Last year, our family chose to opt outside on Black Friday. It was the best decision we ever made.
For years, the day after Thanksgiving was all about hunting down the good deals. Black Friday shopping was expected, I mean what could possibly be more important? I assume that you have noticed, that Black Friday has been starting earlier and earlier. We have friends who don’t even get a Thanksgiving because they had to work for Black “Thursday/Friday.”
I remember the first year that we decided to check out the Black Friday deals on a Thursday evening. There were so many people out shopping. The lines went through the entire store. And to be honest it made me sad.
Instead of people spending time with friends and family on Thanksgiving, they were standing in a line at Wal-mart for 3 hours. And the deals weren’t even that good!
We eventually came to the realization that we did not want to spend our holiday weekend standing in lines anymore.
In the fall of 2016, our family truly began our hiking journey. Every weekend we wanted to go hiking, rain or shine. This is also the year we learned about
REI’s opt outside movement and decided to give it a try.
So, rather than stand in line for hours to save a few bucks, on Black Friday we went hiking in beautiful Bend, Oregon.
And it felt awesome! Now it is a tradition that we intend to carry on for years to come and we encourage you to do the same. We know that this is not an option for everyone. However,
if you have the Friday after Thanksgiving open, you may as well spend it doing something you love with the people you love.This Thanksgiving weekend, we will be having a sale. However, it will not be starting on Black Friday. Instead, we will be having a Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday sale. But since that is a mouth full, we are just calling it our Holiday Weekend Sale.
On Black Friday, we will be hiking as a family and focusing on what matters most to us. We hope you are able to do the same.
Does your family opt outside on Black Friday? We would love to hear about your adventure. Use hashtag #idhikethatcrew so we can see your #optoutside photos and for a chance to be featured on our website and social media.
