Free As I Can Get

I hug my mom and set out into the wilderness for the next several days

As far as I’m concerned out here, there’s no city, no job, but in a number of ways,

More than work, my adventure pays

One foot in front of the other at least 100,000 times, deeper into my escape I head.

I only work to pay thousands of dollars a year to live on trail mix and have dirt as my bed.

But it’s my freedom and into it, I am by my heart easily led.

It drives my mom crazy that I do this alone, but for me,

Isolation, the peace and quiet with it, is key;

The fewer people I run into, the happier I will be!

As I walk through God’s handiwork, I take in the beauty and miracle of Creation

Nowhere else do I find this relaxing, peaceful, calm elation,

Nowhere else do I feel closer to God, His blessings and Salvation.

Tent set up, dinner down, strip to shorts, go for a swim

Feel the water loosen up my tired lower limbs

Laugh looking at the trail, meadow, mountain, where else do you get a more beautiful, bigger gym?

Bundle up, write notes for the day, over my previous notes edit and look

Say a prayer and read the Good Book

Lights off, go to sleep with the lullaby of the brook.

Time to collapse camp and head out, I was up at first light

I never sleep well in my own bed, but in the dirt I always have a restful night.

But I was more than happy to wake up to the sun rising over the mountain, what a sight!

Always anxious, stressed and worried at home, at complete peace in the middle of nowhere

Getting covered in dust and doing minimal cooking as far away from civilization as I can get is my selfcare

And I never feel as great as I do in the forest air.

As my trip comes to a close, I go over what I am taking away from the wilderness from this trek

Other than mosquito bites all over my neck.

Learning, exercise, time with God, a mental reset? Check!