Most of us assume that the only way to experience a radically new place or culture is to travel abroad鈥攁nd who’s got the time or cash for that? But right under your nose, in small towns across America, there are dozens of quirky outdoor festivals that let you immerse yourself in some pretty unhinged corners of society. From giant pumpkins to rare fungi to DIY outhouses, there’s a festival for everything鈥攁nd we love a good excuse for a road trip.

Another bonus? Many of these small-town festivals are inexpensive and grassroots鈥攇iving them a homegrown feel that big, commercial festivals just can’t replicate. Here are 14 under-the-radar festivals that will spark your curiosity鈥攁nd leave you with plenty of memorable experiences and wild stories your group chat won’t be able to top.

: Roswell, New Mexico

July 3-6

This festival pays homage to a 1947 UFO sighting that made national headlines. The shiny unidentified object was later identified as debris from a military balloon, but some believe that the belated diagnosis was a government cover-up. From an alien dog costume contest to a themed 5k, this festival encapsulates the weirdness and wonder we associate with extraterrestrial life.

, Crested Butte, CO

July 11-12

From to trail talks about local folklore, this festival celebrates peak summer color in the wildflower capital of Colorado. Other activities include birding, culinary classes, art workshops, and garden tours.

Looe Key Sanctuary, FL

July, 13

You鈥檒l need a good pair of goggles to attend this festival: The whole thing is underwater. Event organizers hold the annual celebration at , about 6 miles off the coast of Big Pine Key. Hundreds of divers and snorkelers explore the reef while listening to music broadcast through underwater speakers. raise awareness about reef conservation and responsible diving. The playlist features ocean-themed songs ranging from Jimmy Buffett to The Little Mermaid.

听Crystal Falls, MI

August 1-2

The Armillaria gallica mushroom, which can grow up to the size of , is native to the Upper Michigan Peninsula. In celebration of its grandeur, the city of Crystal Falls hosts an annual weekend bash. Expect fungi-forward food, foraging outings, a parade, and more.

, Ninilchik, AK

August 1-3

This funky fest celebrates all the best hallmarks of summer in Alaska: good camping, local music, fresh salmon, and endless sunshine. Spend the weekend filling up on good tunes and salmon-forward dishes. Then, snag a campsite on-site or at the nearby Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds Campground.

, Telluride, CO

August 13-17

This mushroom festival is as much of a celebration of fungus as it is of creative expression. Join a culinary foraging expedition, sit in on a keynote presentation like, and then don your favorite fungus-themed costumes for the festival’s marquee mushroom parade.

, Prairie du Sac, WI

August 29-30

Cow chips鈥攊.e., discs of dried cow poop鈥攚ere a great source of fuel for 19th-century travelers on the Great Plains. Today, midwesterners celebrate the power of the cow chip with a friendly throwing competition. Each contestant receives two chips to throw. Gloves are not allowed. However, you can lick your fingers before throwing to getting a better grip on your chip. Whoever throws their chip the farthest wins.

, Santa Fe, NM

August 29

Consider this Burning Man鈥檚 little cousin. Zozobra, which translates to 鈥渁nxiety or distress,” is a 50-foot effigy meant to symbolize the struggles of life. At this festival, participants stuff Zozobra with notes detailing their sorrows and worries. Then, the larger-than-life figure is set ablaze to symbolize renewal and release. Watch the burning, then dance your worries away amid live music.

听Albany, OH

September 12-14

A relative of the papaya, pawpaw treesare native to Ohio, and their fruit tastes like a cross between a banana and a mango. It’s a beloved local staple鈥攁nd people go all out each fall to celebrate it. Pawpaw Fest features a pawpaw growers’ competition, a pawpaw beer tasting, and a pawpaw-eating contest. And on Saturday morning, you can join cyclists for a group ride among the trees in Zaleski State Forest.

Virginia City, Nevada

October 4

What started as a political protest in Virginia City, Nevada, is now an annual tradition鈥攁nd the only designated outhouse-racing event in the U.S. Participants spend weeks building their own homemade outhouses and then race the contraptions down the historic C Street. Each outhouse must contain a toilet seat and a roll of toilet paper鈥攁nd be fully operational.

, Goffstown, NH

October 18-19

Forget about James and the Giant Peach鈥攖his competition requires athletes to sail down the Piscataquog River in a giant Jack-o-lantern. If you’re not confident in your ability to pilot a pumpkin, consider spectating the race鈥攐r attending the giant pumpkin weigh-off. In past years, the winning gourd has often topped 2,000 pounds.

