Going into the South Iceland trip this past weekend, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. I knew we were going to areas that tend to draw more tourists and I wasn’t exactly sure how we were going to fit into that spectrum. At first, I felt like a tourist, as I am one. Stopping at all the main attractions on the road that everyone else was, seeing the wonder, it was all amazing. But it was also what everyone else was doing. I felt at place as a tourist, but almost as if there could be more to it. The real changing moment for me, however, came at the last 30 minutes of our hike down the mountain. The hike up the mountain Saturday morning was nothing short of amazing. Being able to hike and experience and learn in such an environment is a dream to me.
On the hike back down the mountain, we reached an area that had been heavily impacted by the extreme growth in tourism, the waterfall. The path to the waterfall and back was crowded with all sorts of people and looked more like a road than a trail, and I believe that it was this moment that I really noticed the appreciation for the area that this program is helping me gain. It was at this moment, that I could look back on the rest of the hike and comprehend all that the area was teaching me. I felt different from the other visitors surrounding me. I didn’t go to the park strictly for the nice waterfall, but I went there to learn. I stepped off the beaten path, so to say, and looked deeper into what the area had to offer.
Through studying sustainability this semester, I am learning to work with the earth to create a livable balance for all involved whether that be me, the animals, the water, or any element of our natural surroundings. It was in this moment that I didn’t feel like a tourist. I felt very at peace in my spiritual and mental health. I had conquered a difficult hike that I was originally unsure of, and felt so connected in my relationship with God. Nature has always been an area that I can escape to and that I find a lot of tranquility in, and because of it, it has become a place that I go to connect to my spiritual beliefs. Standing at the top, alongside the other individuals that are making up this new community, I could see Gods work in not only myself but the beautiful world we live in.
Kendra Allen