Backpacking Rant of '11

Maybe I'm just spoiled. I still went camping, after all. And I get to travel to Beijing. Not to mention, I've fallen in love.

So maybe I'll just sound like a privileged white (asian) guy ranting about his first world problems when I say that I am extremely bewildered and rather frustrated that I have not gone backpacking. Hear me out, though.

I remember the long nights spent tired, awake, and angry. Angry at the world, at the homework I was doing, and especially at myself. Laziness and what could only be described as an addiction to one of civilization's greatest "achievement," the internet, resulted in extreme procrastination. There I was, typing up an essay or using a statistics program (and wandering the quiet, empty halls of the dorm room, which seemed more like the halls of a prison or insane asylum) from 1 in the morning till 7.

And of course, the more this happened, the more frustrated I became with modern society. And the more frustrated I became, the more I tried to search - to no avail, of course - for the kind of wonder and fulfillment that only community and nature can bring. I would browse websites for hours trying to find a nice nature picture or videos. I remember watching, during those nights, videos of people hiking the Appalachian Trail. The desire to be out there, in nature, in the forest, by the streams and mountains, was insatiable and nearly drove me insane.

It's okay, I thought. It's spring, and summer is coming soon. When that happens, of course I'll be able to gather some friends and go backpacking for a week. A week of backpacking with a limited food supply that provides the bare minimum for sustenance.

My philosophy is that nature is a fundamental human right. And when I say nature, I mean true exposure to nature. We can objectify pretty nature scenes with snow-capped mountains, flowering fields, and tall redwoods all we want. But it means absolutely nothing if all we do is drive on a road, stop to take a picture, and leave. Don't fuck nature - make love to it. And appreciate nature even if it doesn't fit society's standards of natural beauty.

This was my thinking when I planned out a backpacking trip in the Great Smoky Mountains. I wasn't going to drive down a road, take a picture of the mountains, and leave. I was going to walk for miles in the embrace of the trees. I wanted to let the dirt and mud seep between my toes. I wanted to feel the pulse of the rocks as I touched them and wrapped myself around them. I wanted to smell the air and swim in the streams. I wanted to watch the stars at night and remind myself how insignificant things are. It wouldn't have mattered that I was just in a forest that some might call "plain" and "boring." I don't necessarily need huge mountains or canyons to enjoy nature. I just need wilderness. I've realized over time that a simple forest - perhaps because of its inherent value and inner beauty - is far more breathtaking than any feeble attempt by man to create monuments or temples.

So I contest that I am being a spoiled brat when I complain about not having been able to do this. Everybody should have the right to experience the wonder and beauty of nature, regardless of race or class or anything else. People are entitled to wilderness. To argue otherwise would be insanity. And if wealthy people stuck in their suburban ways experienced this sort of transcendental exposure to nature, maybe they would realize that some things matter more than consumer goods in life, and maybe they would put away their iPads and run outside.

Maybe if billionaires and millionaires experienced true nature, the kind that makes you starve a little before you eat, work a little before you rest, they'd be less reluctant to give up a fraction of their superfluous wealth. Maybe if they were in a forest with other people and no distractions, they would actually TALK to other human beings and realize that life has value. Maybe they would stop exploiting people in third world countries by privatizing basic human needs like water and leaving people to starve and die.

And I guarantee you they would be happier.

This is why I want to go backpacking. Because it at least gives some glimpse into how things COULD be. A life where materialistic nothings aren't marketed to you as some sort of fulfilling miracle. Where cars aren't disguised as the harbingers of true love, where iPhones aren't presented as the solution to an evermore isolated and continually crumbling family unit. A life where we have our basic needs met - from physiological to fulfillment.

I am happier when I'm not glued to the computer screen. I am happier when I'm not around people who think "nice things" like cars and televisions and video games and green paper with portraits of dead people on them are more important than living your goddamn life. I am happier when I'm around people who live life in the moment, who are genuine and earnest and cooperative, who are humble and caring and loving and selfless. That is what nature can foster.

...Unfortunately, any friends that would do such a journey with me were either busy working (to make money to buy things to make them feel like they were fulfilled), not in town, or dead/living in a different era. And while I myself would be perfectly content giving a middle finger to the world to escape for a week by myself (and then, upon returning, apologizing for giving the middle finger and sharing stories of my high adventures), I happen to be an Asian child, and Asian children have Asian parents who cry with angry tears when you half-jokingly tell them that you would be interested in hiking the Appalachian Trail once you graduate. Asian parents would much rather you waste money on clothes that you don't need. They suggest you camp in the back yard with an absolutely straight face, and can't seem to understand why that is an absolutely inadequate solution.

While I am ranting without any clear indication of a concluding paragraph, I would like to add that I cannot stand suburban tendencies. Right-wing politicians always blame the poor for being entitled and too coddled with security and safety. They fail to see that the people from the upper-middle class to the super wealthy are the truely entitled and coddled ones. When "I can't even buy a new car" (actual quote) is somehow a justification for cutting basic social programs that help the poor and downtrodden, and "you aren't ready to go backpacking" even though I have already been backpacking is justification to not go backpacking, it becomes a bit clear who is really sacrificing freedom for security, and who is really demanding more than they need.

I also hate suburban vacation destinations. Why the hell does everybody, from Obama to the Republican Presidential candidates that criticize him for vacationing, vacation in Martha's Vinyard? What is so appealing to white folk about old plantation-style homes and old fancy cars and Hampton Inns? Go experience something REAL for gods sake! Go into the wilderness! If not that, at least go to some towns where things haven't been covered up in a thick coat of sugary white paint, the very same that is used to sugar coat those white picket fences in Littletown, USA.

And why do suburbanites who DO travel to third world countries in South America to give charitable services to children who face daily starvation or lack of healthcare or crime, and claim to have had life-altering experiences, still buy computers and clothes (A&F, Aeropostal, Hollister, etc.) and chocolates (Hershey's, Nestle, Ghiradelli, etc.) made by poor children in similar situations around the world?

I will conclude this non-sequitur rant by saying that yes, I am a privileged, overprotected, and often times whiny might-as-well-be-white Asian kid. And no, I have not done my fair share in giving back to those who do not have enough. But will somebody just let me go backpacking in the wilderness for at least a week so that I can begin to break away from this wasteful and menial way of life?

tl;dr (too long didn't read) version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdIVOC_cNJI