Nature and Recreation in a Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Outdoor Recreation

Abstract

Community lockdowns to hinder the spread of SARS-CoV-2 significantly altered the daily lives of people around the globe. Shifting from commuting to work to a work-from-home lifestyle compressed daily life into single spaces, such as bedrooms, home offices, and living rooms. The purpose of this study is to understand how COVID-19 lockdown catalyzed reconfiguration of leisure time, specifically outdoor recreation usage and connection to nature. This research conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with four outdoor recreationists to develop an understanding of changes in outdoor recreation participation using Grounded Theory. Results suggest that individuals experienced a collapsing of their once separated lives into a life that lacked distinctive separate of work and leisure time. This collapsing was catalyzed by their perceptions of COVID-19 and the impact of safety precautions in response to the pandemic. Despite a shift in their separated lives, participants used multiple techniques to adapt to this change, including purposeful recreation, recreation justification, finding nature close to home, and alternative recreation.