What makes Nature and the Wild so Alluring?
and…
Why is it, that Escaping Society into the Wild, is so Desirable?Ā
Introduction
Above, are a couple of questions I have been thinking about for a long time.Ā I knew what I wanted to write about, long before I made the title, and the post. However, it was challenging coming up with a title to convey the overall message of this article.
I came up with ‘why escaping society into the wild is the greatest feeling in existence’, as it needed to highlight the anti-society perspective, the link to hiking in nature, (or more broadly, being far from any man-made infrastructure in general), and most importantly – the euphoric emotions generated from combining these ideas.
It should be noted that this article is mostly referring to any kind of backcountry trip that is longer than two days. Overnight trips are harder to REALLY get the euphoric feelings.
There are 7 components that will be discussed, which contribute to why escaping society into the wild is the greatest feeling in existence:
- Escaping the Normalities of Society
- When It’s Just You and Nature
- Broadening Personal Limitations
- Devoid of Tourisms’ Prostitution of Nature
- The Primal Mind
- Atmospheric Euphoric
- Storytelling
1. Escaping the Normalities of Society
Whether we like it or not, we’re often bound to an informal etiquette of how to behave in society. Some of these are generally good things, but a lot of these we only do ‘just because‘. When we escape into the wilderness for long periods of time, there are few societal pressures upon us – we are free to be ourselves!
Examples of such societal pressures that can often be safely ignored in the wilderness are:
- Fashion – practical is favoured over presentable. e.g. make-up becoming non-existent, or menĀ wearing rain skirts being perfectly fine.
- Going to the toilet – no longer do we need to hide behind closed doors (or even being completely out of vision).
- Racial and civil stereotypes – all nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds are treated equally because we’re all out here for a similar reason.
- Gender-specific behaviours or issues – these become irrelevant in the wild.
- Personal hygiene and grooming – both become non-important (male and female). We can safely leave those tissues, razors and deodorant at home.
All of these points (under the influence of the wilderness), counter the largest bane to societal norms – judgement. When we can escape judgement (given or received), we begin to be ourselves.Ā
The best example from my experience where this has happened, is during my thru-hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. In this hike, living the trail-life for five months, I was part of a sub-culture following a different etiquette of how to behave in society – much akin to avoiding the societal pressures listed above. You don’t need to thru-hike to experience this though, any long hike in remote nature will uncover this hidden etiquette.
2. When It’s Just You and Nature
It is often the case, where we find ourselves hiking solo or with only one other. Being away from people in general is essential for the euphoric powers of nature to be truly grasped.
Think about how many days in your life, where you have left your house for general life activities, and NOT seen another person. Unless you live on a working farm, I doubt you’d get through many activities without meeting someone.
Now imagine not seeing ANY people for over 3-4 days straight? This is when the power of being alone in nature really kicks in. It is both exhilarating, and scary! Your thoughts become more centred to you and your surroundings, without having to worry about a lot of other unimportant things normally on your mind.
When in the wilderness alone, immediate life decisions are made by you, and only affect you. This ultimately means you can make better informed decisions that cater to your personal needs.Ā
When hiking in groups (although beneficial in other ways), sometimes our personal wants and needs are not the views of the entire party. Sometimes this can lead you to wanting to be alone with nature.
3. Broadening Personal Limitations
I’m sure everyone likes to follow the classic well-being quote to ‘always challenge yourself’. In the same vein, I like to think of overcoming challenges as overcoming limitations in an achievable ability. That is, we can all do certain things, but it takes a certain mindset and practice to actually extend the ability to broaden our skill set.Ā
When we are in the wilderness, we are ALWAYS learning, be it small or large. We learn as individuals, as couples or mates, or even as groups. However, when we’re alone, nature poses many more challenges for us.
Most of these challenges are mental pressures on being alone, such as negotiating with personal thoughts and decisions, or dealing with the fact that you have no immediate support. However, it’s often when we are alone, that we put our abilities to the test and develop them further.
