I’m calling it my attempt to become BC-cultured. Hello wild north, bring it on! I’ve bought my $80 hiking pants from MEC and my long underwear. I’m doing this thing. 10 day backpacking trip through Algonquin with Outward Bound here I come.

I’ve spent more money on supplies for this backpacking trip through Algonquin then I will on first semester books. Will I ever use the long underwear again? Maybe if I don’t purposely burn it at the end of the trip it will get a second use. I’m hoping that there are days when I arrive at UBC that I will think of how lucky I am that I already own these pieces of clothing. “Oh no all of a sudden it is freezing cold on UBC Campus. Thank God I already bought my long underwear!” or “Oh no I find these sidewalks at UBC to be very rough and hard to walk on. No fear students, join me in wearing my new backpacking boots complete with Gore-Tex! Don’t know what that is? It’s okay- I’m not really sure either!”

Maybe after I’ve finished wrestling bears, not being able to check Perez Hilton hourly (hey, it’s my guilty pleasure), and unable to Twitter about it- I will be ready to hit campus in just a couple of weeks. I’ll know every kind of sap that comes out of any kind of tree and I’ll be able to hide my food from bears which we all know is a very common skill all UBC students should know. My professors will notice the twigs in my hair and give me good grades just based on that. “Wow, Erica sure is dedicated to her studies. Spends all of her time hiking in the wilderness and she still makes time to come to my lecture? Do I smell a scholar?” Nope, you just smell bathing in lake water.

So here I go, throwing myself into the wild. Just so you know, this isn’t a normal occurrence for me. I don’t keep my Mountain Equipment Co-Op membership in my pocket ready to go at any given moment. But on a side note, if anyone reading this has a good kayak- I’m interested. I’m the kind of girl who sells you your jeans at American Eagle and hates port-o-potties. I can’t even kill a spider. Will I come out of this trip with Outward Bound a changed woman? Will Algonquin Park be tattooed across my lower back?

Like I said, bring it on wild, I’m game.