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Do you ever have people who don't travel often express doubt or disbelief at some of the things you've experienced?
We were backpacking in the Channel Islands a couple weeks ago when we were blown over by hurricane force winds and sent tumbling down an incredibly steep canyon wall, unable to stop until we hit some bushes that stopped my husband, who then dug his heels in and was able to stop me from barreling over from behind him. If we had continued falling, we would have eventually tipped over a cliffside and fallen onto a deserted beach that the park ranger had pointed out and specifically said to avoid because the tides had completely washed it out for the past several weeks - meaning if one or both of us were injured and stuck down there, in all likelihood, we would have been washed out to sea.
We were unable to climb back up to where we had just been because of how slick the hip-high dried grass was, so we had to follow a fox trail around the canyon wall until it leveled out a bit and we were able to climb up and find the trail again. All while these incredibly strong winds - winds I have never in my life experienced despite living in tornado alley - blowing around us and continually knocking us to our feet, repeatedly reminding me that we were just a few wrong steps away from the likely conclusion I mentioned above. I am not a skilled writer so I feel like I'm not even doing justice to how frightening an experience it was. I was genuinely terrified.
When we got back to the mainland and had cell service again, I gave a rundown in the family group chat about our trip - not just about the scary part, but about the elephant seals we saw sparring on the beach, and the fox who followed us for 5 miles, the nearly 100 year old plane crash site we found, and generally just how awesome it was to be out there - and my sister-in-law responded by not acknowledging any of that, but by saying she found it hard to believe that two fully grown people could have been knocked over by a bit of wind.
She lives in a small, midwestern town. She doesn't travel often or hike at all. She's never been on a camping trip, much less backpacking. Her frame of reference is so small, and even though I *know* that, it still felt shitty for her to invalidate our experience by implying that she thought I was exaggerating or perhaps even making it up.
This has happened before from people who didn't believe me when I've shared other experiences, and I always chalk it up to these people just not getting out much, so who cares what they think - but because she's family, it seemed to cut differently than it has in the past.
#nature #activity
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We were backpacking in the Channel Islands a couple weeks ago when we were blown over by hurricane force winds and sent tumbling down an incredibly steep canyon wall, unable to stop until we hit some bushes that stopped my husband, who then dug his heels in and was able to stop me from barreling over from behind him. If we had continued falling, we would have eventually tipped over a cliffside and fallen onto a deserted beach that the park ranger had pointed out and specifically said to avoid because the tides had completely washed it out for the past several weeks - meaning if one or both of us were injured and stuck down there, in all likelihood, we would have been washed out to sea.
We were unable to climb back up to where we had just been because of how slick the hip-high dried grass was, so we had to follow a fox trail around the canyon wall until it leveled out a bit and we were able to climb up and find the trail again. All while these incredibly strong winds - winds I have never in my life experienced despite living in tornado alley - blowing around us and continually knocking us to our feet, repeatedly reminding me that we were just a few wrong steps away from the likely conclusion I mentioned above. I am not a skilled writer so I feel like I'm not even doing justice to how frightening an experience it was. I was genuinely terrified.
When we got back to the mainland and had cell service again, I gave a rundown in the family group chat about our trip - not just about the scary part, but about the elephant seals we saw sparring on the beach, and the fox who followed us for 5 miles, the nearly 100 year old plane crash site we found, and generally just how awesome it was to be out there - and my sister-in-law responded by not acknowledging any of that, but by saying she found it hard to believe that two fully grown people could have been knocked over by a bit of wind.
She lives in a small, midwestern town. She doesn't travel often or hike at all. She's never been on a camping trip, much less backpacking. Her frame of reference is so small, and even though I *know* that, it still felt shitty for her to invalidate our experience by implying that she thought I was exaggerating or perhaps even making it up.
This has happened before from people who didn't believe me when I've shared other experiences, and I always chalk it up to these people just not getting out much, so who cares what they think - but because she's family, it seemed to cut differently than it has in the past.
#nature #activity
source
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