Mini-Post: Hike Without A Camera?? Inconceivable!

We began our brief waterfall trek at a restaurant, where local drivers and tour guides hang out and smoke while tourists eat and drink. Moments before we were ready to start out, it began to pour, with water falling in torrents off the warung’s roof. I declared that due to inclement weather, I would leave my camera in the car for the hike.

“No!!!” the guides despaired, “You cannot hike without the camera! How will you take pictures??” When I said I’d simply remember it, they got so exasperated that I ultimately gave up and took the camera.

The photos were nice, but I didn’t need them; the best part of the experience was talking with our guide.

We’ve become a species more inclined to capture moments on film than experience them fully. I love taking photos, but seeing something through a camera lens distances you from it. So don’t be afraid to leave the phone/tablet/camera behind once in awhile and just let yourself be immersed. Your takeaway might end up being something entirely different.

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Finding our Tribe in the Outdoors

Traveling as a couple can be somewhat isolating. You aren’t single, so you don’t make the extra effort to go out at night and meet lots of other people, mostly content to just share the experience with your partner. Instead of finding a companion to travel with for awhile, you meet people here and there, and when the brief activity or trip is over, you go your separate ways, solo travelers preferring not to travel with couples for a number of reasons.

Rebecca and I were struggling with this reality until we realized that to find our tribe, we needed to go a little more into the wild.

You Can Take it With You: Cultural Interpretations of Backpacking

If you travel, which we have had the luxury to do since college, you will see young people with giant backpacks at every destination you find. If you’ve found it, either from a book or from a friend’s recommendation, chances are a young European has found it, too. Hopefully, you will strike up a conversation with one of these intrepid explorers, and you will find out that he or she has been traveling for months and has another six months ahead of her. Months! What??

Auckland, the City of Many Hills

Rebecca and I atop Rangitoto.

Hello again, Danielle here. We just spent days one and two in Auckland, whose Maori name roughly translates to City of Many Lovers. Fun fact, brought to you by Lonely Planet (honestly, what would we do without LP). We really enjoyed our stay here, and though we didn’t see a ton of lovers (at least not openly displaying it), we did climb many, many hills, or at least the same hill 6 times from the supermarket to our hotel.

Ahh, Spring is Here

Winter is over; we survived! Spring is such a happy time. The weather turns nicer, or a little rainy in our case here in Northern California, but not for long. The sun is warmer and the flowers are out. I know this first-hand because I was running a few days ago and a flowering tree smacked me directly in the face with its flowers.

And they smelled great!