We can learn a lot about green travel and nature from these two writers. We can learn how to love life a little more and launch into adventures with a sense of humor.
Thoreau and the Pond: Deliberate Life
Some, such as Henry David Thoreau, decided to live on Walden Pond for a period of two years, and then recounted his life in the woods in 1854’s Walden. My undergraduate English professor often joked that in the area of Massachusetts near Walden, one could buy tee shirts and buttons that said Thoreau Went Home On Weekends and while it’s true that Thoreau made his two-year home on land owned by his good friend Ralph Emerson, I don’t think that undercuts the beauty of what he managed to accomplish. Thoreau did something extraordinary and took himself out of society to get away from the hustle and bustle of 19th century Concord. (This fantastic blog post focuses on Thoreau as a master of perception-based travel – what we might today refer to as a ‘staycationer.’)
Thoreau’s major work had a “sit around and wait” feeling to it, but when he really gets going, his writing hits a nerve and stays there. As an undergraduate, I remember slogging through an excruciatingly boring section about watching beans grow, and then out of nowhere, Thoreau would transform before my eyes, becoming a magician of nature: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to dig deep and suck out all the marrow of life.
The twenty-year old that I was willingly forgave Thoreau his notes about beans and farming to get to sections like that, where his writing practically becomes a spiritual dare to dive in to nature.
Bryson and the Woods: Laugh At Yourself
Bill Bryson is another writer who made nature come alive for me in A Walk in The Woods, though I have no illusions about my own ability or desire to hike the Appalachian Trail. But Bryson’s tale of a middle-aged man who ropes his best friend into the hike of a lifetime is utterly hilarious. If Thoreau double-dog dared you to live in your own local woods and see what life really meant, Bryson’s books promise that there is some grand, hilarious adventure just up ahead.
Green Travel Matters
Green travel matters . It seems that every moment technology is growing by light-years. At some point, here’s my personal dare. Figure out what joy means for you, hit the woods, do some hiking. Building your own cabin on a friend’s land is purely optional, but I believe it matters that you try something new, be open to Bryson-style hilariousness, and like Thoreau, make your own journey into a spiritual dare; allow yourself to get lost in your own backyard and see where you end up.