, Manitou Springs, CO

October, 25

To honor Emma Crawford’s dying wish, her partner carried her coffin to the top of Red Mountain to lay her to the rest. Almost thirty years later, a storm struck the area鈥攁nd sent Emma鈥檚 coffin racing down the mountain. Since 1995, the town has honored Emma鈥檚 memory through their very own coffin race (which anyone can enter), accompanied by spooky festivities.

: Keokuk, IA

September 26-28

We heard this festival rocks. It features geode cracking, treasure hunts, fossils, and more. Professionals guide geode hunts through areas that are normally off limits to the general public, making this a unique opportunity for rock hounds. It’s also a perfect adventure weekend for your kiddo鈥攐r that one friend who’s really into crystals.

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Many hikers set out to hike all 58 of Colorado鈥檚 14ers鈥攕ought-after summits above 14,000 feet in elevation鈥攂ut only one Coloradan, 27-year-old Erin Ton, is doing it in high heels. So far, Ton has knocked out 24 of the peaks in her three-inch sandals and plans to tick off the rest over the coming summers. At first, the project was just for fun. But over time, it’s become a statement about defying stereotypes.

Ton hiked her first-ever 14er, Mount Elbert, back in 2018. 鈥淎t the time, it was the hardest thing I had ever done,鈥� she says. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. 鈥淭here’s something so satisfying about challenging yourself to go through a hard time, and then [experiencing] that overwhelming sense of satisfaction once you get to the summit. I was hooked.鈥� An avid trail runner, she started doing them faster and faster, concocting new linkups and chasing speed records. In 2023, she very nearly notched an overall 14er record, bagging 57 summits in just two weeks. (However, her decision to skip 14,053-foot Culebra Peak cost her the record鈥攁nd sparked .)

The heel thing started well before that, though, as a joke between Ton and her friends. They hypothesized that the leverage of a high heel could help counteract the incline of a steep slope, alleviating strain on the feet. Theoretically, it would be similar to using a heel riser while backcountry skiing, or a trail shoe with a very, very high midsole drop. In 2020, Ton put this hypothesis to the test, paying homage to her first ascent of Mount Elbert by doing it again鈥攂ut this time in high heels.

It was never Ton鈥檚 intention to turn her ascents into a social movement for women in the outdoors. 鈥淚 thought Mount Elbert would just be one and done, but my sister, Hannah, was intrigued by the idea, and joined me for a couple of popular summits in heels, and we just had so much fun doing it.鈥� Ton decided to make it a goal to finish all the 14ers again鈥攂ut this time in heels. She started working her way down the list, bagging a few summits each summer. Typically, she’d hike the ascents in her heels and dress, snap a photo at the summit, and then change into a pair of trail runners for the descents.

Then the media took notice. A in The Gazette ran a photo of Ton in high heels and a short red skirt, and it kicked off a wave of criticism. 鈥淚 got some not-so-positive feedback, mostly from a male audience,” Ton says. Commenters questioned her competence and her sanity.

“It lit a fire under me,鈥� Ton said. 鈥淚 don’t need your input on what I should be doing with my body when I feel completely safe out there.鈥� So, Ton continued making high-heeled ascents and posting about them on social media.

鈥淚’ve had numerous women reach out to me saying it’s inspired them to wear what they want in the outdoors. All too often, women are siloed into one category, but being outdoorsy and feminine aren’t mutually exclusive,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚’m showing you can be both as a woman.鈥�

As for the original hypothesis? Hiking in heels likely doesn’t make mountaineering any easier, Ton says. And it does have the potential to be hard on the lower legs.

鈥淎t first I thought I was going to roll my ankles, but I really haven’t had that big of an issue,鈥� Ton says. In fact, she thinks all the high-heeled hiking has helped boost her over time. The blisters, on the other hand, aren’t so easy to shrug off. Often, she’ll hike with socks beneath her heels. She also takes Band-Aids and other first-aid supplies with her on every ascent.

The model of shoe she chose was equally calculated. She started in a pair of sturdy $25 heels from Target, until an Italian shoe brand, , reached out and created a custom heel for her. 鈥淢y current pair has lasted me the past two summers, and I took them on some pretty technical peaks, including Capitol Peak,” Ton says. Fortunately, they’re also cute enough to do double-duty.

“I’ve gone to a couple of weddings in recent years where I don’t have any other heels to wear,” she laughs. So, she wore her dirty, beat-up hiking heels.

