Highlands, NC Photo Diary

Over spring break I went to the Appalachian mountains and I'm here today to share a photo diary from the trip. If you are looking for a nice mountain getaway I would check out Highlands, NC for sure. It's so beautiful there and there is literally waterfalls on the side of the road. Also if you are a hiker this would be a great place to visit because there is lots of hiking. So let's get into it! 

Dry falls is by far the most powerful and raging waterfall we've seen. You can go behind the waterfall too which is really cool because I can't think of any other waterfall that you can actually go behind. 

Dry fall's power has caused some to get injured so you got to watch out and be careful when you get there. 

Me taking the typical tourist shot of course haha

Beautiful dry falls is alive

This waterfall is the one you see when you drive up the mountain to go to highlands. It's kind of a mini waterfall but when it rains it gets more raging. 

Such a cool waterfall for being on the side of the road. 

They had to put that sign up for some reason because some idiots were probably trying to do some stupid. But it makes a cool photo. 

Glen falls is the longest waterfall we saw. It is a two mile hike and there is three different parts of the waterfall that you can see. It's kind of cool because you hike down the waterfall and at the bottom it leads to a little pool. This waterfall is also supposedly the longest waterfall in North Carolina. I could be wrong about that through, I'm not sure. 

This was the first waterfall at the very top of the hike.

Me admiring it

And of course my shoes get muddy. But hey there's nothing with getting dirty to see some waterfalls. 

This was the last part of the waterfall at the very bottom. I liked putting my feet in the little natural pool. 

Me in my element

Day two

Whiteside mountain was by far the prettiest hike because when you get to the top of the mountain it's all panoramic views. It's almost 5,000 feet up and what is pretty cool is that you can see where the land gets flat. You just see mountains and then in way far off in the distance it's all flat. It's also pretty thrilling because when you are at the top of the mountain you are just so close to the edge and if there wasn't any railings I would probably be scared to death. 

A picture from the first lookout point. I thought that view was good but it just got better the more we hiked. 

The incredible rock faces we saw. 

After whiteside mountain we ate at Madison's for lunch. I didn't take a lot of pictures of what I ate while I was in Highlands, but this was one of the meals I ate. It was really good. 

The last spot we went to that was pretty cool was Sunset rock. While we didn't see much of a sunset it was still a beautiful spot to hangout. It overlooks the town and the town just looks so small compared to all the nature. 

And that's all the pictures! It kind of took me a while to put this all together because I tried to find the best photos. But I hope ya'll enjoy and I'll see you soon with a new blog post. 

Nature is Therapy

I just have a short post today because sometimes you just got to keep it simple. 

Nature is like my therapy. When stuff hits or I just simply want to relax I go escape into nature to find myself again. Nature shows me that the most imperfect things can be perfect. Nature shows me all the beautiful natural elements of life that should be protected. Nature shows me raw beauty and utter peace and connection. I don’t know if nature can fuel a person but it fuels me for sure and it shows me the beauty in life even when it might not be beautiful all the time. Sometimes all you need is the vast forest and a mind that needs to be emptied. 

The Damage That Plastic Creates In Our Environments

Plastic is a commonly used item in the everyday household and a lot of people have no idea how polluting plastic can really be. Plastic is taking over our environments and it is polluting our planet. UN secretary general António Guterres says, "If present trends continue, there will be more plastic in the world's oceans than fish". This is incredibly alarming because just think of how much fish there are in the ocean. I looked up just how many fish there are and it is estimated that there is 3.5 trillion fish are in the ocean right now. If the amount of plastic exceeds the amount of fish that will cause major environmental pollution and damage to marine life. We can do something about this issue and it's just a question of whether or not we will do anything about it. We can all be more Eco friendly in one way or another whether it may be recycling or just not buying plastic anymore. We can all make some sort of an impact even if it's small. One less plastic item in our oceans means that maybe one less animal could be affected by plastic in a negative way. Maybe just one more animal could be given the opportunity to have a chance at life. 

The Arcadia power blog wrote, "Scientists estimate that 1 million seabirds are killed by consuming plastics every year". Just think of how much fewer birds would be killed if we just started being more aware of our plastic problem and taking action to control what ends up in our environments. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse the ocean crusaders writes on their website, "100000 marine creatures a year die from plastic entanglement and these are the ones found". This is a global issue and many animals are dying because of it. Do you want to see another dead sea turtle washed up on the beach? And do you want to see another intelligent dolphin entangled in plastic net? I don't think this can go on any longer because what are we going to do when all the fish are gone and all the water is polluted. This issue needs to be addressed and it needs to be addressed now. 

