True story: my first time hiking amidst the misty, ancient grandeur of coastal California redwoods, I traipsed for nearly an hour wearing old 99-cent-store flip-flops. No rugged moisture-wicking boots, no performance fleece, no specialty gear of any kind. Just a free map, my poor sense of direction, and two thin slips of rubber underfoot.

So how did it all turn out? Well, I got out alive. Eventually. I also learned a few things-about old-growth forests and the unexpected delight of being unprepared--but you'll have to stay tuned for future installments of The Outsider, my new tell-all blog on LIME, for all the embarrassing details.

In upcoming posts, I'll share my latest (mis)adventures as I strive to be more physically active and have fun moving my limbs, both indoors and out. Every other week, I'll answer questions like:

• Do tambourines really belong in a yoga class? (True story #2.) And what's this I'm chanting?

• When your kayak's headed straight for rocks covered with barking sea lions, do you a) panic, b) paddle like hell c) cry?

• What's yoga class like in a foreign language?

• Camping: fun or miserable?

For now, I'll let you in on a secret: I'm horribly unqualified to blog about nature and fitness. I have no immediate plans to scale Everest and regale you with the harrowing tale. I'm a proud beginner and a humble outsider (especially when I'm literally outside). I may live in dreamy California, with its toned surfers, hikers, hang-gliders, and ashtanga addicts, who move through a surreal Western landscape of forests, dunes, beaches, lakes, bluffs, hot springs, and alpine meadows, but at heart, I'm an east-coast urbanite. I find poetry in street grids, mass transit, well-mixed cocktails, performance art, and staying up late.

Don't get me wrong--I'm equally awed by Sequoia sempervirens as by soaring skyscrapers. They both point me to the sky. I'm just new here, so forgive my mistakes. Or laugh at them! Then watch me discover new pleasures, new limits, and a bit more of myself.