Now More Than Ever, Travel Remains Important

Uncategorized | 5 days ago

Why Now Is The Right Time To Take a Hiking Trip

If you’re anything like us, you’re feeling the weight of the world a little too acutely. Busy schedules, demanding jobs, long commutes. The daily rituals of work and obligation are compounded by the new demands that technology, the very online way we navigate our surroundings, and the very real worries that dominate our newsfeeds. Flashing headlines, full inboxes, the endless ping of new messages. It seems there is less time to take a break or to savor the simple things. Some days, it might feel like the world is asking too much. But that’s exactly why now is the best time to travel.

As John Muir wrote his sister in 1873, “The mountains are calling, and I must go.”

Our world has always been demanding, and we live in a moment of great uncertainty, but alongside it is such great hope. The natural world has an extraordinary capacity to absorb the noise we carry into it. Stepping out onto the path, one foot in front of the other, trusting that someone is behind you and a finish line is ahead, this simple act changes us. When we narrow our field of vision to the next step, the next crest, the next hill, the next hut – we expand ourselves: our empathy, our care, and our clarity of mind.

Scientists have been documenting this for decades. Time in nature measurably lowers cortisol levels, reduces anxiety, improves sleep, sharpens focus, and restores the kind of mental clarity that busy modern life can systematically erode. As any of you who have crested a peak and caught your breath at the endless rolling land below you know, it is a humbling thing to stand before the grandeur of nature and recognize how small we are and to loosen our grip on the need to control our surroundings. We don’t need science to tell us how life-changing this is; we just need the view.

Walking the coastal cliffs of Iceland’s East Fjords, or watching the sun slowly turn the tips of frosty mountains a rich, deep gold, sitting in companionable silence and drinking in the purity of a mountain stream. These things are not an escape from the world, but a return to it. The mountains were here long before us, and will be here long after.

Whatever lies ahead of us, the demands of our modernity won’t lessen. So while the anxiety of this moment might feel overwhelming, we urge you to take a step back and remember that we have been given such a gift. Walking is the oldest medicine we have, and to witness the magic of rocks worn smooth by the endless hold of the ocean, grass swaying gently in the warm breeze of early spring, sunlight filtering through your eyelids as you take a quiet rest beside an ancient oak.

At FieldHouse Adventures, we take to heart Mary Oliver’s words that “it is a serious thing, just to be alive, on this fresh morning, in this broken world.”

Be more patient, be more present – the trails are waiting for you.

Back to all posts