Showing posts with label #backpacking. Show all posts

Natural Therapy That Works


There are points in our lives where we need time to decompress, relax, and allow our soul to catch up with our body and clear our mind from the stress and bullshit life tends to throw at us.

What does one do to recharge her or himself and live a positive and healthy life?

. . . Well, it depends on the person, but there’s a beautiful, nonjudgmental therapist waiting for all of us. She doesn’t care what color we are, if we’re straight, gay, bi, trans, etc.

She’s glorious and sometimes menopausal.

She’s nature

What’s sad is a lot of people overlook nature’s beauty and what we can learn from it. Instead, they’re too busy paying attention to their cell phones, unaware of what’s around them.

Does anyone ever look up at the sky and make shapes out of clouds anymore?

We do, and I wonder if anyone else does.

We go outside and explore as much as we can and will eventually be living off-grid. 

Our way of life and the life we're creating for ourselves doesn't make us better or lesser than anybody else. 

We all have our own paths to follow (no pun intended).

-But, I have to tell ya, being out in nature is good for the soul.

Seriously.

It's therapy.

Try it.

You’d be amazed at how much better you’d feel after wandering around outside like you used to do when you were a kid.

If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.

Here are some recent pictures of our adventures in the woods.

We decided to try out our big ass backpacks on this trip to see how well we'd do.

Kevin did excellent. 

He was in his element. 

In fact, he was walking too fast for my short legs to keep pace with him, and he ended up way ahead of me. I had to call out to him to slow down. He apologized and said it was his Army training that kicked in, and he didn't realize it until I said something. LOL




. . . And then there was me with my big ass backpack. This was the first time I’d ever worn it while hiking. It was comfortable, however, I couldn’t explore like I wanted to, so I decided next time I’d try my smaller pack instead.
-So, on the next trip we wore our smaller packs.


Kevin prefers his bigger one, but I prefer this one instead.




We had a great time.




It started to rain when we were a mile and a half away from our destination.

Good thing we have kickass rain gear.



We had so much fun! 

Adventures are good for the mind, body, and soul.

Mother nature is the best therapist ever. 

 . . . And it’s free!



Would You Backpack Around The World?




If you had the chance, would you backpack around the world?

I was telling Kevin I want to backpack across Southeast Asia, and I’ve done some research on it. It’s totally doable, and the cost would be relatively low.







To my delight, he was open to my suggestion, and then we talked about doing the same thing across Europe. I would continue with my freelance writing and writing books as well as creating a documentary of our journey and sharing it with the world.

. . . But, I will not leave this guy behind. So those plans are on hold for now.


I’m cool with that because currently we’re in the process of becoming minimalist and preparing ourselves to travel the US as digital nomads.

That’s a huge undertaking that one shouldn’t do on a whim. 

Don’tcha agree?

-So we’re taking our time and going with the flow.

I have to be honest here . . . since we’ve decided we want to live an alternative lifestyle as minimalist to where we’ll be living in the now, discovering self and no longer just existing, I've had a strong feeling of liberation and a happiness I’ve never experienced before.

-However, my happiness is not wrapped up in the RV (Aesop) or the idea of all the adventures Kevin and I are going to have or us backpacking across Southeast Asia.

My happiness derives from answering this simple question last August 2017:

Who was I before society told me who I should be?


After honestly answering that question and realizing I don’t need all the stuff I have, I got busy changing my life and returning back to who I truly am. I’m still working on it, btw. Fortunately, Kevin is on the same page as me, and he’s doing his own work beside me.

I’ve learned, though from past experiences that I’m the only one that’s going to make me happy, not another person, and not material objects. 

Happiness is a choice.

. . . But this post isn’t about happiness. I already wrote an article about that topic. Hereà https://medium.com/@authorrebekkahford/fifteen-things-you-can-do-to-make-yourself-happy-27612f0f9027

Anyway, I know this path we’re going to embark on will be a challenging one and there will be sacrifices, but I also know for me personally, if I were to continue on with the life I have now, I'd be just existing instead of living. Ten years from now, I’d be living the same life.

I don’t want that.

Yes, I’ll be totally stepping out of my comfort zone, but that’s okay. Growth happens when you step out of your comfort zone and you open yourself up for new opportunities that would normally not happen if you didn’t step out of your protective bubble.

Backpacking across a country or even your own, would be an experience of a lifetime and totally stepping out of your comfort zone.

-However, it’s not for everyone, which is fine.

I have no judgment here.

Do what makes YOU happy and live your life the way you want to.

. . . But, if I ever have the opportunity to backpack across Southeast Asia or Europe, I will, and I’ll share the experience with you. For sure. :)