When I’ve spent a few too many days chained to my computer in my office, I start to feel a bit squirrelly. I get that itchy feeling that means that I need to do something active and I find that I’m overwhelmed or irritated by things that normally don’t bother me. That’s when I know that I need to my best standup paddle board along with some other gear, like survival knife, and get away for a little while.

Standup paddle boarding might seem like a strange way to , but hear me out. When you start researching stress and how to get rid of it, some of the same tips pop up over and over. One of them is to get some exercise. Another is to get back into tune with nature on some level. With standup paddle boarding, you can take care of both of these major tips with one activity.

One of my favorite places to paddle board is a lake near where I grew up. The water is usually pretty calm, and there isn’t a lot of traffic so it isn’t tough to navigate. They’ve got a great camping area, so if I’m in the mood for a few days of peace and quiet, it’s really easy to do without a lot of fuss. Quite a few kayakers and fishermen on small boats head out there, and since there’s a lot of trees and wildlife, the spot is a perfect place to get a great workout and to just reflect on my environment.

I keep my survival knife handy because as comfortable as I am with my board, there have been plenty of times that I’ve run into a situation where the knife was indispensable. Once my tether got knotted up and I didn’t have any choice but to cut it. If I hadn’t had my knife with me, I would’ve been stuck and it would’ve been really awkward getting back to my campsite. Because I did have it with me, there weren’t any problems.

Another time I came up on some fishing gear that snagged my paddle. I didn’t have the time or the patience right then to sift through the knots, so I went ahead and hacked through them with my best survival knife. Since I had my pack with me, too, I had some place to store the fishing gear until I could dispose of it. No sense letting some of the lake’s fauna getting caught up in it, too.

After just a few hours spent out on the lake with my standup paddle board, it’s like all the stress in my life just fades away and I’m ready to tackle the inevitable snafus that come up in the internet industry with renewed vigor and creativity. There’s nothing like paddle boarding to get me back in touch with nature and with myself. There are countless problems I’ve solved simply by taking the time to get away from everything. Give paddle boarding a try for yourself. You might be surprised at just how relaxing you find it and you’ll get a terrific workout, too.