Bear Grylls – What do you get out of backpacking?

Backpacker Magazine recently ran a survival issue where they featured Bear Grylls throughout the October 2012 issue.  I admit to watching many of Bear’s Man v’s Wild series and to finding it entertaining.  But something that he said in the interview struck me, and really rings true in the wilderness.  The backcountry really does have a way of breaking you down and revealing the “real you”.  Here’s the exact quote….

“Question: What do you get out of backpacking personally and with your family?”

“Answer: It gives you that all-precisous sense of freedom and self-determination, and that rare chance to escape the noise of the city and reconnect with who you really are.  Time alone, unhurried, is rare nowadays – don’t underestimate what it can do for you on so many levels.  I often go out alone when I need some space and time.  It is also magic to take my kids out and show them the ways of nature.  People form real relationships in the wild.  It is hard to hide the real you, and that is a good thing.”