I’ve used to do semi-competitive swimming as a child. Honestly one of the worst (as in boring, great for health and fixed my scoliosis) types of sport to do for an agitated child who wants to explore the world.

For an hour and a half you do laps while staring at the tiles on the bottom of your olympic pool. Would spend the entire time memorizing every crack on the tiles as well as doing entire video game playthroughs in my head lol

Y’ know - if it gets the kid through the hike, there’s nothing wrong with it. (Yes, I know it’s the onion, but let’s be real).

When I was a kid, I had my nose in books all the time. On long road trips, my parents sometimes told me to put down the book and look out the window, appreciate the landscape. I had no appreciation for landscape at that age. I do now that I’m in my mid-40s. But back then? I wanted to read my books.

My parents loved to go on long hikes. I kept up, I sometimes struggled, I sometimes hated it. What was I looking forward to at the end of the hike? Settling down with one of my books. My reward, if you so will. I like a good hike these days, back then not so much. If I’d had video games at the time, I’d probably have fantasised about them too, if it got me through a long and (in my mind) boring hike.

Yup that was me as a kid lol. Took me a long time to just enjoy where I was at and not rush to do the thing that gave the most dopamine. Games, porn, drugs, sex… There’s always something to jonse for, but just breathing in and out where your at and relaxing where you are just doing what you’re doing is super great