I have been on hiatus for the past 2 weeks on a trip to Alaska with my family, hence the disappearance from my blog for a while. I deliberately wanted to disconnect while I was gone, and truly enjoy the wilderness without the contamination of the pollution of daily life (ie facebook, internet, computers, freeways, big cities, lots of people, etc etc etc.) I just arrived tonight, and I am still suffering from a bit of "culture shock" after driving home from the airport on the web of freeways, cars, and people - so unlike the vast and seemingly endless abyss of forests, tundra, wildlife, glaciers, oceans, and clean air.
I left the wilderness for a wilderness of another kind.
A bittersweet return - I am happy to see my friends and to sleep in my cozy bed and eat non-seafood (for a short while), but I think a part of me always has, and always will, search for an opportunity to "get away." Having grown up in a city-like atmosphere, experiencing the rough outdoors is always a pleasant treat - one that keeps me centered and humble about my place in the world. It is in the moments like standing at the entrance of Machu Picchu, or in my grandfathers remote property in the jungle of Colombia, or night hiking in the Amazon rainforest, or hiking in the Denali National Park when I feel most alive, most aware of my existence as human, and most prepared to make something significant of my limited time here on this beautiful planet.
Though I have not had the fortune of having grown up in the true outdoors (unless you consider the land of freeways a 'jungle'), I have had the fortune of traveling with my family around the world to experience the diversity and vastness of the human role on earth. Traveling is the greatest and only gift I ever hope to keep with me throughout my life - so many experiences and viewpoints and people in the world, and such little time to absorb them all! With every trip, with every experience, I find that I am exponentially expanding my own personal horizons and feeding my mind and heart with the most precious and intangible jewels of a lifetime. With every trip, a new lesson, a new outlook, and a new beginning.
My first task in a post-Alaska life is to deactivate my facebook account. Silly, perhaps, but significant nonetheless. I have never been much of a facebooker, at least in comparison to some of the people I know (I have quite a number of photos, but nothing new in the past 9 months... I am not one of those frantic addicts we all know and love) - I have built one because it seemed like the "normal" thing to do in high school and college, but after a few years of realizing that facebook is actually really boring and a total waste of time, I am finally ready take the "radical" step of actually stepping away from my facebook - at least for a while.
Other than deactivating my facebook (which was actually something I wanted to do a while ago, but now Alaska inspired me to actually do so), I don't know what will come of me after this wonderful trip to Alaska... I won't make any more promises beyond facebook, but I do know that as with every trip, things are always a little different. I look forward to more hikes... I know that for sure.
For now, I suppose I will leave you with that.
Goodnight to you all, the few and the kind out there who take the time to read what words I have to say about the world... I would be happy to hear your own thoughts from time to time too - I get enough of my own thoughts, and I want to hear someone else's. Thanks for tuning in! Until my next post, to come soon...
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