Send us a textJason Milligan of the G.O. Get Outside Podcast and yours truly introduce Hometown Explorers: The Wonder Outside 3 x 3 Challenge. We will be interviewing people from all over the country and asking them, what exciting, fun, beautiful outdoor spaces are near them.? Specifically, what's 3 minutes away? What's 30 minutes away? And what's 3 hours away from their home. Our first guest is Dave Boerger from Orange, New Jersey.

Send us a text“Let’s go deep in the woods!” Rolf would say to his mother and by his tone you might think he was about to enter the Yukon. But the three-year-old was standing in his back yard in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis just a few miles away.Rolf, bundled up in his snowsuit, was about to venture off into a relatively small collection of trees in an adjacent lot – which for him was the same thing as the great boreal forests of North America. Recognizin...

Send us a textAnything you see. Anything you hear.Mike Mattison, the two-time Grammy award winning singer, songwriter for the Tedeschi Trucks Band and the Derek Trucks Band knows the blues. As a singer, composer, author and student of blues music Mike guides us along the many routes in which the blues meets the outdoors. The effect of the blues and how it's been impacted by the landscape has been profound. Mike says that the honesty of the blues is what makes us ourselves. And that...

Send us a textBradley Rutherford knows his mangroves. And his turtles, barracudas, kayaks, caves, estuaries, needlefish, sharks and much more! And if you can’t find him at the water’s edge on Grand Bahama island he’s probably nearby somewhere filling up a garbage bag with the litter that other’s left on the trail or taking care of the home that he loves. His work with container ships as a younger man prepared him for a long run as a tour guide for Grand Bahama Nature Tours. Guiding peop...

Send us a textMelissa Constanzer, a professional broadcast meteorologist with AccuWeather, will run for miles in temperatures ranging from 9 degrees above zero to 97 degrees above zero. That wide spectrum of commitment to getting outside combined with her thorough knowledge and passion for weather is why she is our Wonder Guide for episode 14.Stories that Help EveryoneDespite her vast knowledge of math and science, Melissa knows that her main job is to tell a story with weather. A story ...

Send us a textYours truly is your Wonder Guide for episode 13! I'll break down some simple, easy, fun and useful ways to wonder.This episode I’m going to be your Wonder Guide. And I’m going to do that by giving you some concrete steps that will inspire and motivate you get outside more easily often and confidently.WONDER is the key. It’s easy to speed right on by that word. We’ve got texts to return, kids at home on zoom school, bill’s to pay and endless devices demanding our atte...

Send us a textJosh Daugherty’s desire to connect to nature is palpable. He’ll do anything possible to immerse himself in a rainstorm, wade into a river, throw a frisbee barefoot and all along remind us that ego is the enemy. He also might be skinny dipping in that lake so – fair warning. He’ll also build a thriving outdoor community out of nothing by aiming his frisbee at the light pole on your corner. Frisbee golf, or disc golf for the purists, is just one of the ways we can, in J...

Send us a textDoug Wallace is eighty-four years old going on fifty-five. He’s up by 5:30 am and if his wife, Peggy Hunter, isn’t up by six, he’s going to wake her because it’s time to get in the canoe. They canoe every day (weather permitting) from ice out in May to closing up the cabin in late September on Lake Vermilion.Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota is big. In fact, it’s the 5th biggest lake in the state known as the land of 10,000 lakes. It’s 30 miles from one end to the...

Send us a textLoons Need Long RunwaysNot many people in this world know that a loon is one of the few birds with solid bones, which makes them heavier than most birds of similar size. Still fewer would know what to do when a loon can’t take off from a lake that’s just beginning to freeze over entirely. Enter Mark Hennessy, loon-runway-builder. Or perhaps ice-breaker for loons should be his title. Clearly, this particular loon had decided to sleep in too late. ...

