Reset: Back To Nature

Growing up, I’ve always loved technology. And staying “inside”.

I never liked leaving my home because I loved being in my comfort zone surrounded by cool tech like my the family desktop computer, my video games and satellite TV. (Also, I had a bit of anxiety so being at home felt safest to me).

As I grew older, I started like going outdoors especially when it was out of the city. I actually felt a “yearning” for it. It felt calming and actually helped with my anxiety.

Sometime during high school, I decided to apply for a student exchange programme where I got to spend a year in Alaska.

For a whole year, I was “outside”. Meeting new people, learning a whole culture, and experiencing new things.

Being out of my zone and doing something which was uncharacteristic created a spark in me. It helped me come out of my slump which I had been feeling since I was in Junior high school.

At that time, it felt like life had slowed down and my expectations of doing all the things I wanted to do weren’t going to come forward.

But being a new environment kind of changed everything and I’m thankful that I got to experience that. It was a game changer for me.

When I came back home in 2012, I was back to a “concrete jungle”. Bad air, bad vibes and generally not great people.

Then the downward spiral started all over again. I wasn’t happy. I was overworked and de-motivated.

It took some time but I finally I caught a break. I had quit my job, gone back to school and got my Masters. I found out about a tour company doing a summer trip to Singapore and Dubai. So I mentally prepared myself, signed up and saved up money for the trip.

It was all worth. I was back “outside”, seeing new things, new people, new culture. It was definitely worthwhile.

This was in 2019. I decided that I would do this more often. I was planning to take a trip to France and Spain next year.

But before I did, I did a local trip in Ghana because I wasn’t done having adventures.

I found a local travel group doing trips within Ghana. So I decided to sign up. The first trip was to Cape Three Points in the Western region. The trip included camping on the beach.

It was perfect. I was back in nature. Away from the city and the “toxicity”.

But I wasn’t done.

In December, I decided to go for another trip. This time to the Wli waterfalls. I had actually never been to an actual waterfall and this would be my first time and it was glorious.

Even though Covid 19 got Ghana on lockdown in 2020, my mind was made up to do more nature stuff in 2021.

And I’ve done just that.

I love being “outside”. It helps me get away from my laptop and all that screen time.

Mentally it’s been a great help.

Hopefully I get to do more along the way.

Life is short. You have to experience as much as you can before you expire.