There’s a guy who wandered off… not off track, not off the moral path, not even off his rocker… he just wandered off.  He preferred to breathe and wander in the great outdoors.  He preferred to feel his legs burn after miles of walking in the dirt and rocks.  That’s what brought him to life!  He preferred stars whispering to him at night and sunshine greeting him in the morning and even rain making him sleep in somedays. 

There’s something to be said for the times we wander off and drop the daily grind, even if just for a few days or hours.  It’s been said that “Not all who wander are lost”.   I agree!  The guy who wandered off in 1934 spoke for many of us when he said, “I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities.”. And that wanderer, Everett Ruess, was never heard from again.  Edward Abbey proclaimed what I would refer to as a blessing or benediction upon those of us who value the “wander”.  He wrote, “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view”. 

Wandering, we like to think that it’s a universal need or a part of the way God wired us.  I don’t know for sure.  But for me… “It’s good for the soul.”!

From the bottom of our hearts here at Adventure Now Outdoors...

Happy Wandering in 2024!