What if getting outside weren’t treated as an optional activity, but as something essential to our health, development and daily lives?

Jessica Turner, president of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, joins Ashley to talk about the outdoor freedom of her childhood, what those experiences gave her and how she is trying to create that same connection for her own children.

They also explore the vision behind America’s Outdoor Era, ORR’s effort to position outdoor recreation as critical public health infrastructure. Jessica explains why outdoor access cannot rest entirely on individual families—and what could change if schools, healthcare systems, workplaces and policymakers began treating time outside as something people fundamentally need.

In this episode:

• How Jessica’s outdoor childhood shaped her resilience and leadership
• Why children and adults often become better versions of themselves outside
• How outdoor experiences help create memory, attention and connection
• What it means to treat outdoor recreation as health infrastructure
• The role of recess, greener schoolyards and accessible public lands
• Why the outdoors can create common ground across political differences
• How Jessica navigates screens, work and presence with two young children
• What parents can do to create change in their own communities

Learn more and find links on our website.

Raising Wild is a podcast about raising kids—and ourselves—a little more feral. On purpose. Follow the show wherever you listen to podcasts.