Greetings and salutations internet-type people. Sooooo yeah, blog time it is, however I feel like I should give you some background info. before launching into bloggity blog stuff. First off, I'm Jacob, and I love the outdoors... So it's a bit strange that I would dedicate a significant amount of time in front of a computer screen when there's so much outdoors to be had!
However, my current situation gives me time to think, compose, express... etc. You see blog-readers, I just moved from Sioux Falls, SD to Akron, OH in August to complete graduate work at the University of Akron. More specifically, I'm a geographer and am continuing my geography education, you know, to get a job. Fun times right? Honestly, I love learning and I love geography. The very nature of a geographer is to become increasingly more aware of our earthly surroundings through research and experience.
Now, the definition of research is broad, but to me research means asking a question and finding out the answer in a way that is primarily experiential. That is, if you want to figure out where to put a restaurant, it is possible to run a series of statistical and demographic tests to ascertain an ideal location for said restaurant. That's all well and good, but I feel the most important aspect of this problem is to actually go to the various potential locations to figure out which would be ideal. See what I did there? Well, basically my point is to get out and learn about our earth. Reading is great to obtain facts and history, but experiencing a place will cement it in your memory. The site, feel, sound, smell, maybe even taste of a place is infinitely more powerful than boring text with regard to generating... well, basically anything in your cognition. Experiencing "place," as I phrase it, gives you a sense of where you are in relation to an infinite number of influences that are best experienced first-hand.
Anyway, my perspective is merely one out of a voluminous number, but I thought you should know how I view the world. You see, part of being a geographer is traveling and experiencing the earth in order to learn. To learn what you ask? Well, it's quite hard to pin a definition on geography... and you can google all the definitions you want. For me, geography is studying and learning about our earth in order to solve any number of problems that can arise in both the human and physical realms of the planet. Love it or hate it, that's how I see geography... and I've only been doing intense geography for the better half of a decade. *pops collar... actually no, that's tool-ish*
Now that the boring definitions are through, on to the fun and interesting stuff! Yes! I love traveling and I want this blog to be a medium for sharing stories, specifically experiences (beating a dead horse to death here...) about the outdoors. I love preparing for trips, researching parks, finding new gear, and above all creating lasting memories of wonderful places on our wonderful planet. My favorite places in the United States are National Parks. I have traveled to a handful of NP's, and each one is unique from the previous. I love it all, from the vast deserts and canyons of Canyonlands NP in Utah to the densely forested Endor-like Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
That is not to say that the NP's are the only places to experience the great outdoors. Indeed, there are countless state parks, wildlife refuges, and other more desolate areas (such as BLM land) that can be explored on this great planet that we call earth.
Ok, apologies for making this so long... but I really feel that you all should know where I'm coming from when I talk about travely outdoorsy stuff, ha so there ya go. The main format for my blog from now on will be mostly based on my travels and experiences. I hope you continue to read my blogs, as I feel everybody has a geographer deep in their conscious that needs to be awakened! Like some metaphorical sleeping beauty that can only be awakened by true-love's kiss! And true-love's kiss is traveling and experience! Boom, awaken that geographer.
Bless yo faces
-Outdoor Eddy
