Unbound | #4, Boyd Matson IBlame the Boy Scouts They stole my soul when I was a kid—and planted it firmly in the wilderness. °M NOT WHAT you'd call a plant guy. Don't get me wrong. [like looking at thems I want them in my yard; I appreciate what they do for the environment. But I've never been interested enough to learn their (official Latin names. A simple, “Hello, fern; what's up, rose?” have been sutfficient—until roday. We're 30 hours and 12,000 feet into our climb up’Tanzanie’s Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak at 19,340 feet, and every five minutes I’m stopping our guide Wilson to asi, “What's that plant? What's that flower called? How about that oe?" He reps, paper fv.” “everasting flos= ‘en oF whatever common name applies Not susie, ask or the tin names and ther the spll= ings. 'm finding any exeuse 16 ‘get him to stop to talk, so Team. ‘etch my breath On this, mv third climb up Klimanjaey Fale what to expect: ss nights seeping om the ground, no bh for a week, ‘cold wind, thin sir, and maybe mil tte sickness heep ask ingmsse“Why am T oir thi, Remembering the Boy Seout ‘agin’ Finally Loom up sith an alnetheclore Scouts eompatictsmandalxeo! te outoors, pate, “The Prepared,” I bring ‘ante. blame the Boy Scotts of water for thirst, snacks for hun= “America That oganizaion stole my soul when was darkness a see forthe olds {tklund planed tin he ikke Twas oo young TH@NESSONS ny and my cel phone in case of to resis their lever sales pitch built around hiking WEMtBEYONE accident. plan to drive w Rig Spring, che andeamping mips Andiheiesstemofrewardingse digging motel get a good nights sep, and thon get up eat ‘complishments with higher anks and colorful merit ge Lar ain Lt mone pare unt whe hd Thadges meant in efoet, there was always one more UHNESANAS!t- yy Facte Scout badge stitched on my Kaki uoiform, ‘sapenay ty reach the top. From there, we wowed the World below For mies in all directions For years I've talked about reliving my Signal Peak climb, and mvy need for a training hike to prepare for Kilimanjaro was the perfcer exeuse. My brosher agrees to ride with me 19 Big Spring but has no interest in raking the cbnb imsel In stew book i Had he sy5.° 1 just ead ‘off looking for your childhood. the eur while you go al to reach one more mountain wo ci, finguptents About wo hours outside oF Big Spring, my pan Fifty years ago,asa Boy Seout, I limbed my fist ses out the windows Dark thunsderhead chase us c igoasa Roy Scout, Teimbed fist iatherain. We & the window. Dark thunnderheade che mountain, or rather what passes for a mountain ia down Interstate 26."The storm, say radio reports, will Wes Tenis. Our top vas camping at Mess Crock Heagmed about bring lshining and possibly tornadoes Thats when Tae near Big Sping, Teas Ofin the dionee.rie— faeingtife’s | decide to crve straight othe mountain and climb ingaboce the reraants of Ue Edwards Pate st itbotore dusk A few dirt roads, wrong turn locked Signal Peak, a solitary, pyramid-shaned formation — CRMAMLEMBES tes, and no sespassing sans later, [park the ea at squared off at the top by what ok, 10 us kids ike Spam thru? my cms ark cell phone myc 2 hunidred-foo:-allimestone cap, Growing up SO) miles away in packsclimb over a barhed wire fenee, and heed for Sigal Peak Midland, we were surrounded! hy a flat, featureless landscape. In my haste, | inadvertently leave most of my "Ie Prepared Sccing this monolith looming on the horizon 2,667 fect abexc_items—Watr. jacket, headlamp the reunk of theca Fw hous ‘ea level proved an irresistible temptation 10 us 12+, 13 and later, reach te base of te mountain with no tine lef to find the 11-year-old bors out fora weekend of adventure and exploration, best ute up, so [ust start climbing, My toute is steep in places jgnal Peak was three hours of trekking, thousand of prickly with nose serve making the foting ily. have to carefully navigate pear cactus, several dry ereck besa few burbed wie fences and f eople of rattlesnakes assay. When we reached the distinctive Wate Boye Mason rte hs scouting cays and nim on stent ‘erowsn of the peak we sguirreled dhrough sls, cracks, and pas- ll) etimpottimanre ima videoonTravtersapp erat wnsnocomThe Hottest Book From the Coolest State TravelAlaska.com/ngtseveral vertical rock outcroppings Fnstexd ‘oF aduk eyes diminishing my childhood memories 'm thinking: “We did this as kids?" As I near the base of the big oky ‘cap. the sun is setting, ane I remember ‘another lesson karmed as Boy Scout "Al succowfil adventures are ound tips" use the last riys of sunlight to safely d= con the movuntsin, missing the simm. “Vhe next morning, the storm hav blows through, [ry again, this ine Bad ing a better way up. Standing on the top, think back over the past SO years ane reflect on how the Boy Seouts taught us to cmbrace the unknown o test our Lim its, ti push beyond the easy. The lessons went beyond ehmbing mountain, digsing latrines, cooking over «campfire, or sect ing tent in howling sandscorms oF pours ing rain, all of which we did, Instead, the ‘outdors ws ou laser for ie sss aout Lacing challenges and leareung that the best rears smetioes ee a tle pain and suffering Kids spending their lives in front of ‘computer screens may’ be missing those lessons. Does a virtual work! prepare them to handle adversity that has real ile ‘consequences?’ Thats another reason I'm back on Kilimanjaro, Pm climbing with my 20-vear-old son, "Taylor. At 13.100 fet in our final camp before the suri push, he’s feling ill and questioning why Thicught hiss Lanswer, "Fo a father-son bonding experience." He says.‘Next time fete te tothe movies." What I don't say js that L want him to experience the frill of accomplishing something difficult "The final eight hours and 4,000 feet to the summit are just that kind of test for liylor. Headache and naasea make the slog extra slow and torturous fr ian. a sure he's contemplating turning bo very steps thinking: “This is something my kes, Who cares if Toi ut near the top I sense a ecbange in at- ula quickened pace, new determina- tion fin no matter what. And chen we ate finally standing on the roof of Aftics, see in his smile that he fs proud of his accomplishment. In fiet, he's so hyped slbout shat he's just dome tht he erally runs all he way, all 19 miles, hack down the mountain, though 'm ec elated, iy xen return on old WoRn-OUr Knees. I considerably slower, Fuse the time to again reflzeton how Igo here and thank the Bey Seouts for getting me up that es il in Tests 50 years. Contributing edilor HOY MAISON hosts amenl Goverapheltoksnd vad, REALTRAVEL I discovered thote were many’ parts of the world in which my New York City-atste bhaksheesh sss considred inappropriats even eecentrc, In tip-frce Japan, where cash is king, and prices, by