Freedom

            I’m in my forties at this point and have been into doing outdoor activities for as long as I can remember.  When I was a small child our family would go camping out of a Chevy Blazer.  That truck enabled us to go on the back roads and get into the middle of nowhere.  It was great.

            As I got older my parent gave up on camping, trading the tent for hotels and wilds for the urban jungle.  This was due to their age and the fact that my mother didn’t relish the idea of hanging out in a small tent in the middle of nowhere.  She preferred the amenities that cities offer.  It was also due to the fact that they could afford it.

            I was not and am still not enamored with large population centers.  When I was younger I went trekking because, well, I loved it.  Also, I could afford it.  Heading out into the wilds was a cheep vacation.  Now that I’m older, I still love it.  But instead of planning to explore areas close to where I live, I plan on exploring areas I’ve always wanted to see.  Far away exotic locations like, Auyuittuq National Park in Canada.  At no time do I ever contemplate spending my hard earned vacation time in a city, any city.

            Because I’ve been doing outdoor activities for so long, I have amassed a large amount of gear to enable my endeavors.  It’s inevitable, the more things you do the more things you need.  This was not always the case.  When I started out all I had was a cheep backpack, my dad’s old sleeping back, and a Coleman special tent, and stove.  But that was all I needed; that and my parent’s permission.

            With that paltry amount of gear, some good friends, and an insatiable love of the outdoors I was able explore all over the State of Colorado.  I actually went on my first unsupervised trip when I was fourteen and spent a week up in a wilderness area.  Not that that’s a major accomplishment, but spending a week out from under the yoke of my parent’s influence was a liberating experience.  No one was there to yell at me for doing stupid things; every kids dream.  Outdoor adventure: I guess that’s what it was, and what it still is, complete freedom.