Unplug and SOLO

Remember the days of thumbing through the phone book to find the 15 Blockbuster locations nearest you that recently acquired the hot, new movie release (Jurassic Park) at Blockbuster?  Having to call 7 of them until you finally come across a store that has a copy.  Asking for directions to how to get there (frantically writing it down with a pen and paper).  Drifting and donuting around corners in your car to make sure you get there “in the next half hour otherwise it won’t be on hold for you.”  Whipping open the store doors to claim it.  Wait in line for 7 minutes to checkout.  Pay cash.  Stuffing those 93 cents in your pocket.  Dashing back home.  Flopping the video in.  Pressing play.  Rewinding the tape because the person that had it before you WASN’T KIND AND DIDN’T REWIND.  Grabbing a bowl of ice cream because…sigh…it’s still rewinding.  Pressing play.  Going through a billion previews to finally reach why you did all of the above: to see a freaking T-REX!!!

Life sure was simple back then wasn’t it??

Yes, if you didn’t catch it, that was sarcasm.  Simple has a whole new meaning now.  In our modern culture, connectivity and efficiency reign supreme.

What took us approximately a half hour (at minimum) to rent a movie “back in the day” takes about 30 seconds (at most) to rent one now in our Back to the Future society.  Regardless, simplicity revolves around getting information in less than one second.  What we don’t know is a single Google query uses 1,000 computers in 0.2 seconds to retrieve an answer*.  Complexity made simple.

Humans are addicted to it.  Sit and observe a standard commute to and from work on the bus.  Everyone has their head tilted down with their eyes and thumbs glued to their “complexity made simple” devices: cell phones, tablets, etc.  Strip them of it and it’ll be a miserable ride for them – they actually may have to look outside and look at the world around them.

I’ll be the first to say that I’m guilty of this.  Between editing pictures taken on my phone, thumbing through my Instagram and Facebook feed, checking the Twins boxscore, and cranking the new Muse album to eleven through my earbuds, my 30 minute bus commute to work downtown goes by in the blink of an eye.  In that time, I, along with the rest of my fellow commuters feel like we’ve accomplished a lot.  In reality, we really haven’t.

We’re just treading water in a digital sea.

Sometimes we just need to close our eyes, take a deep breath, and wake up from the hypnotizing LCD screens that enchant us; unplug and embrace the world around.  To actually live simply.

For the past three years I try to embody simplicity for three days by taking solo trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (a million-acre wilderness along the border of N. Minnesota and Canada that boasts the largest concentration of lakes in the U.S.).  To me, it’s an opportunity to disconnect from the wilds of humanity and connect as a human to the wild – a concept almost completely lost since the dawn of movie rental era noted previously.

The vast majority of people would say I’ve fallen off my rocker.  Yes, solos are shrouded in an overwhelming complexity of unknowns – all of which pose a massive test on the mind on multiple levels.  Living simply does have it’s challenges.  I hope, in this solo series, you’ll see and understand my rationale for going through them; my intent is to help provide some guidance and maybe some inspiration for you to try going on a solo of your own.  It all centers on your mind.

Conquer your mind, and you’ll be amazed by what you can accomplish.

Most of what I’ll detail revolves around soloing in the Boundary Waters.  However, you can solo anywhere and therefore can derive key concepts and adapt them specifically to your solo trip.  It all starts with preparation.  Take a look at the following sections to help put your head in check and mind at ease:

1.  Pre-Solo Mentality: You’re Already Dead, So Live
2.  Pre-Solo Physicality: Get in Shape
3.  Pre-Solo Mapping-Planning: Chart Your Course
4.  Pre-Solo Gear Preparation: Inspect What You Expect