Last week I took a few friends out on a big adventure! Rather than write up the whole story, I decided to literally tell it to you in a video, walking you through about fifty miles of islands on Lake Superior in four days—or for you, just ten minutes. For stills from the trip and good links, keep scrolling:
From the video, check out:
Big Agnes Copperspur tent link (affiliate link; I make a small commission if you make a purchase based on my recommendation)
I fix my brain on a beach somewhere:
Sitting on a beach by myself in the morning on Rocky Island with nothing to do other than sip my coffee, no breakfast to make for anyone but myself, no water to haul, no screen to distract me, no notifications, just me and a sunrise and a beach and a nice piece of driftwood I reacquainted myself with the utter joy of pleasant boredom.
I’m the sort of person with a loud and constant internal monologue. Social media makes it way way worse but it’s also a part of my job. I sometimes think that between short-form videos, always having the TV on in the background and constant podcasts and audiobooks I’ve sort of eroded my attention span. Have I really forgotten how to just sit and think with no external stimulus? Maybe a little bit.
For a good three hours I sat on that beach with nothing but a cup of coffee, the loons and the lake and I think the pace of my thoughts actually slowed down to the point I could hear the words.
Camping and kayaking tips:
Getting started in the outdoors can be really intimidating, but like anything, the best thing you can do is just start. I didn’t really start until I was 22 and tackled my first summer guiding, and from there it kind of just took over my life. It’s never too late to start, and it’s probably not as scary as you might think:
