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"Go Take a Hike" by Joe Kelly The Japanese have a wonderful expression for spending time in the woods: Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. Widely practised in Japan, forest bathing involves visiting a forest expressly for its health benefits. Advocates of Shintin-yoku claim that breathing in the volatile organic compounds produced from trees, called phytoncides or wood essential oils, helps to promote relaxation and reduce stress. It works just like aromatherapy, set in the great outdoors. Whether or not you buy into the aromatherapeutic effects of trees, the general health benefits of nature are well founded. Studies show that spending time in nature can help to enhance your mood, increase energy levels and heighten your overall well-being. In fact, being outside for just 20 minutes a day is sufficient for boosting your vitality levels. Spending time in nature can also increase your resistance to illnesses, promote longevity and decrease the risks of mental illness. It might not be a surprise that time spent in nature is good for your health. However, have you ever considered how spending time in nature can help to make the world around you a better place? To explore this question, I challenged myself to spend one hour in nature every day in March. In the most primitive sense, nature is any natural setting untouched and uninfluenced by civilization. Strictly speaking, a park with a maintained trail system and other amenities is not truly in a natural state. For me, however, spending time every day in authentically wild places is impractical. So, for the purpose of this challenge, I relaxed the definition of nature to include some minor human influences (a park with trails and picnic areas is considered to be nature; a soccer pitch is not). One way that spending time in nature benefits the broader community is by promoting positive social interactions with others. Free of the distractions and background noise present in the city, the serenity of nature provides a perfect venue to connect with others. Even strangers seem more willing to exchange pleasantries in natural settings than in urban ones. These interactions can help to build stronger social ties and connectedness in