GOODS

from Blue Ridge Outdoors July 2021

by Summit Publishing

JOB BOARD

MY COVID HANGOVER

There is such a thing as pandemic outdoor adventure overload.

BY GRAHAM AVERILL

DOES ANYONE ELSE NEED TO TAKE A NAP?

turned high fives and hugs into acts of aggression, everyone decided at the same time that riding bikes and camping were awesome, the world ran out of bikes and camping gear, caring about the health of other people became a violation of individual rights, and only private school kids actually set foot in a classroom. I’m probably leaving something out, but that’s the last year or so in a nutshell.

So, I say again, does anyone else need to take a nap?

It’s been a long year and I’m tired. But there’s no time to rest because the U.S. is finally crawling out of its COVID hole. People are getting vaccinated, restaurants are open for indoor dining, some of us can even go to the grocery store without a mask. Things are, dare I say it, getting back to normal. Or at least, as normal as we can be after going through a global pandemic that divided our country both physically and philosophically.

Everybody approached their pandemic year differently. Personally, I was determined to make the most of the dismal situation. We’re stuck at home and can’t see friends or family? Okay, we’ll go camping. A lot. We played board games and learned new skills. I read books! I built my own climbing wall and revamped my backyard pump track. I did a pushup

AFTER A LONG YEAR FILLED WITH CAMPING AND BIKING, THE AUTHOR CAN'T MUSTER THE ENERGY FOR AN ADVENTUROUS SUMMER.

challenge with my high school buddies (I did not win, unless you consider repetitive use injuries as winning). I did multi-day bike rides. We paddled lakes we’d never seen before as a family, hiked to remote waterfalls, and spent more time skiing the local hill than we have in years past. You could argue that I lived one of the most purposeful years of my adult life in 2020. And it was objectively awesome. I got after it and made the most of the strangest year in modern history.

And now I’m fucking tired. Not