Find Your Happy Place; Mine Happens to be in the Mountains

Let’s be real for a minute. Most folks go on vacation to relax from the everyday grind of work, home life, and whatever else might stress them out. Realistically, most employers do not provide a true work-life balance for their employees. So for many, vacation is a way to reset. To take back some of that ‘life balance’. After all, they work hard and want to enjoy the fruits of their hard work. And quite honestly, who doesn’t love an amazing AND relaxing vacation?

Me. Apparently, it’s me. I’m the person that doesn’t love a relaxing vacation. Amazing yes, relaxing, no. Well, depending on your definition of relaxing I suppose.

But first, an excerpt from my journal

It’s the first day of the new year. 2024. And as I write this, it is from my happy place….the mountains. Do you have that one place you love above all else? The one that makes your heart happy. The one that gives you a sense of calm. That no matter what is going on in your life, it will always bring you peace. That is what the mountains are for me. I have never felt more at peace and as happy with a place as I do here.

It goes beyond that as well. I feel such a sense of adventure and freedom when I’m here. I could spend part of every day hiking waterfalls and the Appalachian Trail and never be bored. I’d certainly be much fitter. Nothing makes you feel quite as out of shape as hiking a “strenuous” mountain trail.

I made a pledge, many years ago, that every time I came to the mountains, I would do at least one, if not more, day hikes of the Appalachian Trail. It’s a bucket list thing and all. Even bought the book for reference. Managed a couple of A.T. hikes on this trip but those details are for another day.

As my last day winds to a close and we get ready for one last hike before we head home, I can’t help but be a little sad that it went by so quickly but so very thankful I was able to come at all and spend it with the people that I love. There is no place like the mountains and I’m already planning my return trip. The wait will be torture but there is always fishing to pass the time.

Note: I recognize that some of my journal entries appear to be directed at someone as evidenced by this particular entry. This is because, at some point (many, many years into the future, I hope), I will pass on from this life and undoubtedly, one or more of my children will then come to possess my journals.

Take the leap, be adventurous

Several years ago, I stayed in a cabin at Christmastime just outside Helen, Georgia for the first time with my family. It was something I had never done before, nor would I have ever considered it. Not because I wasn’t interested, but because it was just one of those things that never crossed my radar until the idea was presented to me. It took only one trip to fall in love with the mountains. Being in the brisk, mountain air, hiking my way through waterfall after waterfall, a sense of home and a sense of calm like no other settled in my heart and never left. I could move north tomorrow and never regret it.

"Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong." – Jennifer Pharr Davis

All that to say, take the leap, and be adventurous. You never know how much you will love something or how important it could become to you until you try it.

Finding your happy place

Life is hard and it’s messy and it can be overwhelming. We spend most of our lives working to support ourselves and our families, never taking the time to stop and “smell the roses”. We assume there will always be time for that later. That if we work hard enough, for long enough, it will pay off in the end and then we can finally enjoy the fruits of our labor when we retire.

Why wait that long? In most cases, folks are too tired, bodies too broken, or didn’t make enough to do all the things they thought they would get around to when they are older. Take the trip while you are still young enough to enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Find your happy place. The place that you love above all others. Maybe it’s the beach or traveling the Caribbean on a cruise ship or maybe, like me, it’s being in the mountains, hiking high enough to touch the sky.

Once you find your happy place, make a promise to yourself to visit there frequently. For me, it’s at least once a year, but I hope to change that in the future. If I had my way, I would move tomorrow and spend every afternoon hiking mountains and waterfalls but for now, once or twice a year will have to do.

Where is your happy place? How often do you get to spend time there?