This Friday, instead of facing the real-life version of The Walking Dead at your local retailers–witnessing throngs of people stampeding each other in a crazed daze for a cheap(er) wide-screen TV…why not reclaim your sanity (and your humanity) and Opt Outside instead?

REI started this inspired movement by pledging to close its doors on Black Friday and #OptOutside in an effort to get families to bond out in nature instead of under glaring fluorescent lights buying a bunch of crap no one needs. You can find awesome hikes in your area just by entering your zip code here.

Save the Redwoods League has even upped the ante—offering free day passes to 49 California State Redwood Parks in Northern California. Happily, there has been an overwhelming response to this rogue reclaiming of the day after Thanksgiving and some park passes have already sold out. But there are still plenty of parks available. You can find a list here.

For those of us in Southern California looking for a place to spend November 27 in peace, we have some of nature’s best right here in our own backyard. Mount Wilson in the Angeles National Forest and Mount San Jacinto above Palm Springs are great options for a quick day-trip. Our Sirens & Scoundrels gang will be heading out to Topanga State Park—which happens to be the largest state park within a city in the entire Unites States.

Even if you just step outside and watch the sunset together…be sure to take a moment to share a connection to something bigger than the inside of a mall. Go rogue and reclaim Black Friday…anti-zombie, pro-nature all the way. Raise your flag this Friday and stake your claim. Opt Outside and make yours a Green Friday!

Words by Christina Huntington // Photography by Sarah Prikryl

© 2015 Sirens and Scoundrels