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Comment by piecerough | Hacker News Reader

"The truth is: nothing I’ve done or experienced in this place has given me any experience comparable to walking along the ridge between two mountains. Nothing has made me feel alive like getting in to freezing cold water despite my body screaming at me not to. Nothing has made me feel anything like that feeling when you summit a mountain after 2 hours of solid climbing in the rain, and the clouds part to reveal the most spectacular and breathtaking view you’ve ever seen."

This is the tricky part. If you're in the rat race, the feelings you get in the mountains are way more intense.

If mountains become your life, it won't be long until they become the norm, making you flee back to some urban jungle.

It's the contrast in your life that matter.

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This article suggests it is not the contrast, but the inherent positive impacts of being outdoors. Even people who do it as their day job are happier.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/01/06/happiest-...

Unfortunately I don't have any links right now but I also remember reading that primitive tribes are far more "happy" than the average modern city dweller. I'm pretty sure "happiness" was measured by average amount of time smiling each day - take from that what you will.

> If mountains become your life, it won't be long until they become the norm, making you flee back to some urban jungle.

That's a really bold claim. I fail to see any evidence of it.

Anecdotally, it's not true at all. A huge portion of my city dweller friends are miserable and constantly talk about quitting their jobs or moving. I cannot think of a single friend in the mountains who is as miserable. None of them want to move to a big city removed from nature.

They might not be miserable, but I hear things like limited opportunity, a young man's game, poor schools, compassion fatigue, and the emotional drag of living in a superficial tourist hotspot. Overemphasis on machismo & bravado, alcoholism, excessive risk-taking, unhealthy levels of competition, very small social circles, etc. (That's the blue collar though, not wealthy FIRE folks)

I have mostly heard this from folks who have been there over a decade, often with young kids. Everywhere has its problems, of course; pick what matters to you.

> If mountains become your life, it won't be long until they become the norm, making you flee back to some urban jungle.

Anecdotally, this is somewhat true for me. My wife and I moved to a rural location last year and every few of months we make a trip to "civilization" (e.g. a major city) to "recharge". Waking up every day surrounded in nature and breathing in the sweet air of a pine forest is great, no doubt. But being able to walk to a pizza shop or bike to a park are something we really miss too.

We're in bit of a pickle though, our daughter will be starting school in a couple of years but the public schools here are not very good. They have some of the lowest scores in the state and the state's scores are some of the lowest in the country...

Some outdoors professionals might summit the same mountain 100+ times a year. Their breath is not taken each time. Watching them, it's more like the mountain is their office. An office with plenty of nature & exercise, but the magic is largely gone.

Living in a rural area and visiting cities beats living in a city and viting the mountains for me. Visiting cities is super simple, and time of the year or weather basically doesn't matter. But for the mountains you need to be there to be ready for the best weather and conditions.

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