Korpijaakko

Some time ago I challenged everyone (who dares) to try to spend two nights out every month through the year 2015. As the challenge was published in mid-January some people are/were not able to get their #twonights done in January so I decided it would be fair to offer also a February start for the challenge. After all, the idea is just to encourage more people (myself included) to get out more regularly.

So, one less excuse to get out and sleep under the nylon/stars/snow/whateveryoufancy. You can start getting your two nights each month on February and continue to the end of January 2016. Total of 24 nights at the minimum and two nights each month.

Also to be clear, it’s okay to spent the night in tent, in lean-to or even in an open wilderness log cabin. The idea is just to get our more regularly through the year. No strict rules as long as you get out in the nature and spent two nights out each month.

If you want to participate take a look at the original challenge here. And if you want me to share your online content about your two nights of each month, follow the directions and notify me and I’ll share your nights through the whole year!

I also noticed that the father of microadventure, Alistair Humpreys, is running a similar challenge in 2015. It’s little easier as it requires only one night a month but you should be bivying (as it’s a microadventure, not just any overnighter) so no tents or cabins. If you can’t make two nights a month, at least try one night a month!

To repeat myself: Now you have one less excuse! Start planning and make the 2015 one of the best outdoor years you’ve had!

That’s what I’ll be doing!

Here’s a nice little challenge for you to give you some extra motivation to get outdoors also this year! What?

The challenge is pretty simple:

1) Get out, do something “outdoorsy” and sleep outside. (Just sleeping on the backyard doesn’t really count.)
2) Do it twice a month through the whole year 2015. *

The idea is by no means original and I found it originally on Finnish outdoor forum Vaellusnet back in 2013.

I thought this would a nice idea and I’m sure all but the most enthusiastic outdoor folks usually have at least month or two each year when they don’t reach this target. For example I’ve been sleeping outdoors 60 or more nights a year over the past half a decade but still I have a month or two each year when I don’t sleep outdoors at all. There are the depressing shoulder season months, months busy with mundane responsibilities, the too cold winter months and many other excuses not to go out. But I’m sure that a public challenge and some peer pressure would fix this, so here we go! Why?

The main motivation is naturally going outdoors and getting more nights under the canvas or stars. Also when “having to go” around the year you will hopefully experience new seasons and conditions and while squeezing in a night or two during the busy times you’ll find new ways and places to go for an overnighter trip. This should be already interesting on its own but to motivate you further… If you are blogging or otherwise sharing your outdoor activities online I’ll promise to share your posts thru the whole year 2015! I hope this will motivate you and others to get outdoors more regularly and will probably get some extra attention and traffic for your online content.

There are no prizes set for participating but if this turns out to be popular I’ll arrange a nice prize and it’ll be raffled between those who make it through the whole year, all the way from January to December. Two nights a month. How?

Rules are that you should get a minimum of two nights outdoors every month through the whole year, from January to December. * Edit: Due to several requests I added a February start option, so 12 months from February 2015 to January 2016 counts too.

So, a minimum of 24 nights out during the year. It’s far from impossible but will hopefully provide a nice challenge and plenty of great experiences. As said, only sleeping outside (backyard, camping area, parking area, etc.) is not enough but you should do something “outdoorsy” in addition. Walking or cycling to your camping spot or preparing dinner on a fire is enough for me. But maybe you could try something new? Go for a swimhike? The trip can be anything from a five-to-nine microadventure to a multi-month expedition, as long as you’ll get your two nights out every month through the whole year. If you share your outings online and want me to help sharing them:

1) Comment on this post sharing the link to your blog or other online platform. I’ll include a list of participants with every post.
2) Post reports/proof of your two nights a month by the 7th day of the following month. If you are lucky to get more outdoor time in a month, choose any two nights you want.
3) Post links to the reports/proofs you’d like to share by commenting this or any of the #twonights posts in my blog. I hope to be in the outdoors enough not to have the time to go through all of the great content, so this will make sure your posts/reports will be shared.
4) At some point during each month I’ll gather and publish all the posts from the previous month into a single blog post linking to your trip reports. If you don’t blog or otherwise share your trips you can also comment directly on the summary post of each months, sharing the trips you did the past month.

Any language or media. Anywhere in the world. No limits for creativity. The outdoor experience is a universal thing.

Feel free to share the idea! It’s great to go out in the wild and sleep under the stars. I firmly believe more people should do it so the more “noise” there is online, the better. You can use hashtag #twonights for you reports. I challenge you, and myself, to get outdoors more regularly,
starting with two nights a month through the whole year 2015!

Do you pick up the gauntlet?