I was lucky enough to spend three incredible days in the Swiss Alps last week, hiking, and studying the climate and vegetation patterns. I have always been an ocean girl, but wow, the mountains are certainly amazing! I think that we can always learn a thing or two when we’re in new places, and especially outdoors. Here are a few of my thoughts and takeaways from the trip:
- Watch your step, but don’t be afraid to look up and around to take in your amazing surroundings.
- Breathe. The air is fresh, the day is clear, take a moment and enjoy it.
- The sun is always shining, whether you can see it or not! Even at night, it shows itself in the form of a star-speckled sky.
- Stay up late and stargaze, wish on a shooting star. Nothing compares with a sky that is glowing with stars.
- As with the ocean, standing beside the mountains makes you feel like the smallest thing on the Earth. It is a big wide world, and it is also a small world in other ways.
- Trust your body and yourself. You are stronger than you think, and are capable of more than you realize.
- Grow where your roots are, and don’t be afraid to be transplanted. Sometimes a strong wind will uproot you and take you to another peak, go with the flow and thrive where you are planted.
- Don’t drink water from a glacial river, aka glacial milk. A brilliant aqua, the ice-cold rivers have tiny particles of rocks and minerals (not great for the digestive system!)
- Tread lightly, and leave no trace.
- Just be. Be happy, be yourself, be outside, be awesome, be humble, be curious.
