Relating to nature the slow way

Text and drawing by Frits Ahlefeldt. Hiking.org

Hiking is getting more and more popular for people in the huge cities. But sometimes people who spend most of their time in the very different urban world, deal with being in nature and the whole hiking trip like like they would with a tight deadline

In Korea hiking is booming with twice as many people heading for the National Parks as just ten years ago. But officials say a new too stressful hiking culture has changed the experience for everybody. And now the South Korean Government have decided to do something about it and try to make people slow down, breathe the air and enjoy the landscapes, instead of just getting to the top of what-ever near mountain, as fast as possible, take a selfie, and back down and home to the city.

According to an Wall street article The South Korean Government has just launched a 10 Million USD “Slow Hiking” campaign to make people take it easy when hiking, and enjoy the trail.

In other places people use different techniques and bring meditation, wellness routines and treehugging to the trails. Either alone or walking together in groups. Taking breaks to relate to the landscapes around them. Something that was as natural as… well walking. To earlier generation. But is much harder for people where all paths should lead to success and progress is something your stocks and not socks are making.