Friluftsliv and Me: Becoming One with Nature

by Robert McGarvey

Friluftsliv. Call this Norwegian idea my present travel focus and what it means is captured in the three component words that make up the compound noun: open air living.  

For as long as I can remember I have been at two with nature, just about always preferring urban living, even urban holidays – but now I am venturing into nature in pursuit of my own Friluftsliv.

They say playwright Henrik Ibsen is the first populizer of the term Friluftsliv. Writes Norwegian journalist Dag T. Elgvin: “Henrik Ibsen’s meaning with ‘Friluftsliv’ might best be interpreted as the total appreciation of the experience one has when communing with the natural environment, not for sport or play, but for its value in the development of one’s entire spiritual and physical being. At its heart is the full identification and fulfillment of body and soul one experiences when immersed in nature.”

Being outside is more than being outside – it’s a step deeper into personal development of the whole person and, for sure, if nature is a key ingredient in that recipe, I have been grievously falling for many decades.

It’s also about being in nature per se, not coincidentally but to in fact be there.

Time for a change. Time for a new respect for nature on my part.

First up was a two night Labor Day stay at Bryce Canyon National Park, a Utah treasure known for its hoodoos, distinctive natural rock sculptures – and also miles from anything urban.  You could say it’s in the middle of nowhere and that’s exactly what a Sunset Magazine writer did: “Because it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere and there are no sources of light pollution nearby, Bryce’s skies are among the clearest in the country. That “cloud” overhead all night? It’s the Milky Way.”

A drive from Phoenix where I live to Bryce sets the stage: it’s a drive through hundreds of miles of miles where the emptiness is only occasionally interrupted by a gas station. It’s about 425 miles and after Flagstaff the only “big” city is Page and if you haven’t heard of it there is no reason why you should. Page’s population is about 7300.  

There is no city – not really even a town – in close proximity to Bryce Canyon National Park. Go there, spend a few nights, and it is a fast drop into friluftsliv. Tropic is the nearest town of maybe 500.  

At Bryce I hiked a bit, made cowboy coffee on a wood fire, drank some bottled beers and, mainly, did nothing except be there.

When I left I knew I wanted more.

Next Stop: Sedona

More was on my agenda: I had already reserved a site at Manzanita campground in Coconino National Forest, around 10 miles outside Sedona and genuinely a world away. It’s a small, tents only campground (although at least one couple didn’t erect a tent, preferring to sleep with their dog in an SUV). 

When the sun sets, silence descended on the campground. There were occasional voices of campers (most spoke in a hush however) and probably the loudest noise was the burbling of Oak Creek, one of very few perennial streams in Northern Arizona. In early October it was filled with water and children swam in it and adults fished for trout (and, yes, a license is needed).  

Ten miles away in Sedona there are bustling throng of tourists, some surprisingly good restaurants such as Lisa Dahl’s Mariposa where the food rivals the views, car horns beeping in traffic jams, and miscellaneous signs of urbanity.

There is none of that in Manzanita campground. Mainly there is silence.

Slowly I learned that wake up time is sunrise, about 6:30 am in October.

I began to learn to really sleep outside in a tent (and for this trip I added inflatable sleeping pads for more cushion atop the hard earth).  I began to learn to like the silence.

I also began to realize that the pursuit of Friluftsliv is not a one and done, check the box kind of thing. It’s much more of a gradual awakening of an understanding and appreciation of the nature that surrounds us.

There also are the moments that surprise – I don’t do much planning for these trips. One such moment happened in Sedona where, behold, I found myself on the trail to the so called vortex that was a central player in the 1987 harmonic convergence. I did not go to Sedona then, but living in west LA, about half the people I knew did.

Nature let me catch up in 2023.

What will it bring me next?

That is why I have booked more camping nights at Manzanita, also Organ Pipe (Twin Peaks) and Joshua Tree (Black Rock).  

My new goal is to camp at least a couple nights each month and, fortunately, there are many campgrounds in close proximity to Phoenix. Next summer will bring a challenge but that’s the way it goes with nature.  It sets its rules.

We only live in them.