As a dog walker in Southern California, Rubén Arteaga spends a lot of time outside — at nearby parks, the beach, and on mountain trails. Yet with all his attention on the dogs and his mileage tracker, he never really looked at his surroundings. “My whole life,” he says, “I’ve spent my time looking down.”
But something shifted in him one day this winter. In the hills above Laguna Beach, Arteaga lifted his head and looked — really looked — at the clouds above, at the trees. He noticed the wildflowers. “I just saw the world was so much brighter, and that there were so many more colors,” he says. “It just made my gray, dim world feel a little brighter.”
- How to find your place in nature
- How to access nature
- What to do outdoors
- What gear and tools you’ll need