The Forest Is Waiting
I offer a range of events for individuals, groups and teams. These include Forest Therapy walks (both in-person and Virtual), Short (3-4 hour walks), Full-day and Big Walks.
If you or your organisation would like to participate in an event or arrange your own, write to me at scott@adifferentway.life and I’ll be in touch.
Be sure to read the waiver below!
Forest Therapy Walks
joining a Walk
I offer Forest Therapy walks on a regular basis. Rather than schedule events, as I used to, I ask people to let me know they’re interested and then I coordinate to arrange a date that works. If you’d like to join a walk, write to me at scott@adifferentway.life and I’ll get back to you with dates, important information and advice on what to bring etc.
NOTE: I have a WhatsApp group where I inform people about upcoming walks. If you’d like to be alerted about these walks, email me your mobile number, give me your consent to be added to the group and I’ll go ahead and add you to the group. That way you can join a Forest Therapy Walks whenever you like.
The forest looks forward to welcoming you!
Paying for a walk
I’ve setup a payment system that means you can both pay me whatever you think is appropriate (a typical charge is CHF40/participant) for my guiding, AND pay something to the ongoing forest conservation work by the Commune de Gingins. Here’s the link to explain how to pay:
https://donorbox.org/gingins-forest-love-1
If you’d like to arrange your own event
If you’d like to arrange your own Forest Therapy Walk for friends, family, your team, book club, any group you belong to, either in-person or Virtual, write to me at scott@adifferentway.life I’ll be in touch to arrange it with you!
Corporate or organisational Teams
If you’re a organisation seeking to arrange an event for your team, again, please write to me at scott@adifferentway.life and I’ll be in touch to arrange it with you.
Forest Therapy Gift Cards
If you have a family member, friend or colleague, (or perhaps even your boss!), who you feel would benefit from some relaxing down time in the forest, you can consider buying them a Forest Therapy Gift Card. Click below to learn more.
Gift - Forest Therapy Walk
CHF 40.00
Gift your friend, loved one, colleague, or yourself a Forest Therapy Walk in the beautiful forests above the village of Gingins, Canton Vaud, in the foothills of the iconic La Dôle.
Experiencing these walks is a practice that helps people and teams deepen their relationship with themselves, with each other but most importantly, with Nature.
People find the walks to be profoundly calming and restorative, making them an incredibly thoughtful gift for someone you care about.
If you’d like to learn more about Forest Therapy, visit this page.
Quantity:
Short and Full-Day Walks
Like Forest Therapy Walks, if you’d like to participate in or arrange your own Short (3-4 hours) or Full-day walk, for just you, a group or a corporate/organisational team, please get in touch by writing to me at scott@adifferentway.life. We can discuss your plans and agree the details.
Big Walks
Multi-day walks here in Switzerland on the magnificent trails create a special and unique opportunity to build your relationship with yourself, your fellow walkers and with the beautiful Nature on offer. I arrange specific Big Walk dates that you can join. If you’d like to participate in a Big Walk or arrange your own Big Walk for yourself, your group or work team, write to me at scott@adifferentway.life and I’ll be in touch with more information.
Waiver
It feels funny to have a Waiver when we’re participating in a Forest Therapy walk, but there are always opportunities to twist ankles or worse, to fall over and cut ourselves and such like on any walk and this brings me to the issue of liability which is always difficult to discuss in that it can spoil the spirit, but it's important that we're all clear on this before we begin.
Here’s my Waiver that everyone coming on a Forest Therapy, Short, Full day or Big Walk but sign up to.
It's critical that everyone understands that everyone taking part in the walk does so at their own risk. I do not employ qualified guides on the walks. We will walk together on the same basis as a group of friends who go out walking together and who invite others to join them. I assume no responsibility for anyone joining the walk and so will not be held responsible for any accident, injury, loss or detah occurring as a result of anything that happens on the walk. By joining the walk, you indicate that you accept these conditions and accept that no legal liability is accepted by me or by anyone in the group in the event of accident, injury, loss or death, however caused. I do remind you that you need good equipment (see the equipment list below) and that I don't supply any of these. You're all responsible for assessing your own risk and safety. While accepting no responsibility or liability for the walk, I do reserve the right to not admit anyone to join the walk if I think they're ill-equipped for the terrain or the weather conditions.
