Into The Wild (DIY edition)

As far back as I can remember, I have been afflicted with a particularly aggressive strain of wanderlust. When forced by the obligations of everyday life to stay in the same place for prolonged periods of time, I become increasingly restless, sad, and anxious as I wait at the edge of my seat for the next adventure-high that will come my way. While always preferred, the adventure doesn't always have to be a grand one. It can be small. To others, what seems like just a slightly different day is an adventure to me and my brain that is just as easily excited as it is bored. Like today, for example. A few weeks prior, I rented the film version of Into The Wild from the library. I had read the book, and it had become one of my favorite stories. I was excited to see the film, but also nervous, because when I read the book, my restlessness increased to a near-torturous level, due to the fact that I read it as I sat in a desk day after day, under fluorescent lighting and a monotonous routine. The DVD was in my hand when I thought to myself: Is this really what you need right now? Do you actually think that you'll be able to willingly go back to school and focus on academics tomorrow after watching something like this? I couldn't do it. I knew that as soon as I pressed play, I would think of nothing but running off to great adventures that I couldn't go on and that wouldn't get me anywhere that I need to be at this time of my life. When I told that to my friend, Anika, she told me she was in the same boat, and that if I still wanted to watch the movie, I could go to her house and watch it with her, so that we could be restless and sad together, and then talk each other back down to real life. Also included in our plan was the idea that I would just sleepover on her couch, and the next day, we would eat breakfast heartily, and then go into the wild. So, we watched the film as planned, and this morning I woke up on the couch, looked at the dawn sky, and smiled. Not a single cloud. It was as if nature wanted this day for us. We drank smoothies, filled water bottles, laced up our Sorels, and hit the road, our sights set on the general Hyalite area. We ended up driving to Grotto falls and speed hiking to the top (Anika didn't want to be beat by other hikers with snowshoes). We ate a lunch of oatmeal cookies and apples in an incredible little ice cave we found, and we let our butts freeze numb as we discussed the meanings to life. When we had hiked back down, we still weren't ready to leave the wild, so we stumbled through the deep, crunchy snow, out onto Hyalite Reservoir. When we could hike no further, we flopped down into the snow, and I made a snow-angel in the middle of a lake. After I got home, I was feeling inspired, so I went out for a run, and ran/walked 4 peaceful miles. This day was exactly what I needed; an adventure. It didn't matter that we didn't travel more than 30 miles from home, or that we only hiked 3 miles, because to me, its not the size or scale of the adventure or the undertaking, but the passion with which you pursue it that makes it worthwhile.  -mads