"Live the Cover!" Contest: Maldives

Great Travel Moment

Opportunities for privacy are rare on multi-person backpacking expeditions. You hike, eat, and sleep with the same group of people for weeks on end, and doing so as a group is not only a boon to team dynamics, but also necessary for safety. In Alaska, even going to the bathroom is a group affair; you are much less likely to aggravate an encounter with a bear if you travel in numbers. In this rare moment of semi-privacy, the troupe agrees to seek out personal space for reflection while backpacking in the Talkeetna Mountains. Between unapologetic mountains, surrounded by Seussical silver flowers, and beside a glacial river that seems to glow in the late afternoon light, I reevaluate the meaning of solitude and the distinction between being alone and being lonely.