Equipment List
What to bring on Forest Therapy, Short, Full day or Big Walks
A Day Pack: You just need a day pack. You DO NOT need a big backpack as if you were heading into the remote mountains for weeks. We don't need tents. We don't need cooking equipment. Just a good, sturdy day pack.
Walking Poles: Forest Therapy Walks generally involve very little walking in difficult terrain, so poles are generally not required but people are welcome to bring them if they desire. When we do Short, Full-day or Big Walks, poles can help you keep your balance which means you place a lot less stress on your knees, back, ankles. This is important as we go down most evenings from the ridges to stay in valley towns so there are some long descents.
Footwear: For Forest Therapy walks, a pair of sports running shoes are generally, OK, especially in the warmer months. That said, a good pair of sturdy walking boots are always great.
On Short, Full-day or Big Walks, it really is recommended that you wear good, sturdy mountain walking boots. The trails we walk on are good and we also walk on forest roads a lot of the time but there are rocky bits too and if there's rain, the paths will be slippery. No sports shoes unless proper trail running shoes with excellent support and grip on the soles. That said, you don't need massive, heavy hiking boots either. A good pair of light, preferably waterproof walking boots is recommended.
Clothing: Everyone has their own preference for what to wear when they're walking. For Forest Therapy walks, just bring clothing in line with the weather forecast for the day. It never hurts to pack a small, lightweight rain coat and a fleece because in the mountains, the weather can change quickly and unexpectedly.
For Short, Full-day or Big Walks, making the right decisions on clothing is vital because every extra item you bring, is another weight in your backpack. Our aim must be to carry as little as possible. That said, it is the mountains so we will need to be ready for anything. I recommend:
One change of clothing only. I will be wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I recommend having ONLY one spare pair of shorts and one spare t-shirt. Some people prefer long pants and long sleeve shirts. That's of course fine but the same idea applies, just bring one set to wear and one set to change into. The key will be to wash the used set as soon as we arrive at our destination each evening and if you have to go one (or even two!) days without washing it...well, it'll be OK.
Socks - it will be really important to have two pair (one to wear, one spare) of good quality, woollen, walking socks. We don't want any blisters so woollen socks are really important.
Warm pullover or fleece, though not heavy. It can get cold in the evenings and if it rains, it will be important to keep warm. Whatever you bring, try to keep it lightweight.
Raincoat - again, keep it super light. It might rain and you don't want to get soaked. Having a light raincoat is really important.
A waterproof cover for your daypack. Really useful if it pours down. Again, super lightweight.
A good quality sun hat, preferably wide-brim but whatever you find comfortable. It's so easy to get heatstroke. You really MUST have a sun hat.
Other things:
The below things are more for Short, Full-day of Big Walks, but you may want to bring some of these items when you join a Forest Therapy walk too. If you can, get the encephalitis vaccine - consult your doctor on that.
Sunscreen - really important!
Insect repellent - also important. In the region we're walking, they have tick borne encephalitis as well as Lyme disease. The Lyme disease is easily treatable with antibiotics though it's not always clear that you have it. The encephalitis is a much bigger worry. Wearing good socks will be important but giving them a good spray with insect repellent each morning will be an added protection. We’ve done this before and we didn't have a problem but each evening, and even during the day, it's going to be a good idea to just check for ticks.
Encephalitis vaccination - There is a vaccine for Japanese encephalitis and if you have a chance to get it, you should. There are three shots over the course of a year. Consult your doctor about and if you can get it, do so. If you spend a lot of time in forests, it really is a good idea to get vaccinated.
Water bottles x2 - In some of the places we walk, there is very little water, or if there is, it’s not guaranteed to be potable. Bringing one water bottle for Forest Therapy, Short and Full day walks is strongly recommended and for Big Walks, even two bottles is good.
First aid kit - I will have a mini First Aid Kit and am trained in Wilderness First Aid but if you want to bring your own, that’s fine.
Compeeds - there's a good chance someone will get a blister. If you are buying new boots for the walk, buy them now and go walking in them to wear them in. Compeeds are great little plasters to put over emerging blisters and there is also a gel that you can put on parts of your feet as soon as you feel an irritation. This can REALLY help. Blisters are ridiculously painful so we want to avoid them at all costs.
