Now that we’re no longer full-time RVing, we don’t spend near as much time in nature as we used to and let me tell you, I’m feeling it. There’s something healing about waking up in a National Park surrounded by trees and fresh air.

Even on the days I didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors and instead locked myself away in the RV to get some work done, I was still surrounded by nature. I could poke my head out the door with my morning coffee in hand and soak it all up, even if for a few seconds. Or I could glance out my window and see deer grazing nearby or hear the elk calls while in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was absolutely magical.

While I know that the season of life we’re in now is exactly where we’re supposed to be, I do miss the ‘being one with nature’ aspect that our new found apartment life doesn’t offer so easily. I have to make more of an effort to get out and explore, something I haven’t been very good at since settling down a few months ago.

Needless to say, I’ve had the outdoors, specifically, some of my favorite outdoor quotes racing through my mind as I remind myself how much I need to make surrounding myself with nature a priority. So, since I’ve had these quotes on my mind, I thought it would be fun to see what some of my fellow travel bloggers’ favorite outdoor quotes are.

I’m happy to say, thanks to them, I now have some new favorites. And not just outdoor quotes, but travel quotes as well. (There’s even a little Harry Potter gem in here that reminds one traveler it’s all about our choices.) I hope you enjoy reading through these as much as I did.

17 of the Best Outdoor Quotes to Share with Your Nature Loving Friends

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

I have been travelling solo for many years but my first solo trip to Australia, in 2004 on a gap year, was a game-changer. I was catapulted from a 9-5 manager life to a life-changing experience. Backpacking around Australia alone, exploring places, meeting locals, making new friends in an entirely new dimension.

Being on the road, in a non-conventional environment, sparked my imagination, my focus and my mind to a world of possibilities. So I genuinely believe that when you feel stuck, the best way to move forward is to travel alone, or change the place. 🙂

Contributed by: Michela from Rocky Travel

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

The one and only quote that means a lot to me personally is “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions“, by Oliver Wendell Holmes. It makes me think of the Philippines, the place that opened my world back up.

I first arrived in the Philippines (Boracay Island to be more exact) in 2011, and grown to love the place over the years. I love how it’s a vibrant place with a very positive and fun loving vibe, and of course the beaches are amazing too. I really needed this back then, as my personality had become pretty reserved from negative experiences in the past. This was THE reminder that it IS worth throwing yourself out there for me.

As a result of all this, I’ve been staying in the region, and I created the travel guide websites Boracay Compass and Journey Compass to help other make the most out of their travels too, born from my initial travel experience in Boracay.

Contributed by: Paul from BoracayCompass

“Only when the last tree has been cut down, only after the last fish been caught, only after the last river has been poisoned. Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”
― Cree Indian Prophecy

This incredible quote makes me think of the world’s oceans and their current condition. Consumerism and mass production have contributed to so much destruction on our planet and I find it really sad to think about how things have turned out and what impact this is having on us and will have on future generations.

On the flip side it makes me think of how the simple things in life are the best. A walk in the forest among the trees or a swim in a beautiful stream or river. If people could go back to realising how beautiful life can be in its simplest form our quality of life – as well as travel – could be greatly increased. I am hopeful for the future.

Contributed by: Ann from Eco Conscious Traveller – Check out her post on the Best Eco Resorts in Thailand

“The Earth has music for those who listen.” – George Santayana

I like this quote because it relates to music, what is something I love. It combines harmony and beauty.

 Contributed by: Leo from Safari Nomad – Check out his post on Travel quotes for couples

“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen

We love this quote because it perfectly describes our family. A few years back, you could say we had the beginnings of a family “making it”. Well paid jobs, a nice house and we enjoyed an exotic holiday here and there. But beneath the shiny exterior of the “good life,” we were actually quite unhappy. We were working crazy hours to have a bigger house than we needed full of more stuff we rarely used. We had limited quality time for each other and time for ourselves, and our own wellbeing was non-existent.

After our son was born, we realised how desperately something needed to change. We were living the beginnings of the “good life” but surely there was more to living than this? That’s when we decided to re-evaluate our life and family set up. With the help of minimalism, we redefined our priorities in order to have more adventure, freedom, and happiness. We downsized and relocated to the coast where we have the beach and the forest on our doorstep. We live simply to enable us to share more of life together and travel the world more freely. From the place we’re at now – I’d say just living is definitely not enough.

Contributed by: Kylie from Our World of Adventure

“We are by nature observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“There are no tourists on the Camino, just pilgrims who haven’t found their way yet.” – Chico

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir

My favorite quote about nature is  “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul” by John Muir. I love the quote because it perfectly sums up how I feel about hiking in nature. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed, taking a hike in the forest always seems to help me find the answers that I need. It reminds me of hiking the Inca Trail in Peru. After spending four days hiking in nature, I felt a much stronger connection to my soul.

Contributed by: Lora from Explore with Lora

 “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey

This quote continues on to say “May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets’ towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs 
upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you — beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.” 

