[Image: FRAHM Jacket Made From Ventile]

Cooler crisp days and clear afternoon skies make autumn the perfect season for hiking. We caught up with Nick, founder of our partner Frahm jacket, who supply expertly crafted, technical jackets that promote longevity, to get his thoughts on why you should take up hiking this season.

Experience New Places

Getting out there and moving around in new environments is good for the soul. Walking on trails or off the beaten track allows you to experience places for the first time and adds to a sense of adventure. Make a day of it, pack a picnic, and give yourself a day-cation. Plan and create a route, or don’t. Do what works for you.

A Form of Gentle Exercise

Hiking offers a form of low-impact exercise that can be adapted depending on your level of fitness. Add in steeper terrain for a more challenging route or plan for smoother ground for something more casual. What’s more, gentle exercise offers a great sense of achievement with no specialist equipment or expensive gym membership required.

Mental Wellbeing

Research has proven that spending time in nature helps to improve mental well-being and promotes a positive mindset. Focusing on arriving at a specific destination while taking in the natural surroundings both contribute to quieting the mind. Opting for a more challenging route? The focus needed for more adventurous terrain helps to alleviate some of the internal chatter. Frahm also supports CALM, a leading suicide prevention charity to help raise awareness and help more people reach out and talk when they're struggling, and so this is a cause close to the brand.

Build a Community and Connections

Some suggest that hiking can be dated back to the Stone Age when trekking was necessary for hunting and surviving. Now, many take up the activity as a hobby with walking groups up and down the country. There are blogs, books, magazines and apps all dedicated to hiking and with such an array of information on offer, it is easy to join a group and get started.

Hiking Can Help Sleep

Combining physical exercise with mental stimulation helps support the natural circadian rhythm, the natural process that regulates the sleep cycle, researchers suggest. Taking steps to work with your cycle, such as hiking and gentle exercise, is thought to help sleep in the evening allowing you to wake up more refreshed and ready to take on the day.

Spurs Creativity

As hiking allows time away from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life, some find that creative ideas have space to flow when on a hike. Couple this with the beauty and inspiration of the natural surrounding and this can create the perfect conditions for coming up with the next big idea, or just taking the time to view things with a fresh perspective.

Disconnect

Helpfully, some of the more remote hikes have the added bonus of less than reliable wifi, offering an enforced break from technology. The constant chime of messages, the enticing scroll of social media or the threat of an incoming work email all vying for attention is conducive to a relaxing hike, so take the opportunity to switch off. That said, remember to take a paper map as back up or follow a sign-posted route to ensure you do not get lost.

To find out more about hiking, head over to the Rambles official page.