Less Toil - More Hiking

Henry David Thoreau was an avid practitioner of walking and hiking. I am, too.

Everybody needs to escape to places one can go to heal and gain strength in body, mind, and soul.

Thoreau said that "every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us." 

Besides being a personal mini-crusade, a walk in nature is also a natural anti-depressant. 

The smell of mycobacterium vacii, a microoganism fond in soil, compost and leaf mold, lights up neurotransmitters that release serotonin, which is a mood-lifting brain hormone.

I have never felt part of society, but have always felt completely comfortable in the wilderness. Maybe that's why.

During a hike in the woods I am the trees, the water, and the rocks. I forget about everything else.

This is it. The landscape absorbs me, takes me in, and it's as comfy a home as one will ever get.

This is my element, my centre, my very being. 

I can live without a lot, but I can't live without this. 

It is the essence of my simple living project. 

Less time toiling for the odious machine, and more time walking and hiking in nature.

Less civilization, less society, less cultural programming, and more wild spaces. 

There are no billboards here, no signposts, no sidewalks, no noise.

I can't remember any time that I didn't feel like escaping the hubbub of modern industrialized life. 

If our system is so great, why do so many want to get away from it all? "Escape" is an entire lucrative consumer category these days.

For me there is nothing better than regular periods of silence and solitude in nature. 

I highly recommend it. It cures all that ails us, and currently, there is an awful lot that ails us.

Listen to your inner hermit, plan your own crusade, and get out there today in the name of health and healing.