I first read Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire in college, and his haunting words about our connection to the natural world around us always stuck with me. I didn’t understand why I should want my trails to be “crooked, winding, lonesome, [and] dangerous” until I took my first solo backpacking trip into the Olympic Mountains in Washington.

Hiking up to Marmot Pass and the Upper Big Quilcene, I felt free, alive, unstoppable… and largely uncertain. The day was sunny and warm, the smell of roasted pine wood emanating from the forests. Sounds of marmots carried across the valley and bees flitted from one blooming wildflower to the next. I was startled back to reality when a mountain lion, awoken by my footsteps, high-tailed it into the hills.

I kept a wary eye after that encounter, but nothing could hold back the enchantment and wonderment of the wash of pinks and oranges over the Olympic Range as the sun set. I felt like I melded right into the mountains with the stunning nature around me. This foray into the wild only solidified my love for trekking, and I continue to again seek out that feeling about which Abbey wrote.

Contributed by: Christa Rolls from Expedition Wildlife

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.”- Wallace Stegner

I often yearn to explore outside my homeland of the United States, not only to experience foreign and faraway lands, but also to get away from the polarizing political noise that can accompany being an American citizen.

Recently, I’ve come to realize and appreciate the vastness and diversity of this country, all of which is encompassed by the U.S. National Park System. From the glowing lava fields of Volcanoes National Park to the alligator-infested swamps of the Everglades, I could spend a lifetime exploring the sixty dedicated national parks in this country and find something new and uniquely beautiful every single day.

And no matter the climate of American society, these parks are beloved by the vast majority of our citizenry, cherished and protected as the treasures they are. Recently, as I watched the sun rise over the breathtaking Grand Canyon, I realized you don’t have to be halfway around the world to get away from political discourse. The escape is right in our own backyards in the National Park System, a reminder of never-ending possibilities and the sheer beauty that can be accomplished when we all work together.

Contributed by: Jessica from Uprooted Traveler

“It is our choices that show us who we truly are, more than our abilities.” – Dumbledore

At a particularly emotional moment for Harry Potter, headmaster Dumbledore delivers this gem of a line. It is such a powerful line that you have to sit back and think about its full import. And this is the quote that always comes to mind when I’m sitting in a plane about to take off to a new destination.

Our decision to choose where to go, how we interact with the locals, where we spend our tourist dollars and what impact we leave behind as travelers all boil down to this profound quote. Imagine if we are able to spend lavishly and go to only the top destinations but instead, we choose to go back to nature and embrace slow travel instead. So many problems with over-tourism would be over in a flash.

Remember always, you might be able to do whatever you wish but you live with the consequences of what you choose. So choose wisely.

Contributed by: Priyanko Sarkar from Constant Traveller

“Only those who do not climb mountains ask why people climb them. For those who climb, the answer is both obvious and impossible to explain. The everyday concerns of livelihood, of social standing, overdue bills, and futureless romance all fall away before the vast and overwhelming absolute of the mountain. ” Paul Watkins

As a city dweller, I used to constantly fall into deep psychoanalysis to ensure I had everything perfectly aligned – everything had to be far from practical, but near perfection and provide the utmost comfort. By the time I started trekking in the Himalayas in Nepal and India, and reached the foot of the majestic mountain range, all that didn’t matter anymore.

I realised the simplicity of life and how so much of what we think of vs. what we need in life is vanished and often fallen way under the vast and overwhelming shadow of the mountains. Watkin’s quote is a reminder of celebrating the little things and to not sweat the small stuff, as long as you stay true to yourself, seek simplicity, banish consumerism, and best of all do not conform to societal expectations.

Contributed by: Pashmina from The Gone Goat

“To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown.” – Freya Stark

This quote encompasses how I love to explore nature and how I feel about travel in general. Although I can and do plan trips in advance, my most memorable experiences are found in those unplanned segments.

Arriving in Huskisson, a tiny place three hours south of Sydney Australia was one of those times. I had been there briefly more than 30 years previously but as I turned off the highway toward the coast, my senses were tingling.

It was like arriving for the very first time.

Huskisson sits on the blindingly white sand beaches of Jervis Bay where bottle- nose dolphins and migratory whales play in crystal clear waters. One of the bay’s beaches – Hyams Beach – is supposedly the whitest in the world.

It was always a surprise to wander down a bushland track and suddenly pop out on to rocks with a staggering view across the bay, or to a lonely beach with a vast blue backdrop and Point Perpendicular Lighthouse across the bay.

I drove to that far flung lighthouse and explored it’s sheer cliffs and frighteningly deep drop offs. As I took in the stark contrasts of white washed lighthouse, sparse Australian bushland and a heartbreakingly blue ocean, I thought to myself “Freya would approve”. 

Julie Bonner

Julie specializes in helping you whip up delicious meals in your tiny RV kitchen, as well as RV organization tips and helping fellow RVers make their RV feel like home. Her favorite RVing spot is in Banff National Park in Canada where yes, the water really is that blue and the people really are that nice.