To talk about my personal experience with this issue. I am a nature and motivation blogger and I'm all about visiting local wildlife environments. I have seen the environmental pollution first hand everywhere. There is trash in local parks, creeks, rivers, and lakes. I can't even count how many times I've seen trash at falls lake or the neuse river. It's just sad when you want to visit the river and then you see trash everywhere and then the water looks more red and polluted than it did last time. It's sad looking at all of the trash on the ground and knowing that if people were more responsible the trash it wouldn't have been there in the first place. It's sad seeing fish and turtles swim around in contaminated, polluted water. I feel like a lot of people are blind to this issue because they haven't seen it for themselves. Maybe after reading this today just go out and see it for yourself. Visit a local nature area and go see how much trash you can find on the ground just by taking a simple walk. 

One could argue that plastic pollution isn't that big of an issue compared to other things. What they don't know however is that this problem is only increasing through time and it is causing more and more environmental problems. The Huffington post writes, "If it weren’t for plastic packaging, I don’t know that local, organic meat producers and dairy farmers would be able to ship their products to stores". While this is a concern there is other options for packaging. You could use biodegradable corn-based plastic that is more environmentally friendly. There is also other alternatives like glass, metal, silicone, liquid wood, and milk protein. All of these materials would work just the same way that plastic would if not better, plus it's Eco-friendly. Qz.com writes, If we were to get rid of plastic today, the loss of the primary form of food packaging would make hundreds of thousands of people sick". While I do believe that plastic is the primary material used for packaging I do think that there are other materials you could use in place of plastic that would be just as safe. I mentioned some of the alternatives earlier on in this article and those would work really well in place of plastic. Some people bring up how plastic is preferred compared to other materials. The green biz writes, "Independent studies show that plastic bags are environmentally preferable to paper". While plastic may be more preferred that doesn't make plastic somehow okay. Plastic is a non biodegradable material and all of the non recycled plastic ends up in our environments and sits there for millions of years.

The plastic problem in our world is only growing year by year and when are we as people actually going to do something about it? According to greenpeace.org they report, "Of the 260 million tons of plastic the world produces each year, about 10 percent ends up in the Ocean". This is a very sad statistic and while some people may argue that it's not as bad as other things going on in the world but it is still very alarming. According to the arcadiapower blog, "Scientists estimate that 1 million seabirds are killed by consuming plastics every year, as are 100,000 mammals. In fact, 44 percent of marine bird species have been studied to show that such materials have affected them in some way".This problem cannot be ignored and this is I'd say one of the biggest environmental problems in our modern day world. Some people will claim that we need plastic for food safety and that there is no other good alternatives. They are obviously wrong because there are many alternatives. Now it just comes down to the fact of whether or not people want to accept the alternatives and change their way of living. Some people may also want to downplay this issue and say that everyone is "overreacting". I think people are just now discovering how bad plastic is and it is not overreacting. I think everyone is just now realizing how polluted the environment is really becoming and that is why people are upset by this issue. This is not just one fish, this is thousands even hundreds of thousands of marine species getting effected by plastic in a negative way. 

This is something that I wrote for school and I thought I would share it on here because it has a lot of good information and it's very powerful. This is a lot more informational than my regular posts but it's important so I hope you guys enjoyed it. Until next week! Stay mindful. 

“Plastic Pollution Coalition.” Plastic Pollution Coalition, www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/.
Guern, Claire Le. “When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide.” Plastic Pollution, plastic-pollution.org/.Power, Team Arcadia. “15 Key Facts & Statistics About Plastic Pollution.” Blog, Arcadia Power, 21 Aug. 2017, blog.arcadiapower.com/15-key-facts-statistics-about-plastic-pollution/.Rodale, Maria. “Is Plastic Really That Bad?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 May 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-rodale/is-plastic-really-that-ba_b_820067.html.NOAA's National Ocean Service, oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/marinedebris/plastics-in-the-ocean.html.“By 2050 There May Be More Plastic in Oceans than Fish – UN.” News24, 5 June 2018, www.news24.com/Green/News/by-2050-there-may-be-more-plastic-in-oceans-than-fish-un-20180605.Chepkemoi, Joyce. “How Many Fish Live in the Ocean?” World Atlas, Worldatlas, 25 Apr. 2017, www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-fish-are-there-in-the-ocean.html.Admin. “The Most Common Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Plastic Packaging.” Trending Packaging, 25 June 2015, www.trendingpackaging.com/the-most-common-eco-friendly-alternatives-for-plastic-packaging/.

