Castañeda is a deputy editor in the Opinion section and lives in Chula Vista. Email commentary to her at [email protected]
I will always be a city girl at heart. I’m used to the sound of traffic. I’m used to buses and cars on busy streets and walking fast to catch the subway. I’ve always been attracted to skylines and skyscrapers.
As a child growing up in the heart of Chicago, there was no such thing as mountains. We had to drive at least an hour away to find an open cornfield.
Instead of oceans, we had swimming pools at the YMCA. Fire hydrants in the streets were our only escape from the summer heat. As a teenager, it took a minimum hour bus ride on public transportation to get to what we called Fullerton Beach. (It was not a beach. It was Lake Michigan.) That was as close to an open body of water as it got.
I never dreamed I’d trade my city life for the desert. But in 1990, that’s exactly what happened when I chose to head west to Tucson, Arizona, for a journalism job. I felt out of place. The silence and darkness of the desert night scared me. It was odd to look up in the sky and see zillions of stars that seemed close enough to touch.
Four years later, instead of heading back to the Midwest, another journalism opportunity brought me even farther west, to San Diego. I had already been here twice on vacation, and I had to it the thought of living near the ocean was the lure. Despite my lack of swimming or surfing skills, vacations always seemed to pull me to the seashore. As soon as I was old enough to travel on my own, I hit the sandy beaches of Clearwater, Malibu, Venice, Puerto Rico, Aruba and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The sound of the waves has always been therapeutic. The smell of fresh saltwater and the sun beaming on my body are always warm and wonderful.
I never meant to stay here this long. But like many transplants, I now call San Diego home. It has been for almost 20 years now. Sadly, it took me so much time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. Most of my friends who visit call this paradise, and I couldn’t agree more.
This past year, visits to the ocean, the mountains and the desert opened my eyes and my heart to nature. Big Bear and Idyllwild are within hours of San Diego, and the scenery and the tranquility of being high up in the mountains are breathtaking.
I’m not saying I don’t miss the city sometimes, but Mother Earth is a cure for recharging my human spirit. Sadly, sometimes we get so wound up in routines we don’t bother to explore our surroundings. How could anyone be in a bad mood walking along Sunset Cliffs? In fact, research shows there are physical and mental health benefits to being outdoors in nature.
When I go back to visit Tucson now, I take the time to soak up the scenery of all those giant saguaro cacti scattered in the desert.
And there are still plenty more sights to see. To this day, I’ve never been camping. But I think I’d like to try it.
I have created a nature bucket list. And as the new year approaches, I’ll be checking these locations off one at time.