Ton is proof that you really can do both. And, apparently, so can your shoes.

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The recent National Park System budget cuts and layoffs have sparked a wide range of responses, from a national day of protests to a series of opinionated erected across the country. And now, there鈥檚 another, albeit slightly unorthodox approach: a making thirst traps of Yellowstone National Park.

For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a thirst trap is a social media post meant to attract attention because it鈥檚, well, sexy.

No, you don鈥檛 need to schedule an optometrist appointment鈥搚ou read that correctly. A TikTok creator has begun impersonating Yellowstone National Park with the handle @visit.yellowstone, but with a raunchy twist. The account鈥檚 videos splice together footage of male entertainers with shots of the park鈥檚 natural landscapes, typically set to provocative music. And it could be working: The account has racked up 1 million followers and 7 million likes in a matter of months.

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone @Johnathon Caine

国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the creator of the fake Yellowstone account, and the person agreed to answer our questions, so long as we would not share their identity. They said the page is meant to encourage people to visit the park.

鈥淭he original account was created as a joke by several friends, and we were the original creators involved,鈥� they said in a direct message. The @visitmtrainier account was the first account to officially launch, and @mt.hood.adventure followed shortly after.听The fake Yellowstone account was ultimately created to support the Mt. Hood account in a friendly comment war. The three parody accounts continued to engage in a lighthearted鈥攂ut yes, sexy鈥攕ocial media fight.

Then @visit.yellowstone unexpectedly went viral. Thanks to its success, others creators have launched similar accounts in its wake, including @visit.yosemite, the @smoky.mountain.alliance, and more.

鈥淥nce it started to gain traction and grow, we tried to shift the focus toward raising social awareness, particularly about the defunding and conservation issues related to logging,” the creator said.

Replying to @Atrox have a happy Friday!

The account鈥檚 creator explained that they took this approach because they 鈥渇elt that content related to the mountain community was becoming stale.鈥� They added that they 鈥渨anted to differentiate [themselves] to see if it would yield any positive results. Obviously, it did, and it seems to be working.鈥�

Yellowstone National Park’s public information office is aware of the @visit.yellowstone TikTok account and stressed that the park is not in any way involved with the creation of the videos. 鈥淵ellowstone National Park does not have a TikTok account, and we are not affiliated with any TikTok accounts that you see online,鈥� a park representative told 国产吃瓜黑料. That said, other parks haven鈥檛 shied from riffing on the theme. Recently, Death Valley National Park shared an听 on its verified account calling Death Valley the original 鈥渢hirst trap.鈥�

 

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As for the adult entertainers featured in the posts? They also appear to be unaffiliated with @visit.yellowstone鈥檚 thirst trap campaign. One of them, Jonathon Walton, a full-time social media creator whose footage has been featured in a number of viral videos, released a saying he was surprised to find his image used to promote national parks. He also told 国产吃瓜黑料 that he鈥檚 not upset about the development. 鈥淚鈥檓 just very thankful my videos have helped to bring attention to the parks,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 important here. Directing attention to the parks so we can continue to preserve them amidst the funding cuts.鈥�

Within Yellowstone’s 2.2 million acres, visitors have unparalleled opportunities to observe wildlife in an intact ecosystem, and explore geothermal areas @Johnathon Caine

Walton added that he was fly fishing in North Carolina鈥檚 Blue Ridge Mountains when he found out that his photo was being used. He told 国产吃瓜黑料 that he is a fan of the national parks. 鈥淏eing outdoors keeps me grounded so I can continue to do what I do online daily,鈥� he said. 鈥淗elping to maintain the health and balance of ecosystems is very sexy. In a time where most of what we consume as humans is manmade, being out in nature helps us reconnect with ourselves, and that鈥檚 not only important but also very attractive.鈥�

Walton said the viral page has resulted in an immediate influx of followers across his social accounts and numerous DM鈥檚 calling him 鈥渢he national park zaddy.鈥�

The @visit.yellowstone TikTok creator has no plans to stop the campaign anytime soon. 鈥淲e genuinely believe we can help bring attention to these issues, and we鈥檙e gaining support within our park鈥檚 community,鈥� they told 国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淭hat said, we are firmly against any part of the parks being sold off or privatized. We also strongly support the restoration of jobs and raises for park rangers and firefighters. This not only applies to the parks but also to the public lands and forests.鈥�

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On the first Monday of May, the fashion world comes together to celebrate at its annual soir茅e. The Met Gala is the celebration of culture and fashion, and the entire world gathers to gawk at, admire, and critique celebrities’ ostentatious outfits. This year’s theme was . The theme encouraged designers and fashion icons to draw inspiration from 300 years of Black style, from 18th century dandyism to the modern day.

