teeth to ensure I get those steps. 

Now I am a competitive person, but even my wife who isn't has taken up to the counting. She was awarded a fitness tracker from her work program and has been at it ever since. I think there is value in the encouraging of people to be more active through the accountability of counting steps. I would be wrong to say that this will change the world in someway, but even if it encourages more awareness of one's fitness level; I believe there is some value in that.

Whether or not if you consider yourself athletic I think that it can be a positive influence. See if your work has a walking program (running steps, and other workouts may also be converted to walking steps) even if you don't need the motivation, you may help provide motivation to someone who does.

My first introduction to the outdoors were family "camping" trips. Load up the Honda Accord with a trunk full of camping gear and a car top carrier full of other shit and head for a campground. Four humans and a Beagle all crammed into that car, fully loaded. This maximum approach to camping was probably what fostered the outdoor flame I have today. During high school I picked up a book by Colin Fletcher about backpacking and started obsessing. I went to the far other extreme of the family trips by fitting everything I needed in backpack for a weekend. This worm hole led to Cuben Fiber tarps, Carbon Fiber Poles and way too much money spent saving a ounce.

The last few trips we have done have involved a healthy dose of car camping. After creating spreadsheets for backpacking gear weights, I have felt a little lost on how to car camp. My wife and I have together charted into these unfamiliar waters of the car camping world.