GO Has Pokemon GO made you get out more?

[Lufenium]

I didn't see this anywhere else...?

A recurring theme/topic I'm seeing a lot online since GO's release is how much it's getting people out of the house more, how it's helping them exercise, and even some stories on how it's helping people tackle issues such as depression. One news story in particular was how it helped a child get out of the house for the first time in five years due to his autism.

So...what's Pokemon GO done for you? Do you find yourself getting out of the house more to go Pokemon hunting? Has it helped you? I'm curious about the stories.

Personally...it hasn't made a big change in my life, but I am starting to go out walking a fair bit more than I used to due to the possibility of catching Pokemon in my area. I honestly never expected it to be so much fun.
Pokemon GO made exercise fun, and gave it a purpose, something to gain from it bar actually exercising and feeling healthier. I think that's why a lot of people are initially put off by exercise, you don't see the gains of it immediately. Whereas playing Pokemon, you see the Pokemon you catch and train in your app.

One rather recent memorable story of mine is that exploring a large city and almost constantly playing GO with someone I know helped us reconcile over a quite a severe misunderstanding we'd had prior. I don't think we'd ever been so enthusiastic over something together.

 

[Zexy]

I don't really go out of my routine just to get outdoors to play GO but it may have helped me considering accepting offers that involve me going out that I may have otherwise refused. It is that extra push of motivation I need sometimes I'd feel like just sitting at home instead. I also notice that it increases the amount of time needed to go from a place to another since I'm essentially multitasking (and thus avoid playing it while in a hurry) which means I do spend more time outdoors when going to some place without being on a hurry.

 

[LavenderCase]

Pokemon Go has brought me back to the fandom. I don't personally know anyone locally that plays it, but it's nice to see so much love for it. Growing up I was always around others that looked down on it, so I never fully got to share my love for Pokemon with anyone else. Today I can share that with my kids and hubby.

We're an active family, but sometimes could use a little extra motivation to go out. Particularly me. The game has helped with that a little bit.

 

[dragon_nataku]

Maybe? I mean, I live in Miami and it is super-hot and super-humid all the time, but even more so now that it's summer so I definitely don't go walking around during the day (besides having the app out walking between my car and class). It did cause me to walk around campus a bit for two nights in a row when it first came out but it's still super-hot at night too (last night it was 88F at 10pm).

I do go driving a lot more though, so I guess that's "going out"? Not really walking though. I drive to some PokeStops, park, spin the thingies, catch some pokemon, and drive to the next ones. I also drive around aimlessly with the app open to hatch eggs, but again, not really walking. Maybe when the weather cools down a bit (and by "cools down a bit" I mean like 80 lolcat) I'll start walking more. Honestly, whose brilliant idea was it to release a game that requires you to walk, during summer~

 

[AmethystLeslie]

Not as much as most people, and every morning I walk to a few pokestops and back, and occasionally catch pokes on the way. If my parents wanna go somewhere and I get to go, I have the app open. I live in a good place, and i have so many options of awesome places to go to, but there are so many options, it overwhelms me and i stay home.

 

[FuryisHere]

I am deffo getting out of the house more to play Pokemon Go and I do go out alot more on my days off now too, before I was in bed half the day on my days off, but now when my boyfriend goes to work I go and play Pokemon Go.

 

[Arylett Charnoa]

It did for all of about five seconds. Then I stopped because everytime I stepped out of the house, some random relative (including one I haven't spoken to in at least 10 years) would appear out of nowhere and awkwardly ask me if I needed a ride. Yes, walking around here is no good. It was nice to enjoy the pretty tropical atmosphere for a bit though rather than hermitting myself in a room with thhe windows blocked off from sunlight.

 

[Batbloodx]

It has absolutely encouraged me to leave the sanctity of my home more often than anything else has prior. I'm a bit shy, and have some amount of social anxiety, so it's always somewhat of a struggle finding the motivation to go into public (by myself--I do fine as long as I have someone with me I feel close to). It doesn't help that I live alone in a small town, where people seem to look down on eccentric-looking folk.

Thanks to Pokemon Go, however, especially during the week of its release...I was able to walk to areas of my town I had never been to before, because the "safety" of playing a game seemed to justify my walking around aimlessly. And most people knew what I was doing, so I didn't get too many weird looks. I even ran into some people one night and I overcame some of my shyness to work with them and find a Pokemon we had all happened to be tracking. It was a pretty memorable experience.