You may be asking yourself: “As an outdoorsperson or a granola girl, what does the Met Gala have to do with me?” Well, just as football championships are often eclipsed by their TV commercials, the true highlight of the Met Gala has quickly become the next day’s memes. Plus, as hyper-focused outdoorspeople, we see adventure inspiration everywhere…including this year’s blue carpet. This is not a best dressed list by any means鈥攖his is our best memes list of 2025.

A Roundup of the Best Outdoorsy Met Gala Memes on the Internet

 

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It’s only right that Wild Rye shares a photo of the , Sha’Carri Richardson, to attain Queen of the Mountain Status in this听Strava-related听meme.

Ok, yes, but really it’s: Our crew capturing every second of the camping trip that finally made it out of the group chat…

Coloradans have their Fourteeners鈥攁nd Angelenos have their Runyon Canyon hiking influencers.

 

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Pictured: Us planning every moment of a 3-day backpacking trip for our friends. (We’re not mad, we’re just Type-A.)

Finally, the 70s! Cardi wearing custom Burberry styled by Kollin Carter. A tailored, velvet, floor-length pantsuit with a ruffled shirt and waist belt?! It鈥檚 so 70s funk, Superfly, Bootsy Collins, Prince-inspired. The color + brocade?! One of the best tonight!

鈥� K E I S H (@MikeishaDache)

POV: That patch of poison ivy on your favorite trail, eyeing its next victim at the start of the season.

What our computers look like when we’re planning a backpacking or …

鈥� (@metgalacrave)

The crow at your campsite as it waits to steal your when you aren’t looking.

me trying to leave the office before 5 pm

鈥� Betches (@betchesluvthis)

What we look like on a Friday afternoon, sneaking out early so we can hit the road for the weekend adventure.

 

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Our seasonal allergies’ biggest fears: a trail in full bloom, and this dress.

Our hiking boots after even the shortest of off-trail jaunts. (Burrs? check. Cheat grass? check. Oh鈥攊s that a whole stick I see there?)

 

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hilarious roundup is for all adventurers alike. Swipe through for camping, climbing,听 hiking, and more outdoorsy memes.

 

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There’s nothing that gets Seattleites going like seeing Mt. Rainier out in all of her glory. Consider this the official announcement that summer in the PNW has started.

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Have you ever thought about quitting the rat race, becoming free from rent or a mortgage, and hitting the open road?

Whatever your answer to that question, a lot of people do. For years, Instagram has showcased beautifully aesthetic versions of a more simple life on the road with the hashtag , which is populated with nearly 18 million posts. And the subreddit r/VanLife has almost 300,000 members who discuss the ins and outs of their experience and share pictures of their setups and views.

After spending some time talking to vanlifers and lurking in vanlife spaces on the internet, the most important thing I鈥檝e learned about vanlife is that there is no single version of vanlife. The moniker, I think, refers more to a state of mind that corresponds with a way of being鈥攁 freedom ontology that can be achieved through life on four wheels. Remove the tethers that bind you to a specific place (and the costs associated with them) and experience a more real autonomy and the ability to wander. There is no monolith, only your unique experience.

In many ways, it鈥檚 not surprising that this mode of existence exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic when lockdowns and remote work created competing senses of containment and openness. At the same time indoor experiences became less likely, a lot of work could be done from anywhere. For many, it became the right time to take to the road and experience the outdoors from a new, built-out, moveable home.

Philosophy and aesthetics aside, there are also more material considerations that drive some to consider vanlife. As 国产吃瓜黑料 has reported on, the cost of living in mountain towns has steadily increased over the last several years, and American cities, broadly speaking, aren鈥檛 getting any cheaper.

Is #vanlife the answer?

I spoke to two vanlife pros at different points on the cost, build-out, and lifestyle spectrums to get a more thorough understanding of the expenses, benefits, and unexpected realities of living out of a van.

Bruce Dean, Ph.D., is a Wavefront Sensing Group Leader at NASA鈥檚 Goddard Space Flight Center. In that role, he helped develop one of the flight algorithms as a key component in aligning the James Webb Space Telescope鈥檚 mirrors. He鈥檚 a lifelong runner and endurance athlete, holds 14 U.S. patents, and currently lives in his van in Colorado. He鈥檚 been fulltime in his Mercedes Sprinter van since 2021. He also has a business founded on vanlife, build-outs, and life coaching called .

