A Year in Review

The thing I’ve enjoyed the most from the past year of building HTXoutdoors is seeing members try things they never thought they would do… and actually Love doing it!

Many members tried Stand Up Paddleboarding with us for the first time and then spent the whole summer hitting different lakes around Houston and even traveling up to San Marcos for some good water.

One thing that surprised me was how quickly we could put together a trip to Zion National Park.  An Event Leader said she wanted to go in 3 weeks and wanted to know if anyone from HTXoutdoors would want to go.  I honestly didn’t think we would get anyone because it was short notice, towards the end of the year and it was considered an Intermediate skill level.

Boy was I wrong!  We had 8 people jump on board immediately and the trip was a huge success!  While I like trips where the details are locked in, sometimes the most fun trips are when there is no itinerary and you make it up as you go.

See more pictures on our Facebook page and on Instagram!

In the past year, 162 people joined HTXoutdoors!  These early adopters helped us figure out which events, locations and hours work for the best events.  Now that we have it honed in, it’s your turn to take advantage of everything we learned last year.

And this year we’re adding more travel to our calendar … Big Bend, Alaska, Yellowstone, weekend trips to San Antonio, Austin and Colorado.

Any interest in hiking through dinosaur tracks or mining for diamonds?  Yes, those are on the list too! Plus camping and hiking all over Texas.  From around Houston area to the hill country to west Texas.

Many members also camped with us for the first time, too.  If you think about it, there is a lot of gear that’s needed to go camping.  Sure, you can grab a stick and throw a hot dog in the fire. But to ensure you have a good experience, it’s important to have gear that will keep you comfortable given any weather situation.

And then to make camping an amazing experience, it’s fun to bring out all the dutch ovens and make delicious meals over the camp fire.  Have you heard about our Dutch Oven Brownies yet?

Since it’s often difficult to just go buy this stuff all at once, members of HTXoutdoors get to borrow equipment for free!  And we provide all of the kitchen equipment to make amazing meals.

Plus, we show you how to do it!

I would never be where I am today I didn’t have so many great people sharing their tips and tricks along the way and so that’s what we do too!  Even members who had never camped or paddleboarded before are now taking the reins to show new members what to do.

And I’m still learning myself!  I love to see different knots people tie, learning their tips for camping in various weather conditions, gear they love and so much more.

The thing I’m most proud of is the diversity of the group.  We have geologists & animal trainers who love talking about what we are seeing on the trails. We have certified fitness instructors and people who love talking about the constellations.  There is a breadth of knowledge within the group and everyone loves talking about these things they love doing so it makes for a great environment to learn.

Not only that, more than 60% of members speak a language other than English. And everyone actually wants to learn about each other’s cultures and understand their traditions. From a food prospective, we’ve started A Smorgasbord Dinner where each month we try a different type of food.

With a variety of people and events, you’re sure to find something to do.

So Let’s Do This!

 We’re kicking off the new year with our 1-year celebration, HTX-travaganza Outdoors!  On January 20^th. Details to follow.  Save the Date here.