As long as I can remember the environment has always played a part in my life. When I was younger being outside was something that I would take every chance to do.

Hiking at the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta with my dad and brother or taking a month out of my summer to go on a backpacking trip out west are memories I won’t forget. Doing mutiple long road trips across this country with my older brother contributed to who I am in so many ways that nothing else can top them. It was on these trips that I grew up and realized that the environment was what I would focus on in life. As I have gotten older it was not a surprise that my passion for the outdoors was growing and my life path was being influenced by it.

I am the most comfortable not in a concrete and ashpalt city but in the backcountry where you dont hear the sounds of trucks. You hear the birds and the wind blowing against the branches. You hear deer and other animals all around knowing that they are staring at you. This is where I am at peace. There is nothing that compares to what I feel when I am miles away from civilization and can sit at a fire and just listen in silence to my surrounding. That is relaxing….not sitting at a pool in your backgard although there is nothing wrong with that. As the summer approaches you should consider going into the backcountry and really see what being at peace with yourself and nature is all about.