William Gayle spends summers working for the Parks Service in Yosemite, California, and the ski season in Mammoth Lakes, California. He has spent a number of his years in Mammoth living in a converted minivan that he built out with pull-out drawers and a platform bed.

The Realities of #Vanlife

Both Gayle and Dean offered me a window into their own unique vanlives.

The Cost of Insurance

For Gayle, the most terrifying moment of vanlife came when his van鈥攚ith all of his earthly possessions inside it鈥攚as stolen. Though he insures the vehicle with homeowners insurance, Gayle says it didn鈥檛 really hit him that his van is a moveable and stealable container of his life until he was walking around with only the clothes on his back. Thankfully, it was recovered within 24 hours, but Gayle never shook the worry that it created.

Dean also mentioned insurance as one of his most significant expenses.

General Expenses

Gayle told me that the daily cost of dining out added up quickly. His minivan didn鈥檛 have kitchen facilities, so for at least one ski season, he ended up spending somewhere between $40 and $80 a day on food and drinks. Although Gayle only used his vans for winters in Mammoth, that daily food cost annualizes to somewhere upward of $15,000. For context, the financial website that the average American household spends around $9,985 per year on food.

Dean hasn鈥檛 paid an electrical bill since 2021. He also told me he pays very little for water, and most of the time can refill at campgrounds for free. Many gas-stations are OK with letting him fill his water tank if they happen to have a water tap outside. The only housing related bills that he has every month are for Starlink (mobile satellite internet, currently $165 per month), gas, and insurance. He told me gas costs can vary widely depending on if you travel a lot. He has a full kitchen and cooks every night. He also runs every day and installed a shower so he can shower every night.

Romantic Relationships

When I asked Gayle if there were any elements of vanlife that surprised him鈥攁nd he鈥檇 want readers to know about鈥攈e mentioned relationships, specifically romantic ones. 鈥淚t made romantic relationships hard,” he said. “People want to get out of their own house; they don鈥檛 necessarily want to come hang out in your van where you can鈥檛 even sit up.鈥�

Builds and Fixes

Gayle said his build-out was relatively inexpensive. Modeling his design after truck-bed campers he鈥檚 seen, he completed his first version of a platform bed with underbed pull-out drawer storage in 2018 and modestly iterated from there, completing most of the work before the cost of lumber skyrocketed during COVID.

Dean is handy鈥攁nd can do most repairs and improvements himself. 鈥淚t pays to install the best components available, to help avoid problems later,” he said. “But these can be expensive, most notably, the batteries, solar panels, a refrigerator, and electrical components, these can really add up. That said, you would have anyway if you lived in a conventional home.鈥�

Gas and Tolls

Dean told me that a surprising part of vanlife, at least the way he does, has been the sheer number of toll roads and pay-to-cross bridges. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e more inconvenient than costly,鈥� he said.

Gayle used his van in Mammoth Lakes in winter, and he didn鈥檛 have heat. Driving around to heat up his vehicle ended up being a more significant expense than he expected.

How Does Vanlife Compare to the General Cost of Living in the U.S.?

To get a better understanding of renting in major cities and outdoor destinations, I used , and I picked a few desirable places to stack up against the average cost of vanlife that I discerned from the folks I interviewed for this story. There’s one important caveat I need to note about Forbes’s calculator when it comes to the cost of rent: the calculator uses the median of rent across all rental sizes, which means that it鈥檚 hard to say what square footage you鈥檒l get for your buck using the calculator. I鈥檇 like to believe that any apartment is going to have more livable square footage than a van, but at one point my now-husband and I inhabited a 400-square-foot studio apartment in Los Angeles, California, so I don鈥檛 think I can comfortably make that claim.

Without further preamble, here are a few relevant rental scenarios:

Asheville, North Carolina: $1,554 median monthly rent

Denver, Colorado: $1,899 median monthly rent

Morgantown, West Virgina: $995 median monthly rent

Portland, Maine: $2,582 median monthly rent

St. George, Utah: $1,627 median monthly rent

The Forbes calculator summarizes other relevant cost of living expenses in the pages it creates for individual cities, but it was difficult to discern overall cost with a single number using its capabilities.

That said, it鈥檚 almost definitely cheaper to live in a van if you鈥檙e conscientious about the additional lifestyle costs you鈥檒l need to consider. How will you eat? Kitchen or dining out? Where will you shower? What鈥檚 the plan for accessing water? Is your van paid off, or will you have a monthly payment? How much of a build-out do you really need?

