Exploring the Great Outdoors
his is kind of a weird story, but one of the reasons I moved out of Tokyo to Yugawara was for access to the outdoors. That in and of itself isn’t weird – a lot of people want to be more in tune with nature. What is weird is – much like those many people – aside from a nebulous appetite for adventure, I didn’t actually know what that meant.
Sure, I occasionally WWOOF‘d. I’d go camping with friends on occasion. Once a year or so I’d go on a long bike trek. But all of that was mediated, separated from my cloistered existence in the City. What was weird was that I realized that by having been confined to the concrete jungle for so long, I had actually forgotten what it meant to live surrounded by nature. I only had proscribed adventures, not any real ones.
This meant only one thing: I needed to rediscover that wonder. But where to start?
Getting Back to Nature
he garbage farm, that’s where. A thrifty friend of mine – and honestly basically an akiya mentor – has a deal with some vacant farmland in Yugawara that he’s slowly been rehabilitating. What was originally over-grown, rotted-out greenhouses is now a respectably productive DIY farm, complete with 3 goats, 20 some chickens, and countless structures made of refuse.
This was an excellent re-introduction to getting my hands dirty, and I still contribute to that community to this day. But was it enough? Oh no, I was just getting started.
Adventure Awaits!
round the time I moved, I had also stumbled across an article about an app called Randonautica. A lot of it was a bunch of neo-hippie horse shit, but I am skilled at reading through that. What I saw was something more important than promises of ley lines and synchronicities. The app, at its core, is a randomized coordinates generator which, when decoupled of eerie expectations, is a great motivator to get out the door and wander. Randonautica isn’t so much an adventure generator as it is an adventure compass – follow it, and you might find even more things to chase after.
Once I started getting back into nature, opportunities began flying at me. Mountain climbing, skiing, free diving, off-roading. There’s so much to experience out there, away from Netflix and your home office. It’s all so invigorating, health-giving, life-affirming. It’s also so sad, because it’s not pursued in greater numbers more frequently…
Recommended Apps for the Outdoors
The World Will Pass You By
‘ll shit on the state of things today, including the creep of technological determinism. But things are not black and white, and I allow for shades of gray in my personal and professional life. To be aware of something is the first step in addressing it. Knowing available tools is maybe the second. Regardless of the negatives that also come with much of the IT industry, it also provides opportunity, if leveraged correctly.
This is part of why this site even exists, and that I consider very important, and suspiciously lacking from standard practice. There’s a balance to be sought between bleeding-edge technology and Nature. Adventure is the product of the two, from which stems inspiration, health, and, ultimately success.
Introducing elements of rewilding to your understanding of the world around you will show you things you never before imagined. Understanding the latest and most applicable technology will help you pursue those things. And once you catch it? Well, the rest of the world is still out there for you to find, so don’t worry, you’ll have your work cut out for you.