"Every journey taken always includes the path not taken, the detour through hell, the crossroads of indecision and the long way home." -
Hiking is that one thing in my life that helps me look at the journey one step at a time. Some times it gets tough, many times one wants to give up, often times one despises the decision to even have started, the journey is never easy, but the reward is priceless.
I had never thought about bay area as much when I was in grad school. Although there is no other place like Silicon valley for a techie, I never thought about it much when I was surviving grad school. All I focused on was to do my thesis right, get good grades, find a job and afford a place to live by myself.
I made it through the first three, but still couldn't get to the part of living without a roommate. And that was essentially how California welcomed me, or how I like to think!
My move was a pretty big one, not as big as Pune, India to Blacksburg, US, but I like to think it was quite significant. California surprised in many different ways, I have to start with Indian food. Spending my 2.5 years in Virginia and upstate New York, I had never imagined that we would get Indian food in United States. And I don't mean the fancy westernized Indian restaurants, I am talking about chaats and dosas and momos, oh wow! The first time I went to a south Indian restaurant in Sunnyvale and ate dosa, I felt like this is the best place on earth. But, there was more than comfort food that California had to offer.
It was early enough after I moved to the valley, I realized that this was the place to enjoy outdoors. I have always loved outdoor activities, I hiked the popular trails in Virginia and NY, and that was when I fell in love with hiking. Moving to CA was like heaven for me, did you know California is home to nine national parks. I am so proud to say I have visited 7 of them. But it is not just about the national parks, what gives me immense pleasure is the vicinity to variety of trails, parks, and mountains as close as 20 mins. My favorite trail in bay area is called the PG&E trail and it is 20 mins drive distance from my home. Can you imagine!
2017 was my year of hiking, I must have hiked biweekly early spring through fall. It has definitely given me a different perspective to think about myself as an individual. When I started, it was difficult, I did not have great stamina, every single time I went on a hike, within twenty minutes into the hike, I would question my decision thoroughly. I never gave up though, pushed myself minute for minute and it turned out always worthy at the top of the mountain and got me excited for my next mountain climb that very same moment. Hiking played a very important role when it came to generating awareness about my own fitness. I decided I have to work out regularly, build some muscles, and build stamina. If it were not for my hiking adventures, I would have not been able to convince myself to work out. Of course, I have read many articles and ted talks on how physical fitness helps you keep mental sanity. But, we all read stuff online, there are dozens of resources for every single thing one can imagine. It is extremely easy to read a book or watch an inspiring video and work towards driving a change in your life. Not for me. I will move mountains if I am convinced that I want to do it and it is going to work positively for me and thus, is a source of happiness. But, until I can convince myself about anything, I can be stiff as a rock. Hiking has been a driver of positive changes in my life and the best gift California had in store for me.
Lastly, if I would like you to take something from my rambles, it would be these three things:
- Find the one thing that you thoroughly enjoy
- Make a commitment to it
- And never say never
P.S. Detailed posts to follow about some of my favorite hikes. Stay tuned.
Keep calm and climb on!