Also, I walked to a few yard sales (which I probably would have felt too self-conscious to do alone before) while playing Go, and managed to find a Blastoise plushie.

 

[Zkat]

It's definitely gotten me to go out more, especially now that I'm back in college and there are pokestops and gyms on our campus. (In my neighborhood at home, there were no pokestops so I would often run out of pokeballs.) Now when I don't have anything to do, I go outside and try and catch Pokemon, hatch my eggs, or battle the gyms.

Also when I'm walking around, sometimes I meet other people playing the game and it gives us something to talk about.

 

[CynthiaLover]

To a degree, yes. Due to my social phobia (I was bullied a lot as a kid by large gangs in school), I generally put myself into lockdown mode, rarely going out unless it's necessary, such as picking up meds or grocery shopping. However, I have, to a degree, started walking more. I'm not very active, I admit that freely, especially during the summer, as my social phobia and severe allergies keep me locked up in the AC, but I have started to explore at least my neighborhood more. Though sadly, my area is near devoid of anything (very rural), and the town has lousy internet connections, so it's not a choice place for me. Plus my area is a tourist town, so it's overflowing with tourists during the summer, which is a big repellent to me. However, I have, again to a degree, been exploring the other areas nearby (such as Warensburgh and Queensbury, which are larger and more populous than little Bolton Landing) in search of Pokemon. It's still not anything substantial, but I'm at least trying to, especially considering I'll be getting my own place soon, so I'm trying to come out of my comfort zones as preparation for it. Considering I had no interest in Pokemon GO to begin with until boredom and such took command, it is a noticeable change for me.

 

[Pebbles]

yes it has and i love it
cycling a lot

 

[Zexy]

While it generally doesn't make me get out more, the Halloween event plus the limited amount of time I had in which I could fully experience its benefits made me go out of my way just to get a few sessions of nice play today.

 

[ChimeraNell]

I have 3 kids so we already got out a lot, however Pokemon Go made it so easy to get my introvert eldest to be excited and want to go. He also did fencing this year (he's 7 so first year) so overall it had a great impact on his health. I was also a fan since I had something to do at the playground with them and my husband and I do it when we go on dates. (We just like walking) Now that it is cold and snowy I don't get to get out as much but it definitely is a fun activity when we do.

So yes and no. It helped me get out with the crew so much easier because the least physical kid was totally game to go walking / hit the playground for 3 hours a day this summer.

 

[hartyguy]

I walk or cycle almost everywhere, so it has not made me get out more, but it occasionally takes me off route just to catch a needed mon.

It's a shame that with cycling you can easily go so fast that the game will not register the distance.

 

[Zexy]

By this point it does indeed make me get out more, but I like going out more as well because I want to exercise and being outside a bit more than before. It's more of an incentive than the actual reason.

 

[omahanime]

Its kind of hard to get out and walk after an ice storm.

 

[Felly]

Not really. When the app first came out, I was playing it on an older phone that made the app crash frequently, so playing was frustrating and it wasn't really worth to go out and try to play. That + the summer heat turned me off from playing.

Now I have a newer phone, and it's too cold outside most of the time and school's started back up, so there's not really any time for me to go out and play unless I'm going to class or just going out in general.

 

[Almonds]

I got the app recently after making some space on my phone, but it doesn't really make me go out more just for the sake of catching pokemon.

 

[al_the_bard]

It has made me walk outside more - I spent two hours outside walking in between interviews and writing. I'll look at my counter and see "Oh I've got 2 KM before this egg hatches, I'll go for a walk." Living around a college campus with many Pokestops also helps.

 

[Zexy]

The Adventure Week event made me go out much more than usual, getting 2 full sessions most days. It was also nice as I had an appointment with my diet coach today and I wanted to lose as much weight as possible this week, which I did However I'm feeling quite burnt out from this all (I once slept 13 hours, which I haven't done for months) so I'm taking a little break from GO sessions, definitely not going for two per day again unless it's for an event, and today I didn't even get one full session today (only some little stuff while going between places), not sure if I'd go for it tomorrow afternoon, there are also some other things I need to take care of this week.