Do you ever think to yourself “when was the last time I was really, truly, peacefully, absolutely happy?”
I can tell you when it was for me.
It was Thursday.
I took a guided class with REI to go rock climbing in the Shawangunks, near New Paltz, NY. The weather was perfect, the guide was fantastic, and the climbing made me feel settled.

Don’t get me wrong now, I was a nervous wreck in the day/hours/minutes leading up to the climbing, but as soon as I got off the ground I felt better. I felt like there was nothing to worry about. This is strange because there’s definitely more to be worried about hanging by a rope 40 feet off the ground than there is doing most other things. But there you are, brains are weird.

If you want to take a class with REI (and you should want to) I would say buy a membership. It costs $20 and will save you about $20 on a class and you get to be a member for life with all the other benefits. They make it easy to get outside and do things, this was my first time climbing on actual rocks and I loved it.