My Grounding/Barefoot Journey

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hey guys long time no see. I haven't written a blog post in what seems like forever but today I want to talk about my grounding/barefoot journey. I don't know if any of you guys have heard of grounding before but it is very beneficial for you and makes you feel really in touch with the environment. I found out about grounding over summer break and I have been walking barefoot a lot ever since. Some of my friends think that I'm it's weird that I'm walking barefoot and they are like, "put on your shoes". My response to that is, "you know I wear shoes when I have to wear shoes but any other time I'm going barefoot". It's kind of funny to see their reactions because they think I'm crazy. I will say through now that it's cold outside I haven't been walking barefoot as much. That's the only downside of grounding is that it's kind of a seasonal thing because otherwise you would freeze your feet off. Now if you are wondering what the benefits are of walking barefoot, well there is actually more than you think. Here are some of them...

-Better control of your foot position when it strikes the ground

-Improvements in balance and body awareness, which can help with pain relief

-Better foot mechanics, which can lead to improved mechanics of the hips, knees, and core
-Better control of your foot position when it strikes the ground
-Improvements in balance and body awareness, which can help with pain relief
-Better foot mechanics, which can lead to improved mechanics of the hips, knees, and core
-Maintaining appropriate range of motion in your foot and ankle joints as well as adequate strength and stability within your muscles and ligaments
-Relief from improperly fitting shoes, which may cause bunions, hammertoes, or other foot deformities
-Stronger leg muscles, which support the lower back region

So walking barefoot really does have benefits and it would be a great way to connect with your surroundings and be more aware of the environment around you. It would increase your awareness because while walking barefoot in nature you will need to look down to see where you're going and what you may be stepping on. I like that element of it because in the moment I'm thinking of where I am going and what I may run into along the way. For starters through I would just try walking around the neighborhood barefoot or any other soft paved surfaces. Just start out small and slowly increase your distance as you keep on grounding and after a while it will just become your second nature to walk barefoot for two miles on a hike or something. So that is my best advice for starters. Just take it slow and easy and over time you will get the hang of it. If you are dealing with foot problems too I would highly recommend grounding to let your feet loose and gain some support on the ground's surface. 

So get out there and take those shoes off! Thanks for reading and I hope to put out more blog posts soon and get back into it again. Until next time... Happy holidays! 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Hammocking 101-How to Get Started

Hey guys long time no see but I am back with another post. Today I want to talk about hammocking and everything you need to know when you get started with hammocking. So I've been hammocking for a couple of months now and I love it. It's a good way to relax your mind by being in nature, plus it's comfy. 

So all you need to start hammocking is straps, and the hammock itself. For straps I recommend the eno atlas suspension system. I have been using the suspension system since I've started hammocking and I don't have any problems with the straps. They are very durable and you can also hang other things on the straps because the straps have slits in them. The suspension system has held the weight of me and one other person as well as other stuff in the hammock at the same time, so the straps can hold a lot of weight. The straps are around thirty dollars but it is worth the investment because you can trust that you won't fall down unsuspectingly in the middle of hammocking. Now for the hammock itself you can really buy any kind of hammock and it would work. You don't necessarily need to buy an eno right off the bat, I actually use an equip double nested blue hammock and that works perfectly fine as well. I also have another singular hammock that is called hammock in a bag and it's from Bliss hammocks. I use that when I hammock by myself. It's a Brazilian Eco-friendly beachy hammock and it's made out of cotton and polyester and that hammock works perfectly fine for me too. What I recommend is that you think of where you want to use your hammock and for what purpose. So if you camp a lot I would recommend a more durable hammock like an eno. Or if you just want to lay in your backyard for example I would recommend the beachy Brazilian hammock. So just think of what kind of hammock would best suit your purpose and buy a hammock based off that. 

