Why We Started Outdoor Exploring Family
(and Why Discover Teesdale Exists)
Life can get tough. Not just physically, but mentally too.
For us, everything started with finding calm in nature.
We began with day trips away and quickly fell into the peak bagging cycle. Chasing summits. Counting hills. Feeling great
physically and mentally at the time. But after a while, we realised something important.
We were rushing past so much beauty just to tick boxes.
The outdoors always lifted our mood. It always helped our mindset. But slowing down made the biggest difference.
Instead of chasing peaks, we started exploring places. Walking at a gentler pace. Noticing old walls, forgotten buildings,
quiet rivers, small details that you miss when you rush. That slower way of being outside felt deeper.. More grounding. More
healing.
That’s when Outdoor Exploring Family was born.
Not as a brand. Not as a business idea.
Just people who found peace outdoors and wanted to share that feeling.
We truly believe even ten minutes in nature close to home can help.
Living in Teesdale, close to Cumbria and North Yorkshire, we’re lucky. Day trips are easy, from quiet valleys to the Lake
District.
We started sharing our walks on TikTok, then Instagram, and finally Facebook. But social media quickly began to feel like
borrowed land. Algorithms change. Ads take over. Big selfies block nature’s view. It stopped feeling authentic.
So we started searching online for places to visit properly.
And honestly, it was hard work.
Websites felt messy. Pages were difficult to navigate. Everything seemed wrapped in “work with us” signs and promotion
fees. Everyone trying to cash in, which is fair, people need to earn. But there was no simple, human place that brought
walks, history and stories together in one calm space.
So we decided to try something ourselves.
We’re not website developers.
We’re not professional photographers.
We’re just people who found calm outdoors and wanted to help others do the same.
That’s how Discover Teesdale started.
Why Discover Teesdale
As we slowed down locally, something unexpected happened.
We started researching.
Teesdale has deep history. Old mining remains. Lost buildings. Folklore. Rivers shaped by centuries. Stories hiding in plain
sight.
But online, everything felt scattered. Thin walk pages here. Small history snippets there. Nothing that truly brought it all
together.
Teesdale deserves better than that.
So Discover Teesdale was born, not for monetary gain, but to give something back to this area. To showcase its beauty, its
walks, its stories and its past. To gently link mindset with movement. To create one honest hub locals and visitors can use
without confusion.
This is a long term project. We are in this for the long haul.
A quick honest note about local support
We’ve reached out to a few local community organisations and community run projects. Not for funding. Not for praise.
Not for promotion. Just a friendly message to say hello, introduce ourselves and explain what we’re building for the area.
And we didn’t get a single reply.
That might sound like a small thing, but when you’re putting hours into something you genuinely care about, it does sting.
Especially when the whole point of community is, well… community.
And here’s the part that really winds us up.
A lot of government backed and publicly funded tourism style websites charge local businesses and accommodation
providers to be listed or linked.
If we can build something like Discover Teesdale and link businesses for free, why can’t they?
If the goal is to support the local economy and help the area thrive, charging small businesses just to be visible on publicly
backed platforms feels backwards.
So we’re doing it differently.
Discover Teesdale will always aim to be free, useful and welcoming.
And unlike the silence we’ve had from some organisations, we’ll always reply. Every email, message and suggestion will
get our full attention.
How we fund the website (open and honest)
Running a website costs money. Hosting. Domains. Software. Travel.
To help cover this, we work with a small number of national brands that we genuinely use:
These are things we personally use, from walking fuel to maps, navigation, clothing, vitamins and calming drinks.
When someone shops through our links, we receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. We don’t see who bought
anything, what was purchased, addresses or card details. We simply get monthly numbers.
That support helps keep Discover Teesdale alive.
Looking ahead, we also plan to build a Teesdale holidays section with free listings for local accommodation. No
commission. No listing fees. Just a photo, description and link to their own website or booking page.
We want to help promote the area in a positive and accessible way.
Keeping things real
We don’t over edit photos.
If it’s foggy, we show fog.
If water levels are low, we show low.
We don’t chase waterfalls after storms just for dramatic shots. We don’t use AI to add roofs to ruins or windows to
abandoned buildings.
What you see is what we experienced.
We revisit locations. We research properly. We show reality.
Because this isn’t about chasing false likes. It’s about honest exploration.
Our ethos
Outdoor Exploring Family has always been about one thing.
Nature for a better mindset.
We truly believe in the healing power of being outside. For anxiety. For stress. For those moments when life feels heavy.
Discover Teesdale will always aim to stay free and accessible, so everyone can explore without barriers.
We also want to support local businesses and community efforts wherever we can. If there are charity competitions or
local causes, we would love to help when possible.
Our inbox is always open:
info@outdoorexploringfamily.com
If you have a place we should visit, a story we should research, or a section you would love to see, tell us.
And if you’ve made it this far, thank you.
Every share, every visit and every kind word genuinely helps.
You’ll notice we don’t plaster selfies across our website or socials. That’s intentional.
This isn’t about us.
It’s about the outdoors.
It’s about Teesdale.
It’s about finding calm.
And if you use nature for a healthier mindset, then you’re already part of the Outdoor Exploring Family.
