“It’s really important to have balance, spend some time in nature, go to a few parties, enjoy my friends and really chill out.”
Joakim Noah, Athlete
Pros and Cons of Spending More Time in Nature
Spending time in nature has become increasingly popular over the past years.
Many people feel the aim to reconnect with nature, to go back to the roots and to spend their leisure in natural environments.
However, while there are many benefits to spending time in nature, there are also some downsides related to it.
In this article, the pros and cons of spending time in nature are examined.
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Advantages of Spending Time in Nature
- Spending time in nature can improve our fitness levels
- Overall health improvements
- Spending time in natural environments can reduce our stress level
- Can help you unplug from your daily life
- Many people want to go back to the roots
- You can experience the real beauty of nature
- May help to improve your overall level of creativity
- Spending time in nature can help you find yourself
- You can forage your food
- Spending time in nature can lead to a better mood
- May help you to sleep better
- You can spend your time in quiet environments
- Can help you overcome mental issues
- Spending time in nature can be beneficial for your immune system
- Higher overall life expectancy
- Helpful to educate your kids
- You may value your life back home much more
Spending time in nature can improve our fitness levels
One key advantage of spending more time in nature is that you can significantly improve your fitness level.
Many people in our nowadays society don’t work out in a sufficient manner anymore since they often work in office jobs for long hours.
After they finish work, they often watch TV on their couch instead of going to the gym.
Hence, if this sounds quite familiar to you, you may want to spend more time in nature on the weekends in order to balance the rather unhealthy office job life and to improve your overall fitness level over time.
Overall health improvements
Through spending time in natural environments, you can not only improve your overall fitness level, you can also improve your health condition.
If you exercise more in nature through hiking or other nature activities, your body will thank you for that since it needs some minimum level of exercise to stay physically and mentally healthy.
Spending time in natural environments can reduce our stress level
Another upside of spending time in nature is that you can also significantly reduce your overall stress level.
In fact, many people work in demanding jobs for long hours and also have to manage their family at the same time.
Hence, this often leads to significant stress levels.
Therefore, if you currently suffer from high stress levels as well, you may want to spend more time in nature since you will spend your time in a completely different environment and you can just leave your problems behind for a while.
Can help you unplug from your daily life
In general, by spending more time in natural environments, you can also completely unplug from your daily life.
From time to time, you may simply need a break from everything that is going on around you.
In such occasions, it can be quite nice to just spend your time in nearby nature reserves or forests.
You may also want to turn off your smartphone so that nobody can disturb your experience if you want to increase the positive effects even more.
Many people want to go back to the roots
Many people also have the feeling that they should reconnect with nature and go back to the roots.
In fact, our ancestors lived in those natural environments for many years and there should be no reason why we shouldn’t spend more time in nature.
Hence, in order to reconnect to the environment we have originally come from, spending more nature can be a great way to go back to the roots.
You can experience the real beauty of nature
Our nature is also a quite beautiful place.
Yet, many people simply don’t know about the real beauty of nature since they grew up in big cities and had nobody who would have shown them those environments.
Consequently, if you are one of those people who completely lost connection to nature, you should definitely give it a try and spend more time in nature.
May help to improve your overall level of creativity
If you spend more time in nature, chances are that you will also become much more creative over time and that you get some inspiration for various parts of your life.
For instance, many people enjoy painting in the middle of nature.
Moreover, you may also get additional ideas regarding what you want to cook when you see certain berries or mushrooms in forests.
Spending time in nature can help you find yourself
In general, spending time in nature is also a great way for finding yourself.
In fact, many people in our nowadays society feel quite lost and feel that they don’t have a purpose in life.
However, this is often just due to the fact that people are overwhelmed with the excessive information flows we experience right now every day.
In turn, those information flows often prevent us to figure out what we really want to do with our lives.
Hence, in order to figure out your goals in life, you may want to spend more time in nature and figure out who you really are.
You can forage your food
Another benefit of spending more time in nature is that you can also forage for your food.
In fact, you will have the opportunity to collect a variety of berries, mushrooms and healing plants in natural environments.
However, before you forage for food, make sure that you have proper knowledge in order to avoid the consumption of toxic food.
Spending time in nature can lead to a better mood
In general, since you will be able to breathe fresh air and will exercise a bit, spending time in nature can also help you to improve your mood in general.
In fact, many people feel much better when they come home from a nature trip.
May help you to sleep better
Spending time in nature can also help you to sleep better.
In fact, you will walk many miles in nature quite often and due to this workout, you will be quite tired at nighttime and will fall asleep rather easily.
Hence, if you suffer from sleeping problems or even from insomnia, spending more time in nature may also greatly help you in this regard.
You can spend your time in quiet environments
Especially if you live in a big noisy city, you may also feel the need to spend some time in a quieter environment.
Consequently, it may be nice to spend some time in nature so that you can enjoy the singing of the birds instead of having to suffer from the noise of motor vehicles.
Can help you overcome mental issues
Proponents of nature activities often also claim that it can help to overcome mental issues when you spend more time in natural environments.
However, even though this might be a helpful supplementary measure, you may still want to see a psychologist if you suffer from mental issues since just spending time in nature may not be enough to cure your issues.
