There’s a level of chaos to living in a city. Especially when you live in a city as big as Los Angeles. Even if you’re a “city person” all those humans crowded into a single urban space can wear on the psyche. Uproxx’s Steve Vasquez loves the pace of L.A., but he’s been feeling an increasing sense of city fatigue. He wants to get away but, like many young professionals, he doesn’t have weeks or months to hole up in a cabin in the woods.
Searching for a remedy to get him out of his routine in the city and shake things up in the wild, Steve reached out to one of our favorite travel experts — Kristin Addis of Be My Travel Muse — to help him enjoy the restorative benefits of nature in a short amount of time. Kristin knows how to disconnect from the grind. She used to have a corporate job herself and has dedicated her life to making every bit of adventure time count.
“There’s nothing special about me or anyone else who lives a more adventurous life,” she tells Steve as they drive out of the city in search of something slower paced. “It’s just about making the decision to go.”
Kristin’s plan is to show Steve one of her favorite ways to connect to nature — through a meditative practice called, “forest bathing.” Originating in Japan, Forest Bathing became popular in the 1980s as a way to incorporate nature into your life. The idea — that just spending time in the forest, truly taking in the sights and sounds of nature would rejuvenate physical and mental health — has been growing in popularity in recent years.
Watch above as Kristin and Steve journey into Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the all-new RAV4 Hybrid to see if “forest bathing” can help Steve truly unwind.
