Disconnecting
Camping was a new experience for me; I had never set up a tent or started a campfire.
From social media and keeping up-to-date with the news, so many aspects of my life have been online during the pandemic. One weekend, I ventured out into a forest in Pennsylvania to camp with a group of friends. The grounds where we set up had no cell phone service, meaning I was disconnected from the outside world. I had to endure the weekend without Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or messaging anyone. Disconnecting from the online world gave me a chance to re-connect with nature and with myself.
We arrived at the campgrounds close to midnight. I usually spend my time in big cities or suburban towns, so venturing into a remote forest was completely out of my comfort zone. This was my first time doing anything in the wilderness, let alone camping. I had no knowledge or experience in setting up a tent or starting a fire, and without reception, I couldn’t google it. Fortunately, two of my friends were former boy scouts. Watching them set up a tent and starting a fire was interesting – I’d never seen someone do that before.
The main reason we traveled so far from home was to see the stars. Because the closest town was about 30 minutes or so away and utilized little energy, the light pollution at our campsite was a great location to see the stars from. The sky was clearer than any I had seen before. The stars were so bright, and I saw shooting stars in person for the first time. I forgot about checking my phone for service as we sat there looking up for hours, losing track of time.
Elijah Ivey, who took this photo, is one of my closest friends on the trip and a photographer who specializes in astro and nature photography. Due to a lack of light pollution, I was able to see the stars more clearly than I could back home.
The next day, I went hiking on a long trail with a couple of friends from the group. My biggest concern at the time was getting hurt and needing outside help. A series of hypothetical situations ran through my head. What if I ran into a bear or a snake? What if I tripped and twisted an ankle or passed out from the heat? Luckily none of that happened. Being off my phone and disconnecting from my timeline allowed me to better appreciate the surrounding nature.
As a photographer, my comfort zone has always been doing protest and street photography. I went into the forest with my camera, unprepared for the challenges taking pictures of the outdoors and landscape. I couldn’t look for inspiration on my timeline, so I pushed my instincts as best as I could and succeeded for the most part.
A lot of this trip was about coming out of my comfort zone and challenging myself.
Nature photography was not my strongest skill, and definitely not something I’m used too. However, by overcoming the challenges of being offline, I was able to train my eye.
This weekend of disconnecting and being far from home introduced many emotions. I missed my college friends whom I messaged every day, and even though I knew they would still be there when I returned, I felt the distance of being cut off from them. The positive emotions, however, were gratitude and relief. I was able to deeply converse with the friends who were there with me and reflect on myself through our conversation. This pandemic has made social media and current events feel like a heavy load on my mind. Disconnecting from everything and escaping into nature where there was no sign of a pandemic felt like a sigh of relief.
Hyner Run View, PA. The view was magical and unlike anything I’m used to coming from big cities and suburbs.