I am a big believer in using your fitness and health to do fun things in life.  Maybe it’s a sport, maybe it’s playing at the park with your kiddos.  By attaching your fitness to something that’s more purposeful and really adds to your life, it creates a much more lasting long term motivation to keep fit.  For me, it’s hiking and exploring the outdoors. For that I’ll have to give credit to my dad. Despite my whining when we went on hikes when I was a kid, he passed on his love and passion for the outdoors to me.   When I’m out, feel so alive, and honestly the most like myself, the most ‘at home’ in my body.  

And I know I’m not alone.  I work with a lot of clients who have goals to hike a certain trail in the area, or see hiking as part of being fit, and I want that for them.  

So today I’ve invited local hiking and outdoor expert, Sam Waddington on the show to share some key things to help you get started in outdoor exploring.  

In this episode of the Fit and Vibrant You Podcast, we tackled topics like:

• the $25 investment that could save you from needing to buy new hiking boots
• the bare essentials of equipment needed to get out and really have a great time
• how to experience the outdoors if you live in a big city
• how to enjoy your time on the trail and keep safe
• the 2 things you can do right now (yes, right now!) to get super-stoked for your next outdoor adventure!

My thank you gift to you: Sam has put together a day hike packing check list so you can get out on the trail without worrying if you forgot any important item.  Trust me- I’ve forgotten things before and it can mean the difference between a great experience and a not-so great experience.  Click the button below to download the check list. 

To call Sam an ‘expert’ in hiking and the outdoors may be a bit of an understatement.  

Sam grew up in Chilliwack and spent most of his childhood playing in the local mountains. When he was seven year old his parents took an extended leave from work, bought a sail boat, and spend the next three years sailing the west cost of North America, across the Pacific Ocean and through the South Pacific Islands. Since then, Sam had an unquenchable desire for adventure and spent as much time as possible in the mountains, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, and hunting.

In high school Sam was involved in leadership and graduated with top academics. He also got a taste for politics during a parliamentary exchange program in Ottawa (capital of Canada). After highschool he packed his bags and backpacked through Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. He ended his trip by working as a Scuba Diving Dive Master, guiding scuba diving in the Red Sea in Dahab Egypt for five months.

After five years of tree-planting and dabbling in university in Winnipeg,

Sam’s love of the mountains brought him back to BC to further his education in business at UFV.

Sam’s travels both for pleasure and for work as a scuba diving guide, aid relief photographer, and as a hunting guide, have taken him to 33 countries in his 25 years of life.

Sam dropped out of University in 2012 to peruse a passion for the outdoors; doing his part to help highlight and grow the local outdoor recreation scene by opening his outdoor store, Mt. Waddington’s Outdoors in 2012. After two years in business Sam decided to run for a position on Chilliwack City Council in the fall of 2014. He was successful in the election and is now 6 months into a 4 year term on council.

Links mentioned in the Episode:
Get in touch with Sam
Follow Sam on Twitter
Become a Facebook fan

Thanks For Tuning In!

Thanks so much for joining me this week. I really look forward to getting to know you in the months to come. If you have a question that you would like answered, or need a bit of extra help in a certain area, please take a moment to email me at tanjashaw@gmail.com.

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