“I’m not confined into a room or into a box… I can jump up and reach the sky. I can’t do that inside of a building, you get weird looks. That real sense of freedom, that there are unlimited options, views, things to touch, things to notice. I really get bored in an office, in a building… and it’s very hard for me to get bored when I’m in the forest.” – Craig Hauptman

 “The only things you know are the things you’ve learned.” – Craig Hauptman

Hey everyone! Welcome to episode 8 of The Modern-Day Superhero show! In today’s episode, I sat down with Craig “The Captain” Hauptman, a co-worker of mine at Four Circles Recovery Center (FCRC), a primary rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addiction. We’ve worked many shifts together, mostly guiding backpacking trips, and a handful of Vision Quests. He’s a wonderful human, and I’m therefore excited to have gotten the chance to sit down and record some of his bantering!

Craig is an expert outdoor instructor. In addition to working at FCRC, he has held positions as a ski instructor, environmental educator at Mountain Institute in West Virginia, and in teen development as part of various park and recreation programs. He graduated from Old Dominion University with a degree in recreation and tourism, and even earned his Eagle Scout as part of the Boy Scouts in his younger years.

In this episode, Craig shares a handful of useful tips for planning a simple, affordable backpacking trip, as well as how he has used nature as a tool to heal in recovering from active alcohol addiction.

Topics

• How to reconnect with nature – 12:51
• The best place to start when establishing a connection with the natural world – 14:31
• Simple backpacking gear solutions – 19:36
• Living a simple life and the concept of, “Good Enough” – 22:56
• Affordable backpacking – all the gear you need for a 7-day trip for less than $150 – 26:52
• Simple food options for backpacking trips – 30:06
• The healing power of nature in relation to recovering from alcohol and drug addiction – 41:08
• Using nature as a tool for finding your identity – 46:3`
• How nature helps you to really appreciate the little things in life, including chocolate – 49:21

Websites Mentioned

• zenstoves.net – making a simple, cheap stove
• Trailspace
• Backpacking subreddit

Contact

Craig has provided no contact information, although I see him most every other week, so if you’d like to reach out, just leave a comment on this page or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

Additional Notes

This was the first episode I ever recorded! Thanks so much to you Craig for letting me record our conversation and being willing to open up to the microphone.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

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