Pure Gold: 50 Hours in Nature

Just recently, we realised that we’d clocked up an incredible 50 interviews in our ‘ An hour in nature’ series: conversations with people we’ve encountered on our Koala Eco journey whom we believe genuinely live and breathe a nature-focused lifestyle. We talked to them because we believed in the potential of their practices and experiences to inspire the rest of us to live our lives closer to nature.

We’ve connected with people from Byron Bay to Los Angeles, Fremantle to Manhattan, Perth to Canada; people who live in global cities or country towns, wine country, desert country, coastal country; citizens of the world who like to keep moving, homemakers whose roots remain firmly in the place where they grew up. We’ve spoken to songwriters, authors, artists, entrepreneurs, designers and restaurateurs: individuals who share a deep bond with the outdoor world, irrespective of where they live.

Back in 2021, Aussie model and mum Helena Vestergaard was our first interviewee; then two years later we spoke to her husband, Nathan Webster. As keen surfers, the ocean is extremely important to them but as Nathan noted ‘everything in life is better when experienced outdoors, surrounded by nature.’

People have spoken a lot about how being in nature enables them to reset and de-stress, even when juggling the demands of family life alongside full-time professions. Lucy Feagins, editor of popular style blog The Design Files, told us in 2022: ‘being in nature is like a refuge from the daily grind, it is so grounding. When I’m outside it’s one of the only times I really feel that the distractions of work and emails and social media fade, and I can truly be ‘in the moment.’

One of the most moving conversations happened in 2023 with South African-born web developer and project manager Nic Smith, who is involved in social venture Wirth Hats, which his best friend founded to honour the memory of his late friend Jakob Wirth. Jakob’s life was cut short by mental illness. For Nic, 'nature has an infinite number of reminders and metaphors for living a fulfilling life.'

We’ve been so grateful to connect with all these amazing people. You can read their conversations with us here [link], and stay tuned for more, plus the regular ‘hours in nature’ from our Koala Eco team members.

And in our next installment, we’ll be asking YOU, our Koala Eco community, to tell us (and show us) how YOU connect to nature.