Send us a textDJ Shark is our Wonder Guide in Episode 9 where we look at the first 8 Where Art Meets Nature Segments. A replaying of these segments will really inspire you to get outside...or write or song....or sing a song =)!

Send us a textCamping is for EveryoneMichelle, Julie and Courtney are back to share their wisdom and tips on camping with their families. From meal planning to realistic expectations to unplugging from devices to navigating the many personalities in any family, these Wonder Guides have a lot more value to offer all of us.People Want to Help YouOne of the most important themes to emerge from my conversation with Julie, Michelle and Courtney is that the barriers to getting outside are min...

Send us a textCourtney Brown, Julie Pearl-Slater and Michelle Silver are our Wonder Guides for Episode 7 and boy do they know how to camp! And with kids!When Courtney moved from the ample and beautiful beaches of Orange County, California to Utah she embraced the opportunity to ‘stretch out’ and explore the mountains with her children. All FIVE of them.When Julie left Chicago for L.A. she had no idea she’d go camping ‘overnight’ let alone take regular camping trips to Joshua Tree,...

Send us a textKristina Haddad is our Wonder Guide for episode six. If you’re looking for some motivation, passion and commitment when it comes to the preservation and celebration of wild places look no further! If you’re looking for someone thoroughly versed in environmental activism and justice, you’ve come to the right place!Kristina is currently the program director at the environmental non-profit organization, 7th Generation Advisors. And while this job alone would be enough s...

Send us a textEnrico Colantoni is back for the second half of our conversation in episode five. If you like ghost stories then look no further! We'll touch on some of the rather spooky and unexplainable events that occurred in the mountains in the Lake Arrowhead area of Southern California.But since I get scared easily by ghost stories we'll turn our attention to other topics including Canada, hockey and planting potatoes based on the cycles of the moon. One of the more poignant moments comes...

Send us a textBryna Campbell and Mike Murawski keep the joy of exploration at the center of what they do: providing useful, engaging and fun outdoor trail guides and activities for kids and families. They created Super Nature Adventures out of a need to keep their son less resistant and more engaged on their outings. And it really worked. Even more than that, Mike and Bryna have and undeniable passion for going outside. They talk about the outdoors in ways that make you want to get on the tra...

Send us a textIn this variety show for nature, today's special Wonder Guide guest is Enrico Colantoni. You may know his extensive work as an actor on Veronica Mars, Just Shoot Me, Contagion and Galaxy Quest. But his reason for being on the show is to highlight just how passionate he is about the outdoors and how much nature has influenced his art and his life. We cover a wide variety of subjects from the vortex of Los Angeles to Vancouver B.C. to the great playwright Anton Chekhov. ...

Send us a textNew York Times best-selling and award winning author, master carpenter and longtime fan of the great outdoors joins Ranger Ted for Episode 2 of the Wonder Outside Podcast. They sit down in the sunny, pre-Covid, Silverlake meadow in Los Angeles for a ranging conversation from Elk baths, Rocky Mountain inspirations and meandering Iowa rivers. Tim is a master storyteller and that's on full display in this episode. Tim discusses how the environment of the Rocky Mountains helped...

Send us a textIn the Earth Day launch of the Wonder Outside Podcast, naturalist and outdoor educator, Ted Mattison, also known as Ranger Ted, talks with Annabeth Gish about how to find simple, practical and available adventures in the great outdoors. Covering a wide range of topics from New Mexico to Iowa; from hikes with kids to finding solace in the vast expanse of the prairie, from walking in our own neighborhoods with our senses open to remembering where the biggest strawberry in the worl...

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Send us a textRanger Ted introduces the Wonder Outside podcast in this trailer. The show that helps everyone of all ages, abilities and experience levels get outside more easily, more often and more confidently. The core message of this show is to help you and your loved ones connect with your sense of wonder, awe and adventure in the great outdoors. By talking with a featured Wonder Guide every week, Ranger Ted seeks to discover how these authors, actors, adventurers, thoug...