I love to travel, but I am very lucky to live in a beautiful place that I don’t have to leave to find adventures.
We’re having an early spring here in the Pacific NW (sorry, NE U.S., I know you’re envious). I’ve been out hiking every weekend in the local Chuckanut Mountains, about 15 minutes from my house. This photo at left is the view of Chuckanut Bay from the beginning of the trail I walked yesterday.
Long ago I read a fantastic book called Your Money or Your Life, all about how to think about money and how much you’ll need, etc. One of the book’s points was that if you can set your life up the way you want it to be, you don’t need to “escape” so often on vacations. So that became one of my goals long ago, and I’m happy to say I’ve achieved it by moving to a place where I can hike and kayak locally. (I love Nature.)
So these days, no matter what the weather, I try to get out and appreciate what I have in my own neighborhood, whether that’s the intriguing sight of all the bird nests in the bare tree branches as I walk to my local library, the neon lights on the nearby cinema shining through the dark night, the camaraderie of local book lovers and authors at my indie bookstore Village Books, or some of the amazing views I saw yesterday on my local hike (photos here). What’s in your own neighborhood that’s worth appreciating?
- Pretty waterfall along Two Dollar Trail
I read that book too. It is so true. I have seen how people take exotic, expensive trips to get away from it all. Not everyone gets to live where nature is out their back door, but I think they have more choices than they realize. I never wanted to commute on the train or the freeway. I made sure I always worked where I could drive on the city streets to my job. I’m looking at piles of snow here in Chicago. It will be another month before it disappears. I do see people walking their dogs to the park though. As soon as I feel all the ice has melted on the sidewalks, I’m going to get out for my Sunday walks again and you reminded me that I could also take advantage of our local forest preserves and the Michigan lake shore.
Thank you Pam for your inspirational reminder of how fortunate we are to live with so many glorious opportunities to access nature and adventures nearby. I need to get out more, and you’ve given me the incentive.