Hiking Across Canada : Shooting for the Moon
These days
I am constantly asked - Why? Why give up your career? Why sell your house to fund a trip talking
about birds? Why donate most of your
possessions just to go hiking? To which
my first answer is – that I was born to wander, born to teach, and am driven to
explore and be in nature.
None of
these are odd goals, in fact, did you know that not long ago people use to go
to parties to celebrate scientific discoveries, when ships arrived in the
harbour people would line up to see what amazing items were unloaded, later
they would wait for the mail to arrive to see what the new National Geographic
magazine would tell them about the world, and they watched the television while
humanity – time after time – did the impossible! Yet today so many of us have the sense that
‘everything is known’, that ‘the experts will take care of it’, that ‘it can be
Googled’, or that ‘the world is too dangerous to go to this place or that
place’. But – almost none of that is
true. In fact there are new species
being discovered every year, new explorations of the earth being undertaken
regularly, and new innovations made all the time!
Fewer people have completed Canada’s
Great Trail than have gone to the moon.
That is how amazing this achievement is.
Even the spectrum and diversity of individuals on the trail is
amazing....all from different parts of the country and the world, with
different heritages, different backgrounds, different beliefs....it’s pretty
amazing. Actually it’s more than
that.... it’s downright awesome! It’s
one of those things that make you grateful to be Canadian! To be able to hike
across a country so vast with so many different peoples, cultures, geographies,
and biological niches - safely and continually discover new things and make new
connections between people, communities, and the environment is beyond
description!
When you look at something like the
vastness of Canada’s Great Trail, it reminds you that despite the sense that
everything is known, that the answers to everything are on Wikipedia, or that
the world is an inherently dangerous place (so stay inside), that in fact there
are tons of things yet to discover, that need exploration, that require
investigation, and that are yet to be done.
So for those interested in exploration,
driven by curiosity, propelled by inquiry and for those with a pension for
science or math – I would challenge you to shoot for the challenges that few
out there have done. Regardless of what
you might think about the world and nature, so much out there has yet to be
discovered and learned. You might just
be the first person to find that new species, or name that mountain, or unearth
the untold part of our history!
If I have learned anything in this
past year – it is that no matter how big your idea might sound to some – there
are others in the world that not only want to do the same thing, but that can
help you and support you! Once you put
your ideas into the world you will be amazed by the amount of understanding,
advice, and support you will receive. (There
are entire organizations dedicated to promoting exploration! Check out the Explorer’s
Club and Royal Canadian Geographic Society!)
So in your endeavours – no matter
how wonky, how out of the box, or how far-fetched they might seem to others –
shoot for the moon. Take the risk and
make the attempt – it is in trying and the voyage that we become greater as
individuals and as a people. Ignore the
naysayers, make your plans, stand up for your beliefs, and go for it! Ours is an age that calls each of us to dream
big.
While I have every expectation of completing
this hike and touching every ocean – the fact is that even if I am unable to –
just in daring to be different, striving to challenge what I know, to break out
of the routine I was in, see the world from a different perspective and see the
moon shine from the other side of the earth – it will all be worth it!
Never give up on your dreams, never
stop being creative, and remember you are never too old and it is never too
late!
Dream big and keep exploring – it’s
the stuff that life is made of!
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