It had another birthday this year, thankfully. I’ve never really been big on celebrating. I just like to make sure I enjoy the day. This time around I decided to venture off on a hike, and camp alone for a couple nights.

On the night before my birthday, I loaded up my backpack and had one of my brothers drop me off at a nearby trail head. It was about 8pm when I got on the trail, several hours later than I had planned. I don’t mind hiking in the dark though, and the trail was one familiar to me. The moon was nearly full too so I didn’t need to use my headlamp much. It took a little under an hour to get to where I wanted for the night. I figured I’d hike further in the following morning, but the rain changed my mind. Peace and quiet is what I was after, and I made an accurate assumption that the weather would keep others off the trail.

I spent my day alone in the woods, awaking to the sound of birds as the sun rose. I lounged in the tent with a book and my thoughts until I was hungry enough to heat some breakfast. Other than a bit of exploring, all I did was eat, read and think. Luckily it didn’t rain much during the day, so I was able to get comfortable in my hammock. My phone was kept in airplane mode, and time didn’t matter, other than the fact that I had sunlight, or no sunlight.

Distractions are everywhere these days. They make it difficult to truly distinguish between what is important in life, and what is not. Nature has it’s way of clearing things up. Get out more.