Blue Mountains

Returning to the everyday life

On the way back from the Blue Mountains, staring at the eucalyptus trees from the window of the train, I realised that I was already thinking about all the things I would have to do during the coming week. Only two hours away from Wentworth station and I was already overwhelmed by my future homework, my friends and parents messages, French administrative problems... In a word, everyday life. 

Being immersed in nature during the past three days without a cellphone (I decided to turn it off to make the experience complete) allowed me to experience the benefits of the connection between humans and nature.

Most of the time, those benefits are recognised by people; they are aware of the fact that they feel more relaxed when they are in the outdoors or even just in a park in a city. However, not many of us take the time to really appreciate the benefits of nature, as we tend to be swallowed in the spiral of our lives.

Disconnecting from the outside world to reconnect with yourself

On the platform of the "world's steepest train", we could witness the consequences of our connected society. Sometimes, by being too connected we tend to put too much importance in our virtual life instead of living the moment. 

This last field trip made learn a lot about myself. First of all, I think that the fact that we didn't really come back to civilisation has helped us to disconnect form the outside world and therefore, forced us to surrender ourselves to more simple but essential things. For instance, in my opinion, coming back to the cabins instead of our home or a hotel was a real chance to experience the many benefits of nature. 

Being in a place without any phone reception, television or computers allowed us to exchange conversation in a more simple and direct way. The simple fact of cooking and sharing a meal together has allowed us to know each other better. But this complete immersion has also been valuable on a more personal level.

By being surrounded by a calm and magnificent environment like the Blue Mountains made me more serene and appreciative of the power of nature. By taking this time to focus on myself, I also came to think about the persons that I was missing. My friends and parents back home, whom I would have liked to share this experience with. In fact, I came to notice that everytime I wasn't talking to someone during the walks, my mind kept coming back to them. 

A different way to experience the outdoor

Being with a group and experiencing the outdoors from an educational point of view has been a big change for me. As I said in the previous posts, I am used to hiking on my own and therefore, having to rely on myself. This field trip helped me evaluate the good and bad sides of my usual way of experiencing the outdoors.

On one hand, living this experience with other people made me appreciate the benefits of positive reinforcement. Being in a group with people who have different levels of practice has allowed me to respect the difference of perspectives. The last day of the trip has been the most meaningful for this in my opinion because every group decision had a different effect on people and we had to consider other member needs and prioritise them. For example, we realised half way through the National Pass that one member of our group was afraid of heights and we had to support her and decide together how we had to handle this. 

On the other hand, I sometimes felt like I couldn't take enough time for myself, stop when I wanted or even challenge myself by simply walking faster. Like I said in my previous posts, I sometimes feel that social pressure overcomes our personality in many situations. Might it be at work when you have to cope with your superior decisions or even just facing the crowd when going somewhere in the city. I think that sometimes, following our own path can be very liberating. 

On to the next adventure ! 

To conclude, I would say that this field trip has allowed me to consider new factors when experiencing the outdoors. Even just the format of the class, which is very different from what I know, has been a real discovery for me. I would even say that it has been a cultural shock, in the sense that in France, the relationship between the professor and its student is more distant. Therefore, the Education in outdoors class has helped me widen my horizon in terms of education. 

But most of all, it has been a very good introduction to my discovery of Australia. I am know more than motivated to see the Great Australian Outdoors and I have already planned my next trip. I decided to go from the Whitsundays Islands to the Daintree forest and hike as much as I can on the way and I can't wait to discover what Australia has to offer.