Something interesting happens when you visit a new place.
You see somebody else’s “same old, same old” with fresh eyes.
I look at the mountains in the photo and I see a play land. Full of trails to hike, frozen lakes to find, beautiful photographs to take, wildlife to see. But the folks who live and work in and around Glacier? A lot of them have never been to the park at all. Or, if they have, they’ve never hiked the long trails. What would be the rush to hike a ten-mile long trail if you lived there full time and it was always available to you?
What I see (from a visitor’s viewpoint) as amazing and beautiful and gotta-get-out-there-and-do-it, the locals see as hot and boring and full of mosquitoes (and bears).
We met some kids playing at the neighborhood park near our vacation rental and asked them if they go to the national park a lot. They said they’d never been.
It got me thinking about all the things here at home that I haven’t done, but that have been on my “want-to-do” list for a long time. Things that, if I were just visiting Florida for a short time, I’m sure I’d be out there doing pronto.
Here’s the list I jotted down on the plane:
1. paddle board yoga
2. surf lessons
3. pole dance classes
4. ocean kayak Anastasia Island/Amelia Island
5. deep sea fishing
6. snorkeling in the keys
7. running on the beach
8. yoga on the beach
9. more time at the rock gym (since I don’t have real rocks to climb)
10. picnics outside from November-June (when Glacier is snowed in.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I came up with these 10 things pretty darn fast. All ten are things I want to do, have wanted to do for a while, and just haven’t taken advantage of because they are available to me all the time–so what’s the rush?
The rush is this: I could potentially live in Florida the rest of my life without learning to surf unless I get off my ass and go do it. That’s the rush.
It’s time to look at my own hometown through a visitor’s eyes and see all the fun it has to offer. What about you? Do you take full advantage of the place where you live? Did you choose it because of the lifestyle it affords you or did you land there for other reasons? Are there things about your own hometown you could enjoy more than you do?
Please share your thoughts. I’d love to hear!
Subscribe to My Gypsy Soul by Email
