The urbanites' guide to getting back to nature

You don't have to leave the capital to get a hit of the great outdoors

- Liv Bolton

THE to-do list was getting longer in my mind, the fizzing feelings of anxiety were building in my stomach. I needed to get out and I knew just the place. Wandering away from the noisy streets of Manor House in north London, I made a beeline for Woodberry Wetlands — a reservoir in the shadow of three tower blocks that’s been turned into a beautiful urban nature reserve.

Walking beside the water, I saw a coot weaving in and out of the reedbeds, I heard the tapping of a woodpecker and a red kite surfed the wind. Perched on a log by the reservoir, I realised the fizzing had dissipated and my mind felt clearer. The outdoors had done its job and I was only a mile from my flat.

The revelation of just how good the outdoors could make me feel had only come a few years previously. I’d been a highly stressed and anxious news journalist suffering from burnout, so I’d taken a work sabbatical and escaped to the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand. The 10-week hike massively improved my mental health so on my return to London, I set up a podcast called The Outdoors Fix, interviewing people who had made the outdoors a bigger part of their life, from those who had set up walking groups to others who had become parttime open water swimming coaches. Here are some of the things that I learnt. 

The outdoors isn’t just for weekends or holidays