Blog 12- Trespassing Across America

I am someone who would not survive in the wilderness by myself for very long, so I was very impressed by learning about the journey of Ken Ilgunas from the man himself. Hearing Ken Ilgunas talk about hiking the length of the Keystone XL pipeline, made something that seems impossible into a reality. I honestly had not thought of all the preparation that would be required for his trip, especially since he would be going alone, but this trip was so much more than just a "hike across the heartland." His journey was about climate change and acknowledging our role as humans in the big problem we can't really change as singular individuals, but what we can do to start making differences in our everyday lives. 

Although I have only been in college a few short months, I have already learned so much. My mindset has completely changed. One of the most valuable pieces of advice I have gotten is to meet and converse with as many people as you can and try to learn something new from everyone you meet. In the past I have made the mistake of only really interacting with those who share my beliefs which is sometimes understandable because since we have so much in common it makes sense that we would be friends, but I often avoided those with differing opinions. I now look for people with different opinions just so I can learn about the other sides. 

I learned even more about this mindset from Ken Ilgunas as he met and talked to so many different people along his four and a half month journey. I never would have thought that he would have got to spend time with so many people on his solo journey, and even have a man he met travel with him for part of the way. Ken Ilgunas showed me how important our environment is and how much we should care about it as he knowingly put himself in danger to take this journey. He faced grazing cows and taking cover from gunfire so he could embrace the belief that "a life lived not half wild is a life only half lived."