Wild Places Here and Afar

The Brooks Range from the Western Arctic
 Photo by Ryan Jordan, June 2006.

I really miss the Alaskan Arctic because it's a Big Wild Place.

I don't know that I've trekked anywhere else where I've discovered as much about who I am. Some of that was related to the challenges the Arctic delivered to me, but much of it was related to the magnitude of its sheer remoteness from the clutter of modern living in a first world country.

And so, although I haven't been back since 2006, I still dream Arctic Dreams. Big ones. And I even have a pal who can live them for me!

I think one reason why I love trekking on plateaus surrounding the Yellowstone Caldera, and in the Absaroka Range, is that they remind me of the Arctic. They too, are Big Wild Places. The difference is that the Big Wild Places Down Here are surrounded by Stewards of Greed.

Fortunately, there are Wilderness Boundaries, and within them, something sacred and quiet.

The challenge is recreating that quiet within the constraints of where those of us other than Andrew Skurka live.

Perhaps I don't see the fight for a wilderness boundary in the backcountry to be much different than the fight for a psychological wilderness boundary in the frontcountry, like the walls of my home, the people and companies that I write checks to, or even my internet router.

This is why in 2009, I gave up Facebook, my Blackberry, and freecycled our family's second car, and why our family has been unchained from TV for several years. You'll have to trust me when I tell you that each of these decisions has resulted in freedom, and a more quiet, wildernessy state of living.

But these were experiments - test cases if you will - and now it's time to get serious.

Remember earlier in this post that while in the Arctic, I learned more about who I was? My hypothesis is that this introspection is translatable to daily living, via simplicity.

So 2010 will be our family's Year of the Purge: Backpacking Light for modern living.

With the simple of goal of creating a Little Wild Place for everyday living. Not something that we need to "escape to" like the Big Wild Places of the Alaskan Arctic or the Northern Absarokas, but something we live, and work, within.

In other words, the norm...

...rather than the exception.

Comments

[ADVENTUREinPROGRESS]

GREAT post, I like the way you guys are thinking. It resonates very much with where we are at right now too.

[Joshua]

You make a good point. I have a National Geographic Photo Publication titled, "Paradise." It is supposed to focus on the photographers' perception of paradise. The majority of photos in the book are simply photos of daily life where the author finds a little piece of paradise. We tend to overwhelm our lives for no apparent reason with things that have no value. I live several miles outside of a town of 1100 people and things are slower here. It isn't bad either. I intend on slowing down a little more. I am growing my own garden and raising a few goats and chickens. Slow is definitely the exception from what I have seen. Wilderness is my house.

Joshua

[mike]

Yes, for sure. Thanks for continuing to inspire.

[Shawn Peyton]

It's amazing to be part of a community (BPL) that these "notions" of living have become so much more vital than what the last couple of decades have taught us. I seem to be slowly taking these steps as well. Quit a solid to career because I was losing my soul, to work in the Outdoor Industry. Went back to school to get a degree in web development (php) and after graduation in May am moving to Duluth. hahaha When I should be either staying in the growing metropolis of Madison, or moving to Chicgo, where the big bucks are, I have come to the decision I can't live without the wilderness. I am more than willing to do with less financially to have the Superior National Forest in my backyard. It's my Alaska, Disneyland whatever you want to call it. Then on to modeling my father's existence he has carved out next to the Aposotle Islands. 200 acres of the grid and yes, all the goats and chickens. I really like how you applied the UL BP to a lifestyle. I had never thought of it that way. Kudo's for bringing them together Ryan. It has really opened my third eye even more how my choices in the way, where and why of how I live encompass almost everything.

[Joe]

I'd argue that Twitter is worse than Facebook in alot of ways.