Spending time in nature can be beneficial for your immune system
Another advantage of spending time in nature is that it can also help you to strengthen your immune system.
Since you will exercise more and breathe fresh air, chances are that your immune system may become stronger over time and you will be less vulnerable to diseases of several sorts.
Higher overall life expectancy
Due to all the health benefits of spending more time in nature, chances are that also your overall life expectancy will increase as well.
Hence, if you want to increase your chances to live long, spending your time on nature activities may also help you in this regard.
Helpful to educate your kids
Spending more time in nature can not only be beneficial for yourself, but also for your children.
Many kids in our nowadays society have completely lost their connection to nature.
Hence, in order to reconnect your kids with nature and to show them the real beauty of the world, spending time in nature can also help in this regard.
You may value your life back home much more
If you make a camping trip in nature, you will soon realize all the amenities that will be missing that you are used to at home.
Thus, chances are that you will also value your life back home much more when you come back from your nature trip.
Disadvantages of Spending Time in Nature
- You may have to drive long distances
- Littering is a problem
- Some people don’t feel comfortable in nature
- You may lose some of your amenities
- Some nature reserves are quite crowded
- You may disturb the local wildlife
- Destruction of natural habitats
- Spending time in nature can be time-consuming
- Allergies may prevent people to spend time in nature
- You may get lost
You may have to drive long distances
Apart from the many crucial advantages of nature trips, there are also some problems related to them.
For instance, many people have to drive long distances until they will find the next nature reserve.
Hence, if you live in a region where there are not too many natural environments around, you may have a hard time spending your time in nature.
Moreover, if you have to drive long distances to find the next nature reserve, chances are that you will also emit significant greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, which can be quite harmful to our environment since the emission of greenhouse gases contributes to the global warming issue.
Littering is a problem
Another problem with nature trips is that they often lead to serious levels of littering.
While some people are responsible and try to leave no trace in nature, others just dispose of their garbage in the nearby forests or lakes.
In fact, if you go hiking in nature, you will often see plenty of garbage lying around in our forests.
Thus, if you decide to spend more time in nature, please make sure that you leave no trace so that other people can enjoy nature as well.
Some people don’t feel comfortable in nature
There are also people out there who just don’t feel comfortable in nature.
Some people just enjoy the city much more and if you are one of those people who just don’t get anything positive from nature trips, you may also not want to spend more time in nature.
You may lose some of your amenities
Especially if you go on nature trips for more than one day, you will often have to sleep under quite simple conditions and you may also lack some of the amenities you are used to back home.
Hence, if you are a rather lazy person and also don’t want to accept any decrease in your living standard, nature trips may also not be for you.
Some nature reserves are quite crowded
Spending time in nature has become quite popular over the past years.
This is also the reason why many of our natural reserves have become quite crowded over time.
Therefore, if you want to spend your time in a quiet environment, you may want to avoid popular nature reserves and may want to spend your time off the beaten track.
You may disturb the local wildlife
If you are not careful and leave the track, you may also disturb the local wildlife.
In fact, wild animals are often not used to humans and if you disturb those animals, chances are that they will feel uncomfortable and their reproduction rate may decrease as well.
Destruction of natural habitats
Many people in our nowadays society also don’t take too much care of our nature anymore.
In fact, many people just dispose of their waste in nature.
Over time, this can lead to serious destruction of our natural habitats and also to ecological imbalance in the long run.
Spending time in nature can be time-consuming
If you make a nature trip, you will also have to spend plenty of time on it.
In fact, it can take time until you get to your destination and you may also have to walk for a few hours.
Hence, make sure that you have the time for nature activities in order not to get into a rush.
Allergies may prevent people to spend time in nature
Some people also suffer from serious allergies that can be triggered by pollen of various sorts.
Thus, for those people, it can also be quite unpleasant or even dangerous to spend too much time in nature due to possible allergic reactions.
You may get lost
Many people also greatly underestimate the risk of getting lost in forests or other nature reserves.
In those natural environments, things often look quite the same and orientation can be quite difficult.
Consequently, if you have a quite bad sense of direction, you may get lost sooner or later and you should make sure that you have a cell phone with you in case of emergency so that you can be tracked via GPS.
Top 10 Nature Trip Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Nature Trip Pros | Nature Trip Cons |
|---|---|
| Spending time in nature can reduce stress | Nature trips can be time-consuming |
| Nature trips can improve overall quality of life | Implies some level of pollution |
| Can help you learn about nature | You may get lost during nature trips |
| Back to the roots | Spending time in nature may lead to littering |
| Nature trips can improve your fitness level | Allergies may prevent you from nature trips |
| Spending time in nature can improve fitness | You may have to give up your amenities |
| Nature trips can help with sleeping problems | May contribute to habitat destruction |
| Food foraging becomes possible | You may disturb local wildlife |
| May increase your life expectancy | You may have to drive long distances |
| Nature trips can help to educate your kids | Some people don’t feel comfortable in nature |
Should You Spend More Time In Nature?
As we can conclude from the previous discussion, there are several advantages and disadvantages of spending more time in nature.
In the end, you have to decide for yourself whether you want to make more nature trips or not.
In my opinion, spending time in nature can really clear your mind and make you ready for all the challenges that might lie ahead of you.
Sources
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44097-3
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/nature-health-benefits/index.html
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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