Everyone needs to get out of the city from time to time. This was true for Keith Charles and his friends Kari, Amanda, Cam, and Michel’lé this past fall. They trekked from New York City up to the Adirondacks and documented their journey. Along the way, they captured some stunning images and video, and imparted some life lessons and deep thoughts on their journey. In the spirit of giving, we thought we’d share what they found. The outdoors are for all of us.

Always a city boy,
I preferred to sit in the floor
of our too-small apartment,
I minded my manners
and stayed out of arguments.
Trips into Nature so infrequently came
that my unfamiliarity kept me woefully estranged
from Mother Nature herself.

But am I not Nature myself?
How can anyone say this is not my name?
What if it were yours, too?
As we are watered we blossom.
The color comes alive in our skin like we were born here,
Not in a hospital where we were lucky enough to make it out of the
womb,
Here on a trail, whether charted or uncharted,
And fixed toward the rhythms and dreams that we are still owed,
That were taken from us and our mothers and their mothers and so on.

I have come for what I am owed,
Humbly.
Knowing, though my name is Nature,
That I have not walked this land before.
And I do hope this land is patient with me.
Patient as I sift through my fears.
Patient as we get to know one another.
Patient with a curious spirit.

Here I am ready to breathe like never before
with what feel like new lungs.