Nate // China + Taiwan Explorer

大家好! Hey everybody!

So I've never posted on a blog before... or read a blog for that matter. Haha but I'm sure it'll be fun! My friends call me Nate or 黄智祥, but my full name is Nate Olson and I am way excited to be a part of the Pangea Explorers Club! 

 Like everyone else involved, I love being outdoors and finding new adventures. I spent a chunk of my childhood in a super small town in southern Idaho (Declo, ID; population 300-ish) where I had plenty of opportunities to get outside and explore. In fact, my house was basically right across the street from the Snake River. My friends and I would go down there all the time and find places in the nearby woods to make little forts.

When I go out and hike/camp/boat/you-name-it today, I still feel the same rush of freedom and escape that I got back then. The only difference is that my adventures are a lot more exciting than they used to be ;)

So what's with the Chinese stuff up there, right? I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Calgary, Canada and was assigned to speak Mandarin Chinese. I spent 2 years up there making tons of Chinese friends, and I just fell in love with all of it. I can't get enough of the culture, food, language, and people.

In a way, being a missionary was a great big adventure! Traveling to a new place, learning a new language... No matter how much planning I did or didn't do, I never really knew what surprises the next day had in store. There was also so much purpose behind everything I did, and most of it was for the benefit of other people. 

Getting home from all that and having just regular, predictable, everyday life? It's a bit of a bummer. Sure you get to see your family and friends, which is great, but I got bored pretty fast.

There was even one day that I was driving around, kind of looking for something to do, and I saw this guy pulling a stump out of his yard... Yeah I asked him if I could help. He said he could handle it on his own, and I think he was a little weirded out. So this was the point that I realized I needed to find some new adventures. Luckily I was moving up to Logan, UT to go to school at USU!

Since being here in Logan I have always been looking for new fun things to do, and there are plenty of them. I spend a lot of weekends going on hikes, hitting up the hot springs, playing basketball, going out to a lake... whatever I can get a group of people together for! If everyone else is busy, I will usually go for a trail run on my own.

It's never enough to just have fun either; you have to make it an adventure somehow. Try some new things, explore of the trail a little bit (in a safe way). 

 It has been fun as well to get to know the Chinese community up here. You see, every time I see a Chinese person or hear someone speak Chinese I literally have no choice but to stop them and talk, I just can't help it! 

Needless to say.

I have made a lot of friends up here from China and Taiwan. I actually attend my weekly church meetings in Mandarin. It has been a blast as well to show my Chinese-speaking friends how fun it is to get outdoors! A lot of them come from big cities in China, where hiking consists of shopping or missing the bus and walking to school or work. And let me tell you, their school is hardcore. If anyone needs some relaxation time in the woods, it's our friends from the Far East. It has been a great experience to take them out to the mountains and watch them fall in love with it all.

I am not about to stop finding new adventures any time soon either. I've got some midnight-sunset hikes planned up here in the next couple weeks, so hopefully I can get my hands on some high quality Pangea gear soon ;) 

Actually, I have one of my biggest adventures yet coming up. I am most likely going to take off to China in the fall to be an exchange student for about a year.

So I guess adventure doesn't always mean being out in the trees; the most important part of any adventure is the idea of trying something new and fun. Everyone should find something good and wholesome that they love and go live it! Don't go through the motions and don't get stuck on the couch watching Netflix.

Life is way bigger than that.

At the bottom there you will see two pictures with a big ol' gap in the middle. That's how life should feel; like there is always an empty spot waiting to be filled with the next adventure.

Being out and about, seeing nature, being with friends, actually doing things... that's what makes life special. Whenever I am having a hard time or in a bad mood I like to take a drive up the canyon and hike or even just sit and enjoy the scenery. Seeing the mountains, trees, and rivers helps me to realize how big this world is. We are so tiny! But instead of making me feel small and insignificant, it makes me feel blessed. Blessed to know that God made all this for me. And He made it for you too, so get out there and enjoy it. :)

I think we should all just go enjoy Pangea a little bit more!