Answer these questions, and you could be on your way. After all, as Dean told me, in a van, 鈥測ou have the added benefit of waking up in a different location every day, and having coffee in the morning overlooking some truly great landscapes. In fact, when I wake up in the morning and drive away from some location, it feels like I got away with something!鈥�

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Apr猫s is a well-beloved activity of the ski community, but what happens when the traditional after-slope hours spread to social media? Well, a lot of people hitting the slopes, some who aren鈥檛 even skiing.

Resorts are being converted to day clubs and fans are doing anything to get there, including hiking through a snowstorm. Earlier this month, a winter storm in , Colorado, created standstill traffic preventing cars from accessing the show, however, it didn鈥檛 stop the party goers who walked over six miles to make it to the set. It wasn鈥檛 just the foot traffic that was affected: a normal two-hour drive to the mountain took six that evening.

 

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颁补濒颈蹿辞谤苍颈补鈥檚 has gained traction over social media for their weekly apr猫s where Los Angeles DJs often perform. Now influencers and music lovers alike are making the trek just to catch a show and not even hit the slopes. Skiers and snowboarders reported waiting in line for over two hours to get to the apr猫s party when last year there were no lines at all. This massive line is an effect of scanning IDs to enter the event space, ensuring they aren鈥檛 serving minors. These seasoned skiers joked about watching the view from the top level because they couldn鈥檛 deal with the new crowd.

shoutout our rooftop friends

This past weekend, one of the most popular DJs, John Summit, held multiple shows in , California, for his 鈥淓xperts Only鈥� festival. Included: a stage that was placed against a double black diamond hugged with moguls, an advanced request for skiers that led to comical TikToks but serious concerns for ski patrol.

experts only baby 1000% worth it

Sometimes these musical acts will set out a surprise set, unknowingly to other guests at the resort, creating unprecedented crowds for the other skiers.

literally a man of the ppl鈥� im obsessed with him. THE HAT AND C1G I CANT

There is no doubt that apr猫s is a key component of skiing culture, but with the influx of music events, will the resorts be able to keep up? We鈥檒l check in next season but until then, stay safe on the slopes and at the apr猫s.

there鈥檚 behind the booth & then there鈥檚 on top of the booth @john summit @Max Styler

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Social media is filled with people promising that returning to an earlier state of human existence will have physical and mental benefits. Whether it鈥檚 eating raw organ meat, getting into sourdough starter, or moving like primates, you don鈥檛 have to scroll around much to see what I鈥檓 talking about. Some of these influencers have been publicly discredited; while others have started movements and begun lucrative businesses on the social media brands they鈥檝e built. Obviously, there鈥檚 no one-size-fits-all profile that could ever capture the diversity of these individual people, but I did wonder what talking to one of them might be like.

So I talked to a primal movement influencer, 35-year-old Victor Manuel Fleites Escobar, the 鈥楾arzan鈥� behind the million-follower Instagram account. If you鈥檝e seen any of Escobar鈥檚 videos, you might assume our conversation focused primarily on the ins and outs of tree climbing or the subtleties of primate locomotion. After all, individual videos on his account showing Fleites Escobar climbing trees and running on all fours have hundreds of thousands of views. One post, for example, promises his ability to teach gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon skills鈥攁ll of which have three levels鈥攆or interested participants. shows Fleites Escobar using his big and second toes to grip a rope as he propels himself forcefully upward with the caption 鈥淵es it hurts , but it can also take more than half of your body weight while going up .鈥�

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It鈥檚 no secret that Fleites Escobar appears to be in incredible physical shape (watch any of the aforementioned Instagram reels if you don鈥檛 believe me), but his movement and physical fitness seem to spring from a desire to live in a more a more intuitive, embodied way鈥攐ne that addresses how his body is feeling鈥攖han they do from a specific desire to see fitness gains.

Fleites Escobar joined our conversation virtually from a sunny Barcelona apartment. We ranged across topics鈥攆rom the philosophy behind Tarzan movement to his own daily habits, and I was struck by our repeated return to the themes of observation, openness, and play, which are at the core of the animal philosophy he鈥檚 been developing.

Do you want to live鈥攁nd look鈥攍ike Tarzan?

Well, according to Fleites Escobar, that鈥檚 a journey that begins within.

