If there is one thing that the COVID pandemic has taught me, it’s that time is our most precious resource.

We have inherited this world full of places so breathtakingly beautiful that they almost seem too impossible to be real. Ok, let’s get a show of hands. Who has been in awe of National Geographic magazine since you were a child? Who loves to watch any wildlife documentary narrated by David Attenborough? Who has a running list of all of the National Parks you have visited and the ones you still need to see? Who dreams of taking a vacation to far away places like Alaska, Nepal or Thailand? Of course you have! Now that we’ve agreed that we all want to visit wild places I am going to give you two reasons why you should:

1. Nature is beautiful and it always will be

While modern technology combined with increasing urbanization has allowed us to be more digitally connected, our attention seems to be focusing more down and in toward our brightly backlit screens rather than up and out toward the sunlit natural world. Yes, the things we view on-screen are fun and artistically beautiful but ultimately they are no substitute for standing in a mountain meadow or walking barefoot on a beach. I love digital technology as much as anyone. Heck, I’m writing this article on my computer while streaming Netflix in the background right now! BUT I also know that I need to disconnect from the matrix regularly and go play in the outdoors. Our brains are not wired to be wired all the time. So much constant digital stimuli is overwhelming. Picking up our smartphones repeatedly over and over and over throughout the day to get online actually makes us more stressed out.

Why? The more time we spend in the digital world the less connected we become from the natural world. This is a problem because the digital world isn’t real. And since it isn’t real the only way we can enter the digital realm is through an avatar, a fabricated version of our earthly self. This is fun and exciting because we can build our avatar in any way that we choose. We can be anything that we want. But, I’ll say it again, the problem is that it isn’t real. So the more time we “exist” through our avatars the less time we invest in our real living bodies. And that makes us ultimately more unhappy. But don’t worry, there’s an easy cure. Nothing beats a walk in the woods to clear your head and soothe your soul (save the instagram stories post until you get back home though!). Humans have a primal connection to nature so we need to spend time in the outdoors regularly.

2. We all take time for granted

Simply put, go today because you might not be able to go tomorrow. I know I’m certainly guilty of putting things off until a later date because I’ve just been too busy. However, the flaw in this thinking is that I have always trusted time to be this great friend that I can always count on to be there when I need it. I never would have thought in a million years that I wouldn’t be able to just hop on a plane and go to Japan whenever I want to. I have too many things going on this year so I’ll just go next year, right? Well, unfortunately that freedom of travel that we all once enjoyed is now gone due to the COVID pandemic. And it’s very likely that travel restrictions will limit our travel options for at least another year. So I’m viewing this as my own personal wake up call. There will certainly be a tomorrow but that tomorrow may not look anything like today. Time is not something to be taken for granted because it keeps moving forward even if we are not.

When the pandemic is finally over and borders start to open their arms to tourists again, I for one plan to take those trips I have been talking about for years. My camera better be ready to put in some serious work because I’m going to finally get those dream photos of the wild places that have patiently been waiting on my list. And when I raise my lens to take the shot I’m going to make every FRAME COUNT!