It has been 3 years and I have obviously not done anything with this blog so I'm back to change it up a bit. As I only have one follower (thanks, James! I knew I married you for a reason) I don't think he will mind. As for the rest of you, if you are reading my blog in reverse Chronological order, you may want to stop here. If you read the first 3 posts, please don't judge me... or go ahead and judge me. Man, that 3-years-ago-Des was so lame! I feel like I have a bit more clarity and focus now and hopefully I will keep up with this. If not, check back in 2014 for my next post.
I recently had the immense pleasure of traveling to Alaska with Lindblad and National Geographic Expeditions. I work in Lindblad's New York office but have not traveled with our company in about 4 years. It was hugely eye-opening for me and it's a large reason why I'm taking up this blog again. Alaska was so much more than I expected. It's Awe Inspiring, Majestic and largely untouched by man. The towering snow-capped mountains, the crisp smell of pine, and the abundance of wildlife awakened a spirit in me that I haven't felt in so long. I felt like I could breathe again for the first time in years. For one brief week, I was that little girl again who spent her summers playing in the woods finding old snakeskins, Indian arrow-heads and building crazy forts. I was me again.
The thought of coming back to the city terrified me. I did not want to lose myself again. I did not want to become that person who is brainwashed by the overload of advertisements; who has a constant feeling of need and greed. I didn't want to always hear myself say, "I would be happy if I just had that dress, or lost 10 lbs, or had the new Iphone, or looked like that girl over there." The list goes on, resulting in a person who is confused and not at peace. Something about New York does that to me and I may be wrong but I think it does that to a lot of other people. When I was in Alaska, all of that disappeared and I realized that I needed to make some changes. I can no longer allow myself to spend my weekends on the couch, nursing a hangover and watching mindless TV.
There is so much to see and do right here in our backyards. There are a lot of great state parks, campgrounds and wildlife preserves right in New York and New Jersey. Just because I live in the city, doesn't mean I have to become the city. There is no reason why my future kids have to become TV and video game addicts, deprived of those childhood experiences that I had. It is up to me to make those changes and that's what I'm trying to do here. I'm going to try to commit to doing something to escape the city and connect with nature once a week and write about it. I promise to try to make it interesting and hopefully funny.
I will leave you with some photos from my recent trip to Alaska.
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