“Speed is not a priority, just enjoy your hike – Keep smile”
― Barry Perdana Putra
So maybe you have gone on a few hikes with us and you’ve checked out some stuff around the Hike it Baby website, but you are wondering “what’s this really all about? And who’s running this ship?” Well let me fill you in on it all.
Hike it Baby is made up of a bunch of awesome volunteers and friends who all come up with cool ideas through hiking together and simply saying, “wouldn’t it be cool if we…”
Once the ideas starts there…we run with it…or walk with it …or hikie with it. And then it fans out and spreads from there.
How this kind of impromptu planning began was after I started with a few women hiking with me last year when I first had Mason. We would talk about how cool it would be if we had people to guide us on trails all over…and so it evolved and now we have that.
At first when I hiked because I just wanted to be outside and make some new friends because like most people, when you have a baby your old friends disappear. With time my hikes became more than hikes. For me it became this personal challenge. Week after week I found new hikes and felt myself getting stronger and stronger. It was somewhere around the end of October that when the weather started to turn that I realized I had hiked at least once a week (and usually more like 3 times a week) since Mason was born. And while some of those hikes were real hikes, some were just strolls around the neighborhood. And I also realized I couldn’t have done so many hikes without the motivation of the women around me. So that is why I thought Hike it Baby should happen and grow…because I knew other women would feel the way I felt.
what I noticed from all of this hiking was how good I felt, not just physically, but mentally. I felt like with every hike the Mama fog lifted just a little bit. And my hips shrunk, my back got stronger, my spirits lifted…and the best part was doing it with other people around me. And we all felt the same way too.
The rainy NW fall started and the hikes continued on. Two, three, four a week and through the winter it went. The website went up, the calendar got more filled and my friend circle grew…and grew…and grew.
Last week over 1000 people joined our private Facebook groups! That was in ONE WEEK! We are no longer just a little cute hiking group of moms. We are an organization that brings together families for fun and adventure!
And on Saturday we launch our first Hike it Baby 30. I am hoping this is the first of many challenges we can all do together. I am so excited about this because notonly am I going to hike an obscene amount of miles in a traditionally crappy weather month (the goal is 30 but we are shooting for 50!), but I am going to have a bunch of friends to do it with. I can’t wait. Rain or shine or sleet or whatever the skies open up for us, we are going to band together and meet up week after week to try and see how many miles we can put away before the holidays set in.
The truth is if I only compete 10 or 20, no worries. It’s a fun challenge that we have set up so that we can all just see how we do. It’s not serious, but at the same time it is serious because we are committing to hiking through this month together. And I’m excited.
So whether you have “officially” signed up for the challenge or not, give it a go. Start writing down your walks on a calendar. See how often you can get out there. One-mile, 10 blocks, 5-miles. It all counts. Do it for yourself. Do it for your baby. Do it for us!
See you on the trails…
–Shanti and Mason
Email me and tell me why you are doing the Hike it Baby 30! shanti@hikeitbaby.com
