Spring break can be a time of great opportunity and exploration depending on how you choose to spend it. For my first spring break as a college student, I took it as an opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and tread where no sworn urbanite ever dares to tread -- Upstate New York. So why did I choose to inflict this terrible, awful fate unto myself, you ask? Well, I did it for love, kind of.
My girlfriend's family has property upstate in a town called Bovina, N.Y. It's literal cow country. With a population of only 633, there are probably more cows than people. And, for reasons until recently unbeknownst to me, she loves visiting it. When planning our spring break, I wanted to do something big and fun for the both of us so I suggested we take a weekend road trip upstate. I figured I could do something nice for her and maybe see what all of the fuss was about at the same time.
I've been partial to big cities all my life. I need constant energy, movement and pressure or I'm fairly sure I'll just cease to function. Also, I'm extremely impartial to manual labor of any and all kinds, so rural areas generally have nothing to offer me and I've never really felt any desire to visit them. But, with my girlfriend and her family eager to show me around, I have to admit that I was curious. I thought, maybe I was missing out on something.
It was (probably) blindingly obvious how out of place I was up there. It was only a little embarrassing. I was constantly checking for Wi-Fi hotspots, I was afraid of mud and I sure as hell didn't volunteer myself to help shovel any horse poop. But in only a short weekend, I was surprised at how easily acclimated I became to such a radically different environment. Climbing trees came to me as naturally as it did when I was a child and by the last day of the trip, I even got to plant four trees with Marysol and her grandmother. Even Mars was shocked by how naturally I fit in after I allowed myself to warm up to the place.
The entire weekend was a really enriching experience, now that I have the chance to look back and reflect. Though it went largely unspoken, it was extremely obvious that Marysol and I somehow grew closer during the trip. She kept me up at night with stories of her childhood summers, holidays upstate with her family and their animals. She showed me all the places where she used to play with her siblings when they were younger. We got in her car and drove until we found new places to call our own. There are pieces of me in Bovina now and there are pieces of us as well. I didn't expect that to overwhelm me as much as it did.
Changing your environment is a really cool way to tap into parts of yourself and your own skill sets that you've never known before or maybe rarely have had the chance to utilize. Not only that, but it can also allow you to reach emotional levels that aren't always readily accessible. It's obviously more easily said than done, but it can also be applied to a much smaller scale than driving upstate for three days.
It can be as simple as spending more time outdoors or taking a walk through a new neighborhood. There are things that people like me, people who like routine and assurance, really hate to do. I hate changing my pace in the mornings. I hate having to make new game plans when my everyday plan already works. But I've felt the physical, mental and emotional effects of changing your pace and coming up with a new plan from scratch.
It's hard work, it's mentally taxing, it's frustrating and scary and uncomfortable and embarrassing. But it's worthwhile. It can result in beautiful changes that can be felt on a multitude of physiological layers. And it's an experience worth giving a try, if you're willing and able. Do what you can to access parts of yourself that aren't usually available -- whatever that means to you. Just never stop trying to know yourself a little better than you did the day before.
