I have had some interesting jobs and internships since entering college. I have been a lifeguard, a climbing instructor, a campaign assistant, and even a debt collector, yet, last summer I decided no job was necessary. I made the decision early last spring to spend the summer climbing in Colorado. I had never climbed in that state before, yet, climbing has but one purpose…go up. So I felt confident I could figure things out quickly. I had a basic itinerary when I flew out to Denver in June. I knew I wouldn’t follow it, but I had it. My first night in Denver was spent in a hostel where I met a group of people my age from California. These four people, who later became great friends of mine, had similar goals for the summer. So with a combined 600 dollars in food and what ever gear we could get in our packs we hopped a shuttle bus to Leadville and began.

We spent over four weeks hiking and climbing. Occasionally we would run into other groups and join them for a few days, but for the most part we were on our own. I had been on trips of this sort before, but the length of this one was a new experience for me. While the stories of the mountains and the near death experiences we endured could fill a book, the real lesson I got out of this trip was discovering the uselessness of modern news. I, by my own admission, am a news junkie. I can recite the latest Gallup poll like it is my mothers birthday, however, since this last summer I have calmed down a bit. When I left for Colorado, there were around eight candidates for President on each side, Barry Bonds was about to break the homerun record, the war in Iraq was going awful, and the media was scaring people senseless on a daily basis. When I returned to Denver and rented a hotel room in mid July, the only thing new was Barry Bonds had broken the home run record.

If I would have lived a normal life this last summer, I am sure that I would have followed the news those four weeks with excitement and utter obsession. I would have been much more well versed on the heath care proposals of Mike Gravel and Ron Paul, I would be able to tell you where Barry Bonds was born, I would have been able to recite the Iraq war death count daily…but does any of that matter? Details are not important. The modern media feeds off of petty details that keep the public tuned in. If CNN, ABC, NBC, FOX, and MSNBC would have went off of the air in mid-June and reappeared in mid-July the world would be the same. People would have the same opinions. So why tune in?

When I returned I canceled my cable TV and I have never regretted the decision. I will read a news paper or check news online occasionally, but that is all. I am still informed, educated, and able to make responsible decisions, yet, I am not scared to death that there is drugs in my tap water or a child rapist living next door. I am happy with this. Sometimes getting away from something is all you need to test its usefulness in your own life. We have been so accustomed to living on the edge of the next breaking story that it seems that all we can pay attention to is other people. To truly learn you must do more then listen and read, you must experience life.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine