By Rachel Puryear
If you believe what most advertisements tend to depict, you might think that only people who look a certain way - including being relatively thin, or white, or affluent, or whatever - enjoy exploring the outdoors. However, in real life, it's just not true.
People of all sizes and colors and walks of life enjoy the outdoors - including fat people. Though perception of outdoor lovers lacks diversity, that doesn't mean many more people than we think don't love the outdoors.
However, some people of a certain size might feel self-conscious in the outdoors, because of a bias that it's for thinner people. Furthermore, a lack of outdoor clothing and other gear in their sizes has often made it more difficult.
That's why spreading the word about plus-sized sports clothes and gear, creating communities, and refusing to accept that bias are all essential for people of all sizes to enjoy the outdoors just as much as anyone else:
Man standing proudly on mountain.
Gear That Fits:
Outdoor gear - clothing, equipment, and so forth - hasn't always come in a wide enough range of sizes to fit larger people. That reality has sometimes made it more difficult for people of size to fully engage in outdoor activities to the same extent that others do.
However, with the rise of online shopping - and the opportunities it can bring for specialty stores, the number of retailers serving a size-diverse clientele is growing. Fat people no longer have to settle for a limited selection of unattractive clothes and gear that doesn't fully meet their needs and desires.
For instance; online stores like Cootry on Amazon (for women/women-presenting) offer a great selection of plus-size wear including for sports, and online stores like the Real Essentials store on Amazon (for men/men-presenting) offer an awesome selection of big and tall wear, also including sportswear.
Finding Community:
You're not alone out there in terms of being a person of size who loves the outdoors. Thankfully, there are communities forming around exploring the outdoors as a person of size (and others who have also felt or been excluded from such).
One growing group is Fat Girls Hiking, a group whose title is pretty self-describing, and with chapters all over the USA. This group values accommodating people with a wide range of physical capabilities, and inclusiveness generally.
If you're a big guy who loves hiking, or don't identify as female, check out this blog about hiking as a big guy.
If you don't know of a community that's a good fit for you, but want to see one, why not start one? Sites like Meetup make it easier to start all kinds of new local groups. Successful local groups can then grow, and form new chapters across wider geographical areas.
You Belong, Too
There's no actual rule limiting access to the outdoors to people of any particular size, or officially excluding anyone from such. Nonetheless, many people of size feel unwelcome in the outdoors, as though others don't feel that they belong.
Just remember that you belong in the outdoors as much as anyone else, and no one has any right to make you feel unwelcome or unsafe there. Knowing this won't fix every barrier or make everything suddenly easy, but it's an important start.
Love this blog, and want to help support it? Please check out the following products. We are Amazon affiliates, and earn a commission when you purchase through these links - this helps support the blog, so we thank you!
- Visiting some snowy, icy places this season? Winter wonderlands are beautiful, but do require some extra planning to visit. Check out this windshield cover to keep your windows free of frost and ice, as well as warmer inside while parking - they have RV sized covers, too! If you're driving on icy roads, you will need tire chains to drive more safely - here's a set of universal adjustable tire chains that can fit large vehicle tires.
Woman and dog looking out van door, at beautiful snowy forest.
Thank you, dear readers, for reading, following, and sharing. Here's to fat people enjoying the outdoors.
Check out my other blog, too - World Class Hugs, at https://worldclasshugs.com. It's about celebrating empathic and HSS/HSP people, balanced versus toxic relationships, loving spirituality and spiritualism without religious dogma, and visiting gorgeous natural places.
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