Why do we go?

And so the planning begins.  You try to anticipate everything that you might encounter, what you’ll need to survive, what food you will eat and where you will find water, what you will need to save your life if your worst fears should come true.  Of course you can’t predict every possibility, but the last thing you want to become is a feature story on “I Shouldn’t be Alive”…so you try.

When you step out of the truck and pull on your pack it’s with a sense of excitement, anticipation, and trepidation all at the same time.  Deep down inside you know it will all be fine…you just know that it will... but…you don’t really know. 

So why go?  Why take the chance?  Why push into the wilderness with only what you can carry on your back?  Why step out of your comfort zone into a harsh hostile place where the elements and the wild beasts have the upper hand?  You could get a nice motel room and sit by the pool sipping margaritas all afternoon.
 
I could say we go for the adventure, the challenge, and the beauty and that's certainly all true, but it goes much deeper than that.  We go because when we come out, that margarita by the pool tastes so much better than it would have if we hadn’t gone. We go because when we get back the simple niceties that we often take for granted seem so much nicer than ever before. We go because when you are out there, just the two of us, miles from any civilization, it builds a special trust like nothing else can.