Many lose sight of the vast scope of the outdoors because of what I call “The Tunnel Syndrome.”
It occurs when heavy traffic becomes a daily routine. On Bay Area roads, I’ve seen people get fixated on the traffic to the point that their world consists of the cars ahead, blocking the way, and the cars behind, tailgating. For everybody, it’s push, push, push, and after a while, it’s as if they are in a tunnel. They become unaware of anything outside that tunnel.
Refuse to participate. Keep an eye to the landscape that surrounds you. Despite strips of congested roadways and pockets of crowded cities, 90 percent of the Bay Area’s landscape is open space and water. It is wild, unsettled and beautiful, waiting for you to explore it. Much of it is just over the hill from the roads. To see it, you have to get out of the tunnel.
It is the same way across much of America.
Feel great in the next 24 hours: Hike. Bike. Camp. Fish. Boat. Wildlife watch. Explore. Go to TomStienstra.com.
For the new edition of California Hiking, go to http://74.220.215.219/~tomstien/books/california-hiking/
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