We live indoors!
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007The big day is here, today I depart for North Dakota to complete a cross country bicycle trip that I started in 2005! I'm excited and anxious, typical feelings one might experience before an epic adventure. Last night as I poured over my checklists and plans one last time an interesting thought occurred to me, we humans, as a rule, live indoors!
Ok, you may be wondering what this has to do with bicycle touring and what I mean is this, and think very hard about this question; What is the longest period of time that you have ever went without going indoors? And I mean without going in doors at all, not to get a candy bar at a gas station, not to use a restroom, not going indoors for any reason.
My longest time period without going indoors is 6 1/2 days, it happened when Dad and I took our first Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe trip in 2004, we paddled off early on a Monday morning and were in the woods and completely out of doors, without electricity or running water until the following Sunday afternoon.
When I thought about it a bit more I couldn't come up with any other times in my life where I had spent more than 2 or 3 days out of doors, the only other time I spent that much time out of doors was during a stint in the active Army, we bivouacked for a week, but even then we made it indoors to the commissary a couple of times for snacks and a shower. Beyond that there were few exceptions where I didn't get inside at least once every 2 days or so.
By the standards of the Canoe Trip I mentioned above my 5 week cycling adventure will be tame in the out-of-doors aspect. I'll probably be indoors a couple of times a day, to eat lunch or buy a Gatorade. The surprising thing to me is how even those few minutes indoors tint our experience of the outdoors, those few simple minutes at the camp shower house or that hour spent in some remote diner give us a sense of safety and comfort that simply doesn't exist in the remote wilderness.
If you ever get the chance to escape the indoors for an extended period of time I recommend you take it, on the one hand it makes us appreciate what we have and on the other it makes us realize that we way over complicate our lives with possessions and toys, there is a certain joy and contentment in simplicity, one you'll never experience if you don't spend some extended time genuinely out-of-doors.
Next Stop North Dakota!
Gary
www.rollingroads.com
