Trek to “Disconnect, Unlearn, Learn and Connect”: Ways in which Trekking can help an Individual
In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.
-John Muir
As civilization has advanced over the last couple of centuries, technology has advanced. And as we became more civilized, our lifestyle has become more sedentary. Especially in the 21st century, where we have become more desk-bound or office-bound. We have lost the inner desire to explore the unexplored.
Moreover, the millennials are more inclined towards binge-watching web series, playing online games and consuming different forms of content. Forget about trekking, mountain climbing or hiking, most of them are now into e-sports rather than outdoor sports and activities.
So for them, trekking and mountain climbing seem to be something that is tiring and involves risk. It conjures up images of feeling drained of energy, muscle aches and cramps and even health risks such as insect bites and poisonous plants and altitude sickness.
By missing out on such amazing experiences and exposure, they might miss out on a lot of things in life. The least of all of it would be a potential career option. Apart from that, the treks or hikes that you might do can teach you what education institutes can never teach you. In fact, there are far more benefits of trekking as compared to the risks involved. We must train our mind and body to get out of the couch and start exploring.
Trekking, mountain climbing, hiking and solo travel can teach you a lot about life and even more about yourself.
Here are some ways in which trekking, hiking and solo trips have helped me become a better version of myself.
1. Improved Physical Fitness
Improved physical fitness is the sure-shot benefit of trekking or hiking. Solo trips may improve your physical fitness but that completely depends on the nature of the trip. How does trekking or hiking help in improving physical fitness?
While walking on uneven terrains or ascending a mountain, your body pulls your weight. Most of the time, you carry a rucksack with you which adds more weight to carry.
This tones up your muscles and makes them more resilient and flexible. It also improves bone density since you carry your weight plus other stuff at various inclined terrains.
2. Reduces Addictions
One of my friends, addicted to smoking went on Chadar trek in 2018. As a chain smoker, he used to smoke about 10–12 cigarettes per day. While on the trek, due to reasons like almost no availability of cigarettes and less availability of oxygen and the weather conditions, he did not smoke a single cigarette for over 10 days. This was his longest cigarette break since he started smoking.
This eventually led him to reduce his daily cigarette consumption and now, he hasn't smoked even once in the last 16 months.
So, treks at remote places or longer treks can help in reducing addictions. This may also work for someone addicted to drugs, tobacco, internet or even gambling.
3. Getting Away From Grind of Daily Life
If you are always at the desk of your office or on your working station at home, doing meetings all-day, updating sheets and sending out emails; trekking can help you get away from your daily grinding.
A question might arise. How is it different from taking a break and going on a luxurious vacation to some resort or visiting a happening city and party all weekend? Why would you leave your stressful daily routine and go on another physically and mentally challenging trek when you have the option to relax at a resort?
“Satisfaction, Introspection and Memories”.
Going on a trek might be physically and mentally challenging, but it does have higher rewards. Mountain areas have a better atmosphere and cleaner air. When you finish a moderate trek with some breathtaking views on the journey, you will always have a sense of satisfaction of achieving so much with so little. When you get back to your normal life after the trek, you will find satisfaction in every small thing that happens to you.
While on treks, there might come a point of realization where you will start to think about everything that you have ever done in life and how it has made a difference. You might realize that there are things you can do better than what you are currently doing. You won’t be able to introspect at a resort. That’s because you will be surrounded by people and things that you are always surrounded by. A trek into the wilderness will widen your horizons.
And the best part of all, you can show off and make your friends jealous of the amazing place you’ve been to. Everyone can go to resorts. Everyone can party on weekends. Everyone can make memories. But not everyone can finish treks. And the memories created during treks are there for a lifetime. That is because you might party or visit a resort again, but you will never trek on the same place again. And every trek has its own beauty. When you will look back at these memories after a couple of years, you will be able to remember the challenges you faced and how you overcame those challenges.
4. Improved Life & Survival Skills
While trekking, hiking or even solo travelling, you happen to improve your perception and self-awareness. This happens automatically because you start analyzing your surroundings for potential opportunities as well as threats.
For example, when I went for the Yuksom-Dzongri trek in 2010, we had to drink water from the waterfalls. We had to fill up all our empty water bottles whenever we saw a waterfall. Even though there were ample amount of waterfalls available at proper distances, there was a time when I needed water. I saw dew on the plants and start collecting it on my napkin. When it eventually became wet, I squeezed maximum water out of it and used it carefully for drinking.
You might face a similar or different situation while on a trek. You might have to face a wild animal or deal with a sprain or a fracture. During these times, you will start exploring your surroundings and this will enhance your survival skills and also be able to think creatively and enhance your “Jugaad” skills.
How will this help in your corporate life? You will always be aware of your surroundings. You will be able to focus on doing your job and also be able to listen to conversations going on around you. In short, you will be able to keep your eyes, ears and nose open at all times and have a better sense of your surroundings.
5. Developing Communication Skills & Adaptability to Different Cultures
Since India is a diverse country, communication and acceptance become difficult when you travel outside your home state. It might not be difficult when you travel to major cities but it’s a problem when you are in remote places.
There is another example from the Yuksom-Dzongri trek where I got a sense of communicating in sign language and tricks to quickly grasp the local language. It is something that cannot be explained over text and it can only come out naturally when you are in the situation. But this is one skill that will definitely develop in you.
Also, when you understand locals and help them, you get accepted into their culture and get to know a lot of things. Also, your journey becomes smooth if you have local support.
Another incident happened when I went to Garudmaachi in Maharashtra. We were some people cycling in the hills (as a part of an adventure activity) and we had to talk to locals and find clues to complete our mission. None of us knew Marathi but somehow I connected with one local over the game of cricket. Not only did we find our clues and completed the mission, but we did it way before time just because the locals offered me a bike ride to the next clues.
So it definitely helps you develop your communication and interpersonal skills. How does it help in your normal life? Communicating with people in remote areas is very difficult as compared to people in urban areas. So, if you can communicate and connect with people in rural areas, you can easily approach clients and business partners and bond over various interests.
6. Helps in Becoming More Organized
Some treks and trips require a lot of advance planning. That is because, during peak seasons, you might not find affordable tickets or trek guides or spaces at guest houses and hotels.
So, when you plan ahead, your sense of approximations and predictions becomes better. You have to keep in mind the amount of work you might have, how long before you need to put a leave request and other corporate factors.
Apart from those factors, you might also do your research on the climatic conditions during the time you are planning your trip/trek.
You also learn how to negotiate and find better options and all of this ultimately helps you in becoming a better manager and organizer.
Apart from this, there are a lot of other benefits like trekking reduces rumination, it increases creativity, it connects you with nature and you start focusing on the journey rather than the destination.
But according to me, there is one thing that travel doesn’t help you with but trekking does. Travel helps you discover places and meet different people. But trekking,
Trekking helps you discover yourself and meet your real self!
To conclude, I would like to focus on the title of this blog. It is “Disconnect, Unlearn, Learn and Connect”.
This means that when you trek, you first “Disconnect” with the city life that you are used to. You “Unlearn” things you’ve learnt in the cities and discard the materialistic beliefs that you might have. You then “Learn” about appreciating little things and have new ideas on how your life should move ahead and then you finally “Connect” with yourself after all the experiences and learnings and return as a much better and a happy human being.
