Intention

I have just graduated and have a month of absolute freedom before my job starts. In a world not reeling from the impacts of the Corona virus, I would have used this time to visit home and travel a bit. But flights to India are grounded. I could fill my time with Netflix and reading but I would really feel guilty of having done absolutely nothing with this golden month.

I call it golden because it is unlikely that I will have a month to myself anytime soon in the future. Even if I do, I might not have the luxury to be able to travel or even the energy/will to do something stupid as I grow older. The moment is very pressing in its uniqueness. My intention is to make something of it.

The idea that I am floating is to go on a solo 14 day trip to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. 14 days is a lot and I might not even have the experience to be out for so long on my own without any structure. But I will have google maps, Subway, gas stations and a lot of other conveniences at hand. In the past, people have done more crazier things with much less. A key issue is finding campsites, which seem to be all booked in advance. I might end up hunting Forest management campsites which are first come first serve. But the rewards are plenty.

I might be able to hike to high alpine lakes and drive on scenic highways. I might be able to couch-surf in some places and camp in most places. I feel it will be challenging and rewarding at the same time. Living nomadically, for two week, sleeping in tents and being out in the wilderness. In my head it feels like a trip where I can just be. An equivalent of floating in the swimming pool with my eyes closed, just more intense and more liberating.

What I really want to test is how far I can go with my own company. I will surely meet new people on the trip. Fellow campers, strangers on hikes. But there will be many moments when I will be out in the wild, or on trails, on my own. I have done this before in India, but this will be way more into the wilderness. After all, Colorado is the bear country. But with all safety in mind, I feel it will be an exhilarating experience. There is something about high alpine lakes and snow capped mountains towering over you that pull you into the present and demand your attention. It is a great ego dissolution machine as you reckon with your true place in nature. I think that is what I crave, being mindful and present for a while, before I join the normal flow of things. I am curious as to what living in such a setting for 14 days will do to me.

I have three nights of camping experience and about 8 days of solo trip experience. This will be by-far the greatest leap of faith. I feel I will carry a few books and a hammock. A stove and firewood. And drive to campsites around Colorado. As I plan this trip, I am pulled into the usual, how many places can I cram in these 14 days kind of thinking. But I remind myself that the reward is not in the number of places to be covered. Nor in the pictures amount of pictures to be clicked. Both are just collections that have little value. It is more about experiencing flow in a natural setting and challenging myself to break from conveniences.

In all aspects, this is a reckless idea. But then again, when am I going to have the liberty of being so stupid again?