Now once you get the hammock and straps now it's time to set it up. When you first set up at hammock you tie the straps first. There is no absolute correct way to tie your straps but you want your straps to support the weight of your hammock. What I like to do is tie my straps around the tree and knot it three or four times or I use a clip and wrap the straps around one time and then clip the wrapped around part into the remaining part of the strap. I hope that made sense but that is how I secure my straps to the tree. There is also other ways to tie the straps but those ways involve complex knots and everything else so I haven't tried those methods yet. Now once the straps are set up you clip your hammock onto your straps using the little holes on the straps. If your straps don't have holes then simply tie your hammock to your straps and that holds it up too. 

Now the cool thing about hammocking is that you can pretty much hammock anywhere where there are trees. Just to name a few places where I've hammocked, I've hammocked at the lake, in the woods, at a river, and I've hammocked in my backyard. Hammocking is a great way to experience the nature around you without the biggest hike or the effort that other activities take to experience nature. So basically you can sit back, relax, be lazy, and enjoy every second of it. So basically that is hammocking in a nutshell. It's great when you just want to relax in nature and just listen to your surroundings. I love hammocking and I probably do it anywhere from two to four times a week. I usually like hammocking at the river or lake. Those are my two favorite spots to go to hammock because it's pretty and it's peaceful. 

That wraps it up for this post. I hope to post more on my blog soon. Lately I've been more into Instagram and I've been posting around three times a week on Instagram. You can check out my insta @sugarcoatedbears. I post nature photos with lots of motivational captions to go along with the photo. So check me out there if you're interested and I'll see you guys soon with another blog post. Bye! 

How to Become More In Touch With the Planet

It's the truth that a lot of people in this day and age are connected through technology and mostly social media. We just stare endlessly at our screens most of the day and we never really think to go spend time outdoors. We are too wrapped up in a lot of things to even think of spending time outside. Most of us are out of touch with the planet and there are some simple ways to be more in touch. Here are some of them. 

1)Go outside-Going outside is the number one way of feeling more in touch with the planet. When you simply go on a hike or head to the lake you will be more in touch with the planet. When you also go outside your stress and anxiety decreases which is great if you had a stressful day at work or something else is bothering you. By being in nature you are connecting with the outside surroundings in that moment. You can hear the birds chirping, or the rain falling, or the sun setting, you can experience all of those wonders of nature when you are outside. You will be aware of your surroundings and inevitably more connected with nature when you are outside. 

2)Going barefoot-This is where I usually lose people and people think I'm nuts about walking barefoot but going barefoot can make you more in touch with the planet. By walking barefoot you are touching the earth with your bare feet and you are actually absorbing the earth's negative electrons. We need those electrons to balance out the energy in our bodies and so by walking barefoot we are getting the electrons we need. Walking barefoot also reduces disease, and pain in your body. It also makes you more aware of your environment. I have recently started walking barefoot a whole lot more and it makes me feel very connected to the planet. You are for sure more aware of your surroundings because you don't want to step on anything sharp or something that would hurt your foot. It has made me more intentional about the way I walk and I really like it. I want to make a whole blog post on it soon because I've been practicing it a lot but this is just a short description on the concept of it. 

3)Do yoga-Doing yoga is a practice of movement and a little bit of meditation all in one. It really helps you connect to your spiritual self and also the planet too. I used to do yoga two years ago and then I stopped doing it but I really want to get back into it again. It really relaxed my mind and I felt really zen after I would do yoga. While you are doing yoga you really feel a whole connection to the earth and to really everything. You could feel every movement you would do and it was all very present and in touch with your environment. 

4)Go off grid and technology free!-It pays off to spend some time offline and be checked out. When you are disconnected from social media and all the other distractions from your devices you can spend more time outdoors connecting with nature. You will also feel more relaxed because you won't be overwhelmed with all the distractions that come with being connected to your devices. A camping trip is a good example of going off grid and technology free. Maybe try to go camping once or twice a year to disconnect. Or if you don't like camping you can disconnect in another way. Just do what works for you. 

5)Prioritize connecting with nature-When you prioritize your connection with nature you will be more connected because you are going out of your way to make sure you have a good connection. A lot of it is about the effort you put into it. So just make it a priority to disconnect and get outside! 

I hope this inspired some of you guys! I will see you soon with another post.