I worked for an outdoor equipment store: It killed my time outside

Have you thought about your golden years? What will you look back on? What will you have done with your time? How much outdoor time are you willing to give up in the name of work?

The Job

When I got an email saying I was being offered a job at one of my favorite outdoor equipment stores, I immediately had visions of new tents and hiking boots sparking through my brain.

I couldn’t wait to get out there and start helping people learn about R-value, equipment care, and picking out items that I myself had put to the test.

Sharing knowledge about hiking and camping is something I love (otherwise seriously, what’s the point of this blog?!)

Unfortunately, I was seeing things through rose-coloured glasses.

Taking this job killed my outdoor adventures.

For a bit of context, I’ll disclose first that I worked this job casually. I work another job during the week that pays more, and I had to prioritize those shifts. With the limited availability, I could only work 1 day per week, with the occasional weekday thrown in depending on my other job’s schedule. So 99% of my shifts were on Sunday.

I'll also say that the people I worked with were good and there wasn’t anything really wrong with the company.

In fact, there were quite a few perks that made the experience fun and interesting initially. Seeing new equipment from the biggest outdoor brands is always exciting, but as staff, we would get the first look at things like new sleeping pads, tents, cooking gear, etc.

Even better, a lot of this equipment would come with a product knowledge session.

A product knowledge (PK) session might sound a bit dry, but if you love all the technical aspects of gear and understanding every little hidden feature, then these sessions were like Christmas morning.

Having the knowledge that Rab’s hydrophobic down sleeping bags can be floated on water and come out still mostly dry… That's pretty dang cool (And yes, I want to put that claim to the test myself).

Likewise, if you saw equipment that you really, uh, needed (wanted), then the store discount was a nice perk to have as well, and you could always count on your coworkers to enable you. We were all enthusiasts!

Photo credit: Kalen Emsley on Unsplash

Whether co-workers or customers, like-minded people in the store was always great. I had many people share photos and stories of their trips with me, as well as their aspirations. As my general readership knows, I’m always keen to help out beginners. I had heaps of opportunities to help out newbie hikers, and I even taught news things to seasoned ones as well.

There was a young couple that I gently educated about bear spray, and why their decision to head into the backcountry without any was a risky idea.

I showed a well-seasoned backpacker about my favorite blister prevention product (Blist-Wool!) and was pleased when he came back and told me it was his new favorite product as well!

(I've provided a link to where you can buy Blist-Wool because I love it, but I'm unaffiliated.)

It wasn’t all bad.

But these were the best parts of the job, and these lovely perks began to become overshadowed…

Photo credit: Ales Krivec on Unsplash

Outdoor Retail

The fact is that this job was still in the world of retail.

Sales matter.

Your performance gets tracked. If you’re a natural salesperson, it’s not so bad. But in my own experience, I started to feel like my integrity was suffering. It felt like I was transforming from a genuine sharer of knowledge into a person who was just pushing for sales.

I get that the job included selling, but it began to feel like the biggest part of the job and I didn’t want that.

The good parts of the job also felt few and far between.

Even though I usually only worked one day on the weekend, it seemed to be the slowest day. That meant doing typical “stay busy” retail chores: stocking, cleaning, organizing and straightening product on shelves and racks.

If you’ve worked retail, you know that these tasks can be so mind-numbing that it’s almost impossible to stay awake after a couple hours.

I'd look out the windows on sunny days and dream of mountain views and forested trails...

Those still weren’t the worst things.

The biggest thing was that the one weekend day spent walking laps in the store meant compromising a lot of my outdoor adventure time...

My main job runs Monday through Friday, and since I’ve gone back to school, my weekday time is at a serious premium—Classes during the day, work in the evenings.

Saturdays were my only free day during the week for a long time. If I was lucky and had most of my homework and house chores finished, I could get out for some outdoor time.

Work Work Work

I felt... Numb...

All I wanted was the time to do what I loved.

When summer hit after my 1^st year in school, I thought I could regain some of that time by requesting to work during a weekday as my one shift per week.

No go.

Store policy stated everyone was required, at minimum, to either work a weekday and be available to work a weekend day at the manager’s discretion… or you just worked a weekend day.

This was to ensure that no one person always had full weekends off. To make it fair.

I understand the reasoning behind this policy. I’ll let you decide if you agree with it or not. I agreed to the policy, but I pushed for the weekend shift to not be my main shift. Still…

Week after week began to feel like a glitching song lyric. Repeating annoyingly over and over.

I’m sorry Michelle, I can’t hike Sunday because I have to work.

I’m really sorry mom; I won’t make your birthday dinner because they scheduled me for that day after all.

Sorry bro, I’ll be late for my nephew’s first birthday. Work.

Sorry, work. Sorry, work.

Work.

Work.

Work.

My Outdoor Creed

I thought I’d miss the talks with customers. I thought I’d miss the product knowledge. I thought I’d miss... some of it.

But I missed the outdoors more.

It feels like I’ve taken my pack off after a hard, 20 km hike. I always revel in the feeling of freedom and lightness of my shoulders, my feet, and my mind. I did the same after I left that position.

My case was a little bit unique. I was working two jobs while also taking full time classes. Free time was not something I had a lot of, and that one weekend shift that I rarely got a break from was the tipping point.

As I reflect, though, I am reminded of something extremely important. A creed I began to live by when I started hiking and getting into the outdoor world.

Live your life as much as you can, so you don’t look back and regret that you didn’t use your time.

We are taught to work hard. Put in the effort. Stick to the grind. Yes. Work hard.

But don’t forget.

You are not on this Earth to work your life away. Go climb mountains. Dip your toe in the sea. Stay up all night to watch the sunrise.

Live now, so you can look back later without regrets.