A picture of the blog author sitting outside on a bridge

Hey there! My name is Samantha (Sam for short) and I love everything about being outside. I often compare myself to a dog—I need frequent walks and cannot sit still for too long!

I grew up hiking, hunting, fishing, and spending time every summer playing all day on my grandparent’s farm in Minnesota.

I was my happiest as a kid building fires in the backyard and playing outside endlessly.

But then something happened, something that I now know is scientifically proven, I experienced the teenage dip in nature connection.

Gone were the days of careless roaming around the yard and climbing trees. School, work, and technology took over my life.

I worked crazy hard in undergrad, because level of work equals level of success, right? My identity was wrapped up in my grades and becoming good at my job.

But then I got to graduate school and life slowed down just enough. Now I had one day off a week to do mostly as I pleased and I had no idea what to do with myself!

Somewhere deep inside an inkling of young Sam emerged and I began hiking. I loved hiking so much I braved all sorts of weather to hit the trails and eventually grew so entirely crazy I turned into a backpacker!

And as I hiked I started to notice a shift happening in my life.

I observed the world outside of me and realized I didn’t need to be so obsessed with me all the time.

I started to create an identity outside of my work and my profession. I was also a bird watcher and a hiker and a nature lover and those things felt so intuitively right to me.

Since then I have tried to learn more about myself and nature every day.

I do volunteer field work to give back and learn more. I am constantly listening to birds. And I will read any book about nature under the sun (or by moonlight 😉

And you know what? I am not the only one who has experienced the remarkable healing effects of nature.

I started this blog to dig deep into the research and bring you the latest and most exciting ideas in nature connection.

Together, let’s preserve the importance of unstructured play in nature for children so that they will have that connection with nature to reignite when they most need it.

And for all of us working every day to rewild ourselves just a bit, I am right here alongside you.