Connecting with the past
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Fourteen years ago, my family and I traveled up north to visit Yosemite National Park, which was the first national park that I visited. I was three years old and thus do not remember the contents of the trip, even when looking back at photos taken during our visit to the park.
As the years went by, the number of national and state parks that my family and I visited increased. We would visit national parks during winter and summer breaks, and state parks during spring and Thanksgiving breaks. Our visits to national parks would sometimes be as long as two weeks, where we spent much of our stay hiking and enjoying the scenery. Some national parks that I have visited recently are Death Valley, Grand Canyon, and the Rocky Mountains. With regards to state parks, our visits would only last a day, since the ones we have visited were not too far from home, such as Point Mugu. The duration of our hikes would range from two to seven hours long. Although it seems like a long time, it does not feel like it when in the face of nature. The breathtaking sights would take my mind off the strenuous and long hikes, and we would reach the parking lot (the end of the trail) after what would seem like only one hour of walking.
My father is the one who has a passion for hiking and adventure, and his enthusiasm for the outdoors spread to the rest of my family. Since he was a teenager, my father liked to explore countries through volunteering. For example, he worked in a kibbutz (an agricultural community) in Israel after finishing high school in the Netherlands. He brought his love for exploration with him when immigrating to the United States.
In my opinion, nature is fantastic. The idea that people from many centuries ago have stood in the same place where I have stood when I hike or have seen the same trees that I have seen is fascinating. I plan to explore nature in other countries when the pandemic is over. But in the meantime, I will continue to visit different national and state parks in the United States during the upcoming seasonal breaks.
