8 Life Lessons You Can Learn After Taking Up Hiking

by Kaitlin Wylde

Growing up in a woodsy suburb, I always felt like I was more of an indoor kid. I wasn’t particularly athletic, I was scared of the woods, allergic to most plants, and sneezed in the sun. While the other kids were trekking through the forests, playing hide and seek, collecting pet rocks, skinning their knees and looking for Big Foot, I was inside.

I much preferred to play in the world of Super Mario from the safety of my living room. I wanted to be a part of my surroundings and I wanted to lay in the grass, weave flower crowns, pretend to smoke with twigs and go camping with the other kids, but it seemed my body and mind were not built for it.

About a year ago, my brother, who’s much more of an outdoors kid than I, dragged me on a hike with him, and changed my life immeasurably. I was recently dumped, greasy-haired and sullen, sitting on the couch watching what I thought was The Jersey Shore but turned out to be Long Island Medium. My brother called me and asked what I was doing.

I looked down at my sweat pants, which had little bit of hardened yogurt on them, and started to cry. “Writing,” I lied. “Do you have sneakers?” he asked. “I’m not going running with you,” I said, emotionless and stern. “We’re not going running. I’m picking you up in an hour.”

I hated not knowing what we were about to do. My brother’s always been more adventurous than I am, but typically he would embark on his adventures alone — he knew better than to drag me along, I’d only ever slow him down. He didn’t have to see the YoPlait on my pants to know that I needed to get out of the house — he could smell my defeat through the phone.

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