Let wilderness be part of you

Nature is not a museum to visit. It is home.

I grew up in one of the biggest cities in the world, surrounded by cars and buildings, and with very little nature around me. My parents would take me to the beach or to the country every once in awhile, and I enjoyed it — but we never hiked, camped, or anything like that, so being in the wild was never really my thing. Until the moment I had no words to describe the beauty in front of my eyes.

That moment happened a few years ago, in the Atacama Desert, Chile. This astonishing place completely burst my city bubble. From a red sand desert with dunes hundreds of meters high, to dozens of pink flamingos standing right in front of me, to a frozen lake with an indescribable shade of green — I found myself with my jaws dropped, hypnotized by my surroundings.

Every single day I spent there was a day I was not only discovering the world, but also discovering myself. It made me realise how deep our connection with planet earth is. Being in that incredible wild place made me realise how so many humans like me — especially those of us living in big cities — see nature only as an escape from our stressful lives.

We go, we breathe, we look at nature as if we were looking at a painting in a museum, and we leave.

Since my visit to the Atacama desert, I’ve become more and more drawn to the wild. I’ve stopped seeing myself as an spectator on this planet. I know now that I also have the duty to protect it. As my connection to the natural world has grown, so has the inspiration and strength it’s given me to fight for it.

It took 25 years for me to venture into the wild and let it be part of me; to see that human development doesn’t mean living apart from nature; to understand that we are linked to the Earth and that when we damage the planet, we damage ourselves.

Just like every other living being on the planet, I am a part of nature. And I’ve decided to embrace it.

Has your experience in nature changed you as well? What is your story?