Our Love for Hiking
Never did we imagine the joy and peace we would find by hiking into the unknown. Even when it could be dangerous.
As a kid I always loved being outdoors. Staring at the sky for hours would unleash my creativity and imagination, while playing in the creek behind our house gave me a great sense of adventure. When I climbed the tallest trees in our neighborhood, it provided a sense of accomplishment, while allowing me to escape the world below.
Those days spent outside were always rewarding and over the years and I’ve missed that feeling, because when you disconnect from the comforts of being inside, it has a way of enriching your soul. It awakens your spirit in ways you can’t imagine. So my new love for hiking is not unexpected.
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” - John Muir
When Donetta and I started traveling fulltime, we knew being outdoors would be a part of that lifestyle. Besides, you can’t drive by all the majestic scenery in the mountains without immersing yourself into its beauty. The wilderness must be experienced, and there’s no better way to do that than hiking.
So in our first couple of months on the road, we invested in expensive hiking boots and a couple backpacks, grabbed my survival gear, and we just started walking.
Now, I’m not an expert at hiking in the mountains, and even though I did plenty of wilderness activities as a teenager and in the Army, there is still a lot for me to learn, but I vividly remember what a Marine friend once told me. He said, “you can read everything you want about living a life from the road, but you won’t know shit or understand it, until you actually do it.”
Sometimes the best way to conquer your fears is just by doing it.
And we did.
“It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
Sir Edmund Hillary
Choosing a path and walking into the woods is scary. You don’t know what lies ahead on the trail or in the forest. There could be an insurmountable elevation to climb or hungry black bear having a bad day. Yet traversing into the unknown is where your mind and body become one, and eventually you start to realize your life really is insignificant against the magnitude of nature. It is here where you begin to change, inside and out.
To many, it might seem foolish to just go for it, but facing danger or the unknown makes you stronger, and it will allow you to become more confident, while feeling fully alive.
We accepted the totality of it all and that is freeing.
Hiking has now become a spiritual and healing part of our lives, and it has transformed us, mentally and physically. It is a calling that must be answered and we’re always glad to do it.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Henry David Thoreau
Our love for hiking grows every day, along with our insatiable thirst for new adventures. And for the first time in a very long time, I have rediscovered a peacefulness I thought would never return. Can taking a path into the unknow really make a difference? It absolutely can!
When we sold everything and took a minimalistic approach to life in order to pursue our adventure travel dreams, it was scary, but it’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made together. The freedom to explore has been exhilirating and hiking has elevated that experience we encounter every single day. Sometimes you have to venture into the unknown to find the happiness and joy you are seeking.
Despite the dangers the wilderness or a life on the road can offer, we will continue our journey because it’s better to live fully and die, than to die half full.
“To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live.”
Tenzing Norgay
Great read, thanks for sharing James!
Great thoughts on getting out and on the trails :) Great photos too!!