Episode Summary

In this episode, I open up about why I’m starting the Outdoor Funky Podcast again after stepping away from it. I reflect on how life, teaching, and other projects pulled my attention, even though I had meaningful outdoor experiences worth sharing.

I take you back to a powerful stretch of time in Florida, where I spent days paddling different waters with no strict plan. Those moments reminded me what it feels like to be fully alive—exploring, adjusting, and simply being present without forcing anything.

I connect that experience to a bigger idea: Outdoor Funky isn’t about extreme adventures or being an expert. It’s about starting, exploring, and allowing the outdoors to shape how you live your everyday life—through balance, flow, and presence.

I close by sharing what’s ahead for the podcast, including a focus on paddling and the lessons it reveals. More than anything, this is an invitation—to begin, to explore, and to step into something without needing it all figured out.

Show Notes

• Restarting the Outdoor Funky Podcast
• Life, teaching, and shifting priorities
• Florida paddle experience
• Living without a strict plan
• “You don’t need extreme to explore”
• Leaning into paddling and presence

Key Takeaways

• You can start again without being perfect
• Real experiences are worth sharing
• The outdoors brings clarity and presence
• You don’t need extreme to explore
• Growth begins with a willingness to start

Hey. Hey. This is Nicholas Kleve with the Outdoor Funky Podcast.

This is the space where adventure meets everyday life, where I share stories, lessons, and real experiences that help get you outside, try something new, and live a little more fully. Today’s episode: why I’m starting again, and what Outdoor Funky is really about. Before we get into it, I want to ground myself in gratitude.

Here are three things that I’m thankful for. The first thing that I’m thankful for is the chance to start again without feeling like I have to be perfect.

The second thing that I’m thankful for is the experiences that I have had this past year that I haven’t even fully shared yet. And the third thing that I’m thankful for is the outdoors, because being in the outdoors always brings me back to what matters.

Let’s get back into the main topic once again, which is why I’m starting again and what Outdoor Funky is really about.

I want to start this episode just by being real. I haven’t been consistent with this podcast. I started it last summer during RAGBRAI, the bike ride across Iowa—biking nearly 500 miles with my daughter.

And that was awesome. I recorded an episode for every single day of RAGBRAI, and there were some episodes after that too. I had good intentions. I thought, hey, this is something I’m going to build on.

And then life picked up. Teaching, family, leadership—everything that comes with trying to do a lot of things well.

I started teaching in a new school district on a Native American reservation, which has been absolutely a wonderful experience, but busy nonetheless. I’ve leaned into a teaching podcast for fellow educators that has kept me busy.

And I have a special project I’m working on for my kids. Life just happened.

And to be honest, the Outdoor Funky podcast—I didn’t stay with it.

But here’s what I’ve realized. When I look back and reflect, it’s not because I didn’t have anything to share. It’s actually the opposite.

Over the past year, I’ve had some incredible experiences.

I think back on mountain biking, paddling, just being outside in ways that really matter to me, and being with my family.

And there’s one experience that keeps coming back to me—last summer in Florida. I went down there for a National Teacher Leadership Conference, and after that I rented a minivan, took my inflatable paddleboard, and spent about five days exploring different waters.

Ocean, rivers, lakes—I was all over the place.

Those experiences were powerful. It was one of those stretches where you just feel alive.

I remember waking up each morning without a strict plan, just knowing I was going to get in the water.

There was something about loading up my board, finding new spots, stepping into something unfamiliar—it felt different. It wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t forced.

And I think that’s part of what I’ve been trying to figure out.

How do I bring more of that feeling into everyday life?

How do I help others experience that too?

Because I’ve been sitting on those stories—not because they didn’t matter, but because I was trying to figure out what this podcast really is.

And I think I’ve got it now.

Outdoor Funky is not about being extreme. It’s not about being the best. It’s not about being a professional outdoor athlete.

It’s about this idea:

You don’t need extreme to explore—just a willingness to begin.

That’s what this is.

There will be stories. There will be adventures. And there will be lessons—things you can take into your everyday life from what the outdoors teaches.

This is about flow, balance, presence, trying new things, getting outside your comfort zone.

Because this isn’t just about what you do outside—it’s about what that does for your life.

And I want this to be a place where you feel like you can start.

You don’t need all the gear. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to have it all figured out.

You just need a willingness to begin.

So here’s what you can expect moving forward.

I’m going to be more intentional with this podcast. Over the next stretch—maybe 50 to 60 episodes—I’m going to lean heavily into paddling.

Because if I’m being honest, that’s what makes me feel most alive.

Not just how to paddle—but what paddling teaches about balance, slowing down, being present, finding rhythm instead of forcing it.

That moment when things click and you’re not thinking—you’re just in it.

That’s what I want to explore.

And even if you’ve never stepped on a paddleboard, kayak, or canoe—this still applies.

Because this isn’t really about paddling.

It’s about what paddling reveals.

There will still be story episodes too—like that Florida trip, and new experiences ahead.

I’ve got a paddling trip coming up on the Niobrara River next month with a friend and some paddling groups.

I know there will be something there worth sharing.

I’ll branch into other things too—mountain biking, one-wheel riding, being outside in different ways.

But right now, I’m leaning into paddling.

What it’s taught me. What it’s still teaching me. And what I want to carry with me for the rest of my entire life.

And I want to take you with me into that space.

Because I think there’s something there that can impact how you live your everyday life too.

You don’t need to have it all figured out to begin.

You just have to start.

So go explore, be yourself, get outside, get funky. Bye now.