2015: The Year of Adventure (To Prevent a Digital Based Breakdown)

15 Jan 2015: The Year of Adventure (To Prevent a Digital Based Breakdown)

As the Chair of the Board of Directors for Lasting Adventures, I’ve managed to make a career, and a decent one at that, built on the rise of information and communication technology. Stop me when this sounds familiar, but I think we can all agree that the effects of 60+ hour work weeks that are entirely centered around ‘screens’ is seeping into the remaining non-digital aspects (or lack thereof) of our lives. Even more striking, is the separation anxiety associated with all of our devices. I believe political blogger David Roberts put it best in his article ‘Reboot or Die Trying’, describing this anxiety, “To step away from e-mail, news feeds, texts, chats, and social media for even a moment was to allow their deposited information to accumulate like snow in the driveway, a burden that grew every second it was neglected.”

Do you check your email before you get out of bed? How many tweets/posts/pins do you manage to send off from the privacy of your bathroom? Do you spend more time with your ‘devices’ than you do with your significant other/best friends? How about your ratio of time spent in front of ‘screens’ to that spent in the outdoors? A survey by the Center for Creative Leadership found that smartphone-carrying professionals “report interacting with work a whopping 13.5 hours every workday.”

By now I am sure many of you have dreamed of or at least read about the growing notion of ‘digital detox’ experiences that seem to be almost commonplace now in tech hubs such as the Bay Area. Unfortunately, we all cannot afford to take a year, let alone a few months or weeks off from our daily lives to escape. However, this year, almost more than any, we feel adamant that whether you are the head of a family of five or the CEO of a growing startup, you need to lead by example and empower everyone around you to detach from their digital strings.

So the question we are asking ourselves, is how can we help provide the opportunities to escape, to let your minds rest and digest? Of course all of us here at Lasting Adventures believe, as well as many others (see #1 TripAdvisor ranking and reviews), that Yosemite National Park is the perfect place to unwind. Check out a few of these trips to see for yourself:

Glacier Remnants Yosemite Backpacking Trip

During the Great Ice Age, large portions of Yosemite were covered by glacial advances. These glaciers played a major role in determining the landscape and features of the park and how we experience it today. On this cross-country trip we will journey to some of the highest elevations in the park (over 12,000’) to visit the remnants of two of the final glaciers in the park; the Lyell and Maclure Glaciers. Only expected to last a couple more decades, we offer you this bucket list opportunity to witness geology at its finest. If you are looking for a truly unique Yosemite National Park backpacking experience, this is not to be missed!

Northern Yosemite Backpacking Trip (New in 2015)

Many believe that the northern portion of Yosemite National Park is the last true wilderness of the High Sierra. This less visited portion of the park is home to deep canyons, dense old-growth forests, and stunning peaks and ridges. On this adventure you will camp besides rivers, and high alpine lakes that provide a dramatic landscape of the Northern Yosemite terrain including camping in upper Slide Canyon beneath the Sawtooth Ridge.

Clouds Rest and Half Dome Yosemite Backpacking Trip

Summit two amazing “Yosemite –iconic” peaks over 2 nights in the backcountry. This trip begins in the Yosemite high country besides Tenaya Lake. Camping beside one of the Sunrise Lakes, Summit of Clouds Rest (9,926’), summit of Half Dome (8,836’), and returning to the Valley beside both Vernal and Nevada Falls on the Mist Trail. Great views into the Yosemite high country and into the Yosemite valley from high points above.

Remember, a rested mind is a more productive mind, and here in Yosemite, well, we seem to think we are quite productive.

“Down through the middle of the Valley flows the crystal Merced, River of Mercy, peacefully quiet, reflecting lilies and trees and the onlooking rocks; things frail and fleeting and types of endurance meeting here and blending in countless forms, as if into this one mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures, to draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her.” – John Muir