Why You Should Spend More Time Outdoors This Summer

With the global pandemic changing what activities we all can engage in safely, taking a vacation to a Willamette Valley RV park still offers a great opportunity to get away. Unfortunately, public health restrictions caused by the pandemic have led to the cancelations of concerts, festivals, and other public events. Many vacations have been placed on hold or simply canceled. But fortunately, you can still have plenty of fun if you choose to spend your time outdoors.

Whether hanging out at a Willamette Valley RV park or taking a dip in Waldo Lake, spending your time enjoying the Oregon summer offers the entirely family a chance to get out of the house and forget about all of the chaos we deal with on a daily basis. The best part is that outdoor activities pose a significantly lower risk of contracting COVID-19 when compared to indoor activities.

Why You Should Spend Your Time Outdoors?

The primary way COVID-19 spreads is from person to person through respiratory droplets released into the air when coughing, sneezing, or talking. When you’re indoors, you’re more likely to inhale these droplets from an infected individual simply because you’re in close contact. You breathe far more of the same air when indoors with someone than when outside. Poor building ventilation can also allow droplets to hang in the air for longer periods of time, increasing your risk of infection.

When outside, fresh air continues to circulate around you, thereby dispersing those droplets. You’re far less likely to breathe in enough of someone’s droplets to cause an infection. Being outside also offers other important benefits, such as helping you feel less tense, stressed, or depressed.

What are the Best Outdoors Activities?

Since coming into contact with an infected individual is how you catch COVID-19, the best outdoor activities to engage in are those that allow you to practice social distancing. Let’s take a look at a few of the outdoor activities the CDC considers low-risk for contracting the coronavirus.

• Swimming – Despite the widespread transmission, the coronavirus is a fairly delicate virus that cannot survive in certain environments. Whether at the pool, lake, or river, the water, heat, and chlorine all work to kill the virus before it can spread. Obviously, spending the day at a packed community pool will still increase your risk of infection, but a day on the beach or riverbank safely away from others makes a great way to spend the day.
• Kayaking, Paddleboarding, Boating – Activities spent on the water are inherently following social distancing. When alone on a paddle board or kayak, or only surrounded by family when on a boat, your risk of contracting COVID is all but nonexistent.
• Golfing – Another great outdoor activity that actively promotes social distancing, golfing presents very little risk for contracting COVID. Just make sure to use your own clubs and to avoid riding in any publicly used golf carts when out on the links.
• Biking – Biking on designated trails offers another safe solution for spending time outdoors. However, you may want to avoid busy trails that will get more crowded as people start heading outside.
• Fishing – Nothing beats the splendor of Oregon during the summer months, and fishing offers a great opportunity to spend some time by the banks of the state’s many lakes and rivers. Just make sure to fish at least six feet from your neighbor, and to wear a mask if non-family members are fishing nearby.
• Hiking – While the most complicated outdoor activity on our list, hiking is still relatively safe when taking the proper precautions. Hiking is an incredibly popular hobby in Oregon, so the state’s many hiking trails have a tendency to become quite crowded. Narrow trails also make it hard to practice social distancing, so look to hike early in the morning or on lesser used trails that won’t be as crowded. You should also wear a mask while hiking when passing others or when in close proximity.

 

Visiting a Willamette Valley RV park and spending time outdoors offers a great, low-risk option for spending time with the family this summer. While maybe not the types of activities we had planned for this year, Oregon offers enough beautiful vistas and scenic shores to help pass the time till when we can all gather back together.