The more people in your party, the lower the limitations of the entire party are. Unless you are very inexperienced, you will often find a greater benefit of setting out on personal conquests and broadening your limitations more directly. The trick is to ONLY test your immediate limitation boundaries, don’t undertake feats that are too far beyond your personal limitations!
4. The Primal Mind
There’s something romantic and wholesome about living with bare essentials away from our many luxuries. Many of us have dreamed or had a nonsensical thought, about living off the land and being self-sufficient, with no contact with the outside world. It’s this notion where living out of a backpack stems, and opens up the more primal mind.
We’re drawn to using natures tools and resources, rather than just ‘acquiring’ things in day to day life without any challenge. Even if we still take some luxuries away with us, there are still many primal joys that excite us. The idea of camp-fires, or sleeping in tents under the stars, and having no real shelter, probably come to mind first with this mindset!
5. Devoid of Tourisms’ Prostitution of Nature
High-end tourism allows nature to be exploited and destroyed. Building infrastructure and increasing accessibility only attracts more people to some of natures’ finest attractions. It is often impossible to find complacency and be in solitude in these settings.
Escaping from the bounds of tourism – those flat gravel highways or board-walks for walking. That cafĆ© at the trailhead. Those huts on Great Walks, bigger than many homes. Avoiding these features is getting harder and harder, with growing travellers seeking that ‘photo’, or check-boxing a famous hike.
Thankfully, it’s often about just finding a smaller path less-travelled, or no path at all nearby in these areas. Most of the deep remote wilderness hikes I’ve done stem from a popular area at least somewhere, but within hours, will take you into the heart of nature.
The only way to escape civilization and society, is to escape tourism and its detrimental effects on the environment.
Just to clarify, this doesn’t mean some infrastructure is bad. It’s quite important to have some for safety in certain areas – whether it’s a small hut for shelter, or a swing bridge for dangerous river crossings. The problem lies in the heavily developed areas, such as Great Walks.
6. Atmospheric Euphoria
This is the one we all have experienced, whether we have thought about it or not. You’ve just summited the huge mountain and are now looking at expansive views. Perhaps, you are camped in a gorgeous setting under the stars. It could be that you just arrived at that hidden epic waterfall, with the force of it’s power blowing into your face.
The chemicals in our body are now generating dopamine in the brain, and generate some strong emotional happy feelings where you are suddenly feeling attached to the surrounding nature – a kind of atmospheric euphoria! This kind of euphoria is often stronger than all other forms of euphoria we receive, and probably why we romanticize with the idea of being in nature so much.
7. Storytelling
Whilst being able to tell a story is not unique in any area of life, it’s the ones we remember with the most detail that matter most. It’s quite obvious that each time we go deep into the remote wilderness, we’re going to have many stories to tell – whether it be about the ‘good’ times, or even the ‘bad’ times (which often generate the best stories!).
When we’re stuck in civilization, our stories are generic and boring in comparison – most people in the world will have similar stories. However, that exciting hike you did into the back country? People want to hear about it! It’s great for conversation, and meeting like-minded people. Most importantly, the story often relates to a lesson learned, or development of your experience.
Conclusive Thoughts
Above, you read how I would break down the 7 main components to answering the question ‘why escaping society into the wild is the greatest feeling in existence’.Ā
These reasons for me, are important to justifying why I love my passion of hiking so much. I have found that it almost impossible for others’ to see the same point of view, until they themselves, have experienced such feelings on a remote hiking trip. Then, the cycle continues – the desire to get even more remote, or learn more advanced skills becomes the inner drive!
There are probably several more major areas that could be discussed that I may not have touched on. Please comment below this article if you wish to share or contribute any ideas.
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Mathew, Great to see you enjoying NZ tracks.
I would add Mindfulness to that list.
I find Hiking forces you to live in the moment ā as you need to use a fair amount of concentration to stay aware of your surroundings , as well as where to step plus determining the path.
So hiking is a form of mindfulness I think
I agree, great addition Steve! I might have to consider this one in an update!
Iām reading this to write an essay about the effects of nature on people and in books. Thank you for this beautiful article!
Thanks Samirah! I’m glad the post helped contribute to your essay! š
I’m interested in reading it!