A few months ago, Scott and I launched Happier Place. It’s been keeping me so busy I haven’t gotten around to writing about the whole endeavor here on the blog. That’s changing right now!
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| Happier Place says: Take a break. Go outside. Have fun. |
What is Happier Place?
The outdoor leisure brand Happier Place inspires people to get happier by having more fun outside.
Happier Place offers articles, photos and videos featuring outdoor and get-happier tips, inspiring people interviews, destination profiles, picnic and drink recipes, in addition to a few products – all to encourage people to go outside more often, enjoy nature responsibly, have fun, feel connected and create lasting memories.
We have a pretty simple core formula to get happier: Take a break. Go outside. Have fun.
Doing that allows you a respite from your responsibilities, worries, doomsday news-reporting and makes you feel more connected to the beautiful things in life. You’ll feel re-energized and happier, which will also make the people around you happier… And if we’re all a little bit happier, the world becomes a happier place for everyone!
The majority of Happier Place products and tips aim to make your Happy Place better. For something to be “happier-approved” it should be practical, simple, and make activities better or be itself a little bit better than average. It either improves your outdoor experience directly – or it makes it easier to get out into nature more often.
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Where is Happier Place?
You can find Happier Place articles, videos, photos and products on these platforms:
Happier.Place – Facebook – Google+ – Instagram – Twitter – Pinterest – YouTube
We highly recommend you sign up for our newsletter so you can get all our articles, tips, entertainment, coupons and exclusive insider info directly into your inbox. If you sign up here NOW, you also get 15% off your entire next purchase!
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| Happier Place celebrates nature and “having a good time” outdoors. |
Why launch Happier Place?
Quite a few things came together that eventually evolved into launching Happier Place. Since this is probably the only place where I can chatter on endlessly about all the reasons and what we hope it will achieve, this is going to get long… So if it’s too much to read for you, just skip to the next section.
1. The continuing news about terrorist attacks, wars, and random acts of violence in the last few years have made me want to do something proactive against the sadness, frustration, fear, anger and intolerance in the world. I believe that if people were only happier, they would have less of the negative feelings and triggers – and they might also be kinder to one another. We both have the desire to make a positive difference in the world – you know, make the world a happier place.
2. For seven years, I made the weekly 1-minute video series Moving Postcard (also known as In A Colorado Minute, In A Berlin Minute, etc.). These videos mostly show locations, with music and without commentary – but also a few 1-minute interviews. Filming, editing and sharing these videos and related photos brought me a lot of joy. Viewers let me know that seeing my work made them happier by allowing them to travel to destinations out of their reach or inspiring them to go see something for themselves. It was time to bring that series to a close on the 7-year anniversary. I wanted to launch something somewhat similar that was more directly focused on making people happier by taking them somewhere beautiful and/or motivating them to go outside themselves.
3. After living in Brooklyn for 14 years and also partially in Berlin for the last 2 of those years, we suddenly found ourselves living in the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. We learned to embrace a different lifestyle and way to spend most of our free time. While we’ve always enjoyed outdoor fun (e.g., meeting friends for drinks in a city park or biking around town), living in Colorado made us realize how much happier we are when we spend more time in nature – connecting, appreciating and letting go of our worries for a little while.
4. We like to drink and eat and be merry. And we love to do all that in nature. Often this just means a purchased sandwich and a beer at our local park. But it could also be cocktails and homemade food with friends on an island we reached with our little boat. So we started accumulating recipes, tools and know-how for how to have more fun, faster and easier in the great outdoors. We realized we have some information to share to help others…
5. … we also realized there didn’t seem to be another company or website dedicated to casual outdoor leisure and “indulging in the good things in life… outdoors.” Yes, you can buy an insulated bottle over there, and you can see photos from a stunning national park there, and you can get excellent cocktail and salad recipes via those mailing lists… but where is the brand that offers all of that and more in one place…?
6. Trump was elected president, which shook us and our peers to the core. Like so many, we thought we needed to do something! We wanted to put our energy towards something positive and proactive (see point 1). We also thought people would need breaks from all the crazy that was about to come… and keeps on coming. (The day after the election we opened all our Happier Place social media accounts – even though we wouldn’t add any content for almost 10 months.)
7. Scott had taken a big step away from the creative work he used to do as a writer, graphic designer and video producer when he took a job as a general manager of a marijuana dispensary in Colorado. He was itching to get back to being creative.
8. Building and maintaining a website and social media channels
that provide content and motivate people to get happier by having more outdoor fun costs money, time, and energy. So we decided to offer
not just free content but also sell products that make having fun in nature better, easier and more stylish. Anything to get you outside and
happier.
There probably are still more reasons that came together for us to take the plunge and build, launch and grow Happier Place. But these are more than plenty for now, right?
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| Happier Place Inspiration Categories: Know-How, People, Places, Recipes and Workshop |
How will this make you happier?
I’m so glad you asked! As stated above, the main principle behind Happier Place is to encourage people to get happier by having more fun outdoors. So do it! Go outside and enjoy yourself and the nature around you. Maybe motivate someone else to come along…
Share photos (or other creations) from your outdoor experiences and tag them #HappierPlace. If you do this on Instagram, Twitter or Google+ we might share your creations in our Collections or feature them on our website – so your work can inspire people beyond your circle. Also you might even win one of our giveaway prizes!
We’re doing a big launch together with Google for the UN International Day of Happiness on March 20th. If you share something tagged #HappierPlace on Google+ by then, we might reshare your post and a ridiculous amount of people might see your work!
Read articles on the Happier Place website. Here are a few suggestions to start:
Know-How:
What’s so Great about Snowshoeing Anyway?
A Happier Year with a Fun-Was-Had Calendar (vs. a To-Do List)
Secret to Happiness: the Gratitude Moment
People:
Lisa Goldfarb (Fine Art Painter in Los Angeles, California)
Adam Groffman (Travel Writer in Berlin, Germany)
Places:
Four Parks In One: Canyonlands National Park (Utah)
Südgelände Nature Park, Berlin (Germany) + VIDEO
Recipes:
Our Favorite Picnic Food: The Happier Pasta Salad
Perfect in Fall and Winter: The Happier Holidays Cocktail
Workshop:
Ridiculously Versatile: The First Happier Bandana!
Finally Here: Happier Hats for Happier Heads
Giving Back to Nature – for a Happier Earth
And yes, of course, we’d love it if you purchased any of our Happier Place products… and we do believe our products will encourage you to get outside more often and make you happier and your Happy Place better.
Also please keep in mind that not only are you supporting the website and our outreach with every purchase, we also donate 5% of each sale to the Environmental Defense Fund. And if you’re in the continental US, shipping is free for orders of $50 or more.
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| Happier Place wants to help you make your Happy Place better. |