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An Interview with the Creator of the Tarzan Movement

OUTSIDE: How did this journey start for you? What brought you to primal movement?
FLEITES ESCOBAR: Earlier you mentioned that you feel like we are bringing people outside鈥� As a matter of fact, I’m doing the opposite. I’m trying to bring people inside where there’s a whole universe. For me, the fundamentals start with your own understanding with your own body. How do I deal with thing? How do I feel with myself? [When I asked myself those questions], I was able to validate the things that open my heart, the things that felt more natural to my animal background. That was my journey into the trees, into silence, into doing nothing.

Are there specific part of modern life that made you want to turn inward? Or is it just the general contradictions, stresses, and artifices that we all face everyday?
It’s not just modern life. You can trace 鈥榤odern life鈥� back a long way because even agriculture was modern for people at a different time. So I trace modernity all the way back to where humans moved away from having natural demands put on them by the environment. Animals have natural demands in their day to day that shape their lifestyles and keep their bodies in shape. It鈥檚 like kids.

How so? Your website mentions the value of play a lot. Is that where being kid-like comes in?
I feel like for many kids they are just constantly learning. In the park, if you allow them to run free, they take their shoes off, then they run and find some friend, and eventually they play with whatever they have. They have trees, they go up in the tree. They have balls, they play with balls. It doesn’t matter. What is constant is the way they are learning. The learning process there is not targeting a certain goal.

OK, so being present, open, and playful are as important as looking inward. How do you recommend a person cultivates this practice amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life?
I don’t think you can grab so much. You鈥檙e going to grab the perfume of the flower. You鈥檙e going to see it closely. You’re going to remember this smell, and it’s going to have an impact of your life. But it鈥檚 not going to be enough because we have to go to the root of the tree, the root of the problem. People should begin by looking beyond the physical aspect of this primal movement practice by being courageous enough to observe every single day, to recognize the things that they don’t really resonate with inside themselves, and take action. They need to ask themselves: what are these things that are fundamentally important for me because they keep the balance of the animal and the human together?

Introspect, observe, play, I鈥檓 getting it. What does a typical day look like for you?
I don鈥檛 think there is a routine. I wake up with some coffee. I like to read. I go for a walk to the beach. And then I do some work. I see my friend who manages the social media. We talk a little bit about work. Then we go for breakfast. Then at some point lunch, and then we go to do something outside like going to the park and hanging around with people or going to the forest and spending a few hours climbing trees. I can also go many days without doing any climbing and just feel like being quiet. When I feel inspired, when I feel motivated, I go out and I do things.

I have the feeling like I live for the day more than for the week or the year. But there are certain things that really take more than just following the flow, and I do take care of them. You have to pay your bills.

Is there anything else you鈥檇 want readers to know?
Fear is something that limits most humans. I feel we are all exist in houses. The perception of the human with fear is that the ceiling doesn’t move. That鈥檚 all. So they move around in the house horizontally all the time. Once in a while, when you have the courage to check the ceiling and observe it, it actually moves and you discover another floor.

I鈥檓 not going to lie. I went into my conversation with Fleites Escobar somewhat cynical. As a student of history, I know that our species tends to be drawn to ways of being that seem or feel more natural or simple just because they鈥檙e something from the past. I鈥檓 skeptical of ideas that fall prey to the naturalistic fallacy, which is the idea that just because something occurs in nature, that means it鈥檚 better or right.

Even though I carried my skepticism with me as I chatted with Fleites Escobar, I had a recurrent thought as he walked me through his way of being: naturalistic fallacy or not, this person is taking the time to scrutinize their interiority and the way they interface with the world, and they鈥檙e not afraid to be outside-the-box in their approach to feeling good and helping others do the same. I like the idea that openness, play, and directly addressing fear can help us unlimit our potentials. I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檒l be scaling any trees soon, but I can certainly question the things I鈥檓 holding onto that aren鈥檛 serving me and try to experience more daily joy.

The post The Founder of the Viral Tarzan Movement Instagram Account Wants You to Embrace Play appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On Sunday February 9, 2025 the Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. Travis Kelce will be there. Taylor Swift will no doubt be cheering him on. Kendrick Lamar is slated to perform the halftime show. There鈥檚 a lot to look forward to.

Here at 国产吃瓜黑料, we are still thinking about an infographic published by the in the fall of 2024, which charts, of all things, the sheer volume of Uncrustables being consumed by the NFL. Yes, that鈥檚 right, if you haven鈥檛 heard, professional football players eat an ungodly amount of the pre-packaged, crust-cut-off, frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sold by Smuckers and available in virtually every grocery store. According to the Athletic, NFL teams are tucking into somewhere upwards of 80,000 Uncrustables a year. And that鈥檚 just among the teams that chose to respond to their inquiry.

For their part, Smuckers has made the most of players鈥� love of their iconic sammie, with teams like the Ravens and players like the Kelce brothers.

Now, I don鈥檛 claim to be a nutritionist, but I do devote quite a bit of rent-free space in my brain鈥攁nd quite a bit of my time鈥攖o reading about and researching the latest science on diet and nutrition. And I try to reasonably modify my own and my family鈥檚 diet in response to evidence-based things that I learn.

Alcohol is connected to higher risks of at least seven types of cancer,? Alrighty, Aperol Spritzes only on special occasions moving forward. ? Never going to buy a can without BPA-free on the label! And on down the line to microplastics in kitchenware. You get the gist.

So I think what surprises me most about Uncrustables as professional athlete fuel is my perception that they fall into that most contemporary of negative food categories: ultraprocessed. Although the research on the effects of ultraprocessed foods is still emerging, early , among other potential downstream health considerations. So I guess I would assume they are, broadly put, something to be avoided, especially in the context of peak athletic performance.

But let鈥檚 challenge my assumptions, starting with my broad brush view of ultraprocessing. As a recent article published on our sister site , 鈥淪ports nutrition鈥� requires ultraprocessing in order 鈥渢o create fast-digesting carbohydrates in the form of gels, chews, and beverages to keep your muscles adequately fueled.鈥� The ultraprocessed factor of certain specially manufactured foodstuffs, argues听Triathlete, ensures their capacity to meet nutritional needs in a unique way for endurance athletes. Again, as a total non-nutritionist, that feels like a fair point in their favor.

Peanut Butter and Jellies Are Pretty Amazing Workout Calories

And we do know that PB&Js are a great workout option.

国产吃瓜黑料 writer Michael Easter put it simply in a 2018 story he wrote on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as the unassuming鈥攂ut ultimate鈥攁dventure fuel: 鈥�A basic PB&J鈥攕liced white bread, Jif, and grape jelly鈥攃ontains 350 calories and 16, 45, and 11 grams of fat, carbs, and protein, respectively. That鈥檚 roughly equivalent to a Peanut Butter ProBar鈥攁 favorite among endurance athletes鈥攚ith its 380 calories, 20 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbohydrates, and 11 grams of protein.鈥� And, according to his estimates, they 鈥淸clock] in at roughly 25 cents each.鈥�

Kelly Jones, a registered dietitian, certified specialist in sports dietetics, and owner of and told me that if she were my nutritionist, she鈥檇 recommend making my own PB&J or peanut butter banana sandwich 鈥渙ut of whole grain bread and having half or a full one depending on the timing before activity鈥� to net out greater nutrient density.

Uncrustables aren鈥檛 that far off a typical homemade PB&J in their caloric content, coming in at around 210 calories with 28 grams of carbs, 6 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat, and 8 to 10 grams of added sugar. On Amazon, , which makes the cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.75 per sandwich. And there鈥檚 definitely something to be said for the convenience of an Uncrustable when it comes to the per-unit price breakdown.

So I guess my first assumption鈥攖hat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches aren鈥檛 the best thing to eat when working out鈥攊s pretty far off the mark. That said, making one at home is definitely a better bang for your buck and probably has denser nutritional value.

But who wants to make 80,000 homemade PB&Js in a year?

What Do Nutritionists Say About Uncrustables?

To get more perspective鈥攁nd to test more of my assumptions鈥擨 reached out to , a nutritionist and certified personal trainer based in Denver, Colorado. Carmichael runs her own nutrition and fitness company, Team Humble Yourself, where the mission is to educate and empower women to take responsibility for their habits within nutrition and fitness.

Carmichael gave me some really helpful food for thought. She said she likes 鈥渢o think of nutrition as paralleling finance. Like a budget, you can spend your money on whatever you want, but long term, all the short-term gratification spending (like consistently eating a highly processed diet) will not lead you to an early retirement or a life full of financial freedom because of small choices that were made daily.鈥�

As such, an Uncrustable here or there is totally fine, but 鈥渨hole foods are elite,鈥� as she said. 鈥淚t takes less energy to digest ultraprocessed foods. It takes more energy (calories) to digest and process whole foods, so relying on more of a processed item for recovery isn鈥檛 something that should be habitual.鈥�

Jones added another layer of complexity to my thinking about ultraprocessed foods as a part of athletic training and recovery. She noted that 鈥渞ath