When Melissa Valencia was about 11 years old her parents separated, her world broke apart and her life was filled with doubt, not only because of her home life, but because of financial security. It was a difficult time, and one of the things she remembers most fondly is her birthday shortly after the separation.

A week or so before the big day, Valencia’s father told her and her siblings that he was going to take them all on an adventure. Something that would help them forget about their troubles and focus on the good, that adventure was to visit the Grand Canyon. For Valencia, 25, it was an experience that would shape the way she saw the world. “For me that was the most magical thing I could have ever seen,” Valencia said. “The different colors of red, orange and brown and the Colorado running through… at 11 years old it was really life changing.”

Since then, she has made it a point to travel and visit National Parks often. After joining the Navy she moved to San Diego and met her husband. Together they went on a 10-day adventure to Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Death Valley national parks. 

“I remember camping out at the bottom of Death Valley after hiking to one of the peaks that was about 14,000 feet, not far from Mount Whitney,” Valencia recalled. “There was one point where we were trying to get a fire started and we couldn't because it was dark as hell, so we finally just stopped. We turned off all the lights, looked up and saw the Milky Way right above us, with our naked eyes. It didn’t feel real, none of it felt real.”

There’s something about going out into nature and surrendering yourself to the space. If you give yourself the time to look around and enjoy the air, it can sometimes feel like a dream. A deep breath in and all of your worldly problems dissolve, like a magic elixir that makes the dark fade away and gives way to what we need, and that’s nature. “That's why I love going to national parks, it feels like a dream and you never want to leave from that dream,” Valencia said. 

It’s this feeling of finally being able to breathe that needs to be felt by people of more diverse communities. There’s proven research and data that shows how the outdoors improve our lives. Not only is going outside good for our physical body, it’s good for our mental health and helps us keep our chaotic lives organized and under control. This sense of control is not something that only a portion of the population should feel. Everybody should be reaping the benefits that nature has to offer, and this is something Valencia champions. “I try to tell everybody, my family and friends to go out and experience nature,” she said. “It is scary, I understand that, but it's a perfect time to reflect and grow a little bit and enjoy yourself. I just wish more people in our culture actually went out and experienced that.”

This summer Valencia went out and decided to experience nature alone for the first time. She told her family she was taking off solo to wind down, reflect and explore during a time of great unease in the world. During our conversation she was visiting Saguaro National Park, a space unparalleled in its unique biodiversity and history. “I love the desert terrain; I grew up in an area where we had almost nothing but Joshua trees,” Valencia remembered. “It’s the most intimidating but beautiful thing I've ever seen.” The Sonoran Desert, which houses Saguaro National Park, is home to the Tohono O'odham nation. Their culture is steeped in the desert, the saguaros are sacred and each new year for them is marked by the first harvest of the saguaro fruit. Their name translates to the desert people, and it’s facts like these that keep Valencia wanting more. “Wherever I go I want to explore, but I also want to learn the history, I want to learn about the culture, the fauna and flora, everything,” she said.