"Adventure is worthwhile in itself." -Amelia Earhart

I grew up always looking for adventure, and dragging my little brothers along with me to find it. Adventure came mostly from the books I read, occasionally from the movies and shows I watched. And I came to have a relatively vague idea of what an adventure should be - being in the woods, full of discovery, and naming things. It was a very good thing, growing up in a place with woods nearby.

And then, like Peter Pan's Wendy, I grew up, and finding adventures in the woods faded from my priorities. It faded, that is, from my everyday life, but I chose a college surrounded by woods, and the door to adventure opened once more. It opened first with a backpacking program for incoming freshman, and again this year with a backpacking class including two weekend backpacking trips.

I learned very quickly that adventure is not a glamorous thing, or even a very pleasant thing (that is easy to forget, especially when you are little and reading the Chronicles of Narnia). But my recent backpacking adventures have taught me that adventure is worthwhile in its contrasts. And this, I am learning, applies not just to adventure but to the grand scheme of living.

From my most recent trip I came away with these particular contrasts:

1. The very physical pain of exertion vs. the overwhelming relief of rest

Backpacking hurts. You begin with energy and gradually find where the weight presses. Your shoulders ache, your feet ache, your back aches, your hips ache... But nothing compares to the moment you take your backpack off, take your shoes off, and sit down. It's pure, worthwhile, relief.

2. The monotony vs. the resulting opportunities

Miles and miles and miles of walking - it is not always thrilling. Perhaps it is beautiful, perhaps it is fascinating, but it may also be endlessly uphill or drearily arduous. In this comes the creative opportunity - to sing, or imagine, or talk to the people you are with. As a bonus, you can often find the poetic justice of certain music: try "Climbing Uphill" from The Last Five Years while actually backpacking uphill.

3. The hassle of meals vs. the wilderness-magic that makes them so delicious

Packing food, building fires, and lighting portable stoves can be inconvenient. (Anyway, adventure is, above all things, not convenient). On the other hand, food never tastes so good as it does when you are camping. On one trip we made tuna melts with tortillas over a campfire, one of the best meals we had on the trip. And I don't even like tuna very much. But making food in the open air, away from the conveniences of home, with a sense of having traveled somewhere, makes all the difference.

4. Sharing small spaces vs. building friendships

There is little privacy in backpacking, and much sharing of very small spaces - most notably in sharing a tent with someone. It is difficult to be around a small group of people so constantly. Yet in settings like these, we are offered a rare glimpse of people acting outside their comfort zones, and in many ways, unfettered by everyday life. Friendships come in unlikely places, sometimes with unlikely people; at the very least, you develop a clearer perception of one another.

5. The mundane vs. the beautiful

There is quite a bit to keep track of on a backpacking adventure - gear, shelter, weather conditions, meal preparations, location and whereabouts. It's planning, it's endurance, but it's also beauty. When you get up in the early morning to face another day of backpacking, there's a freshness and beauty surrounding you that cannot be compared.