On November 9th, I headed out to Santa Cruz Island with a small group of students and Ms. Davis. I am normally opposed to camping trips because of the intensive backpacking it calls for.

A student is expected to carry his or her own pack with all of their personal gear inside, along with the group gear such as stoves, propane, tents and food. A backpack ends up weighing around 50 pounds, which the student must carry on his or her back at all times for duration of their trip in the wilderness.

However, this trip was much different. We took a boat ride out of the Ventura Harbor, and sailed about 20 miles out, and dropped anchor at the beautiful Santa Cruz Island. The boat returned back to the mainland and would make a trip back to pick us up three days later.

Upon arrival, we suited up with our backpacks and headed to our camp. The walk to our site was around half a mile. Tents were set up and we enjoyed lunch together beneath the shady trees.

We went snorkeling on our first day in the clear, blue water and learned a lot about marine life and the sea. Ms. Thompson was very informative and enthusiastic about the subject, she has a passion for marine biology.

The hikes we took had beautiful views as you can see above in the photo I snapped. But certainly my favorite part of the trip was our “solo time”. Solo time is when the group leader drops students off in different areas so that they can experience nature alone and reflect on their feelings. We spent our solo time at the beach, and I sat for about an hour just watching the waves crash onto the rocks. I became overwhelmed with a sense of peace that i cannot begin to describe. But, I am happy to share this photo with you that I took during my solo time, so you can reflect on it and figure out what it means to you. Camping is an experience unlike any other, which everyone should be exposed to at some point in their lives at least once.