#nature

#nature

Isle Royale National Park is in an isolated stretch of Lake Superior, reachable via a multi-hour ferry ride or seaplane from Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Minnesota. The journey to get here keeps many travelers away.

"New York isn't real. This is real," says Jon Krogh, emphasizing the contrast between urban life and the rawness of nature in Greenland. He believes that city life is a fantasy, where people work for money that doesn't exist outside their imaginations. The experience at Nomad Greenland aims to reconnect visitors with the reality of the natural world.

Kangaroo Island is home to wildlife found nowhere else, including a soot-coloured dunnart, and has a human population so low that there are 14 kangaroos for every one person.

Allen-Paisant reflects on his childhood in Coffee Grove, Jamaica, where he developed a profound bond with local plant life, climbing trees and harvesting yams with his grandmother. This connection shaped his understanding of nature and belonging.

The New River Gorge's moist, shaded forests are an ideal habitat for flowers that color the hillsides in April and early May, making it an excellent time to see the gorge in bloom.

Wales has a beautiful roughness to it. Its beauty is not immediate and hard-won; visitors will have to trek, drive and withstand the rain in order to find it. But it's worth every step of the journey.

Ghana is home to me - it's where I grew up, from the age of four until I returned to England for university - but its contrasts always surprise me. Below, waves crash violently into jutting rocks, but those rocks also form a protective circle, creating a pool calm enough for a child to play in.

These water-women are beings of transformation, embodying sensuality, cosmic energy, and the transmission of matrilineal knowledge.

Abiqua Falls is a stunning 92-foot waterfall that tumbles over a wall of columnar basalt into a wide pool, perfect for swimming. The surrounding area features a pebbled beach that provides breathtaking views of the falls and lush greenery.

David Morrison continues his hyperrealistic explorations of flowers, seeds, and plants, capturing the intricacies and alluring textures found throughout nature in lush colored pencil.

Thoreau responded to the technological upheavals and social strife of the mid-1800s by choosing to temporarily step away from the everyday turbulence of that time to live more simply, thoughtfully, and purposefully.

Achaphubuil, a tiny hamlet, is surrounded by mountains and ancient forest, making it an ideal location for artists seeking beauty, privacy, and peace.

The first step to sustainability is seeing that there is no boundary between you and nature. When we see this essential connection and reverse the artificial disconnections created over millennia, people can imagine a future where we all thrive with a regenerated ecosystem.

Witnessing the presence of God at a bus stop in 2011, I felt overwhelmed by something indescribably majestic, which bared my soul to a profound realization.

Goblin Valley State Park is often overlooked and relatively undiscovered, making it a perfect alternative for those seeking solitude away from crowded tourist spots like Bryce Canyon.

Research consistently shows that access to green space can significantly boost wellbeing, with studies linking time spent in gardens and parks to lower cortisol levels, improved mood, and sharper cognitive function.

Circle View Guest Ranch is a family-owned and operated B&B just a few minutes outside of Badlands National Park, ideal for those who value long park days.

A few years ago, I climbed over a gate and found myself gazing down at a valley. After I'd been walking for a few minutes, looking at the fields and the sky, there was a shift in my perception. Everything around me became intensely real. The fields and the bushes and trees and the clouds seemed more vivid, more intricate and beautiful.

Go these days to any independent bookshop or art gallery or zine fair, and you may find yourself asking: where are the humans? Title after title is devoted to clay and stone, trees and flowers, the riverine and the botanical, gardens and allotments. They share a vocabulary: care, tending, grounding, rootedness, nourishment, regeneration. Nature, however battered, is held up as an antidote to morbid modernity, its alienations, its amnesia.

Nature is truly amazing, but it is also terrifying. Being the homebody that I am, I'm always wondering what would happen if I were ever in a situation where I'd have to survive out in the wild. It's tough out there, y'all. And it's important to know how to make it out alive. Do you think you have what it takes? Take this quiz to find out if you're a born forest lover, or you're better off on the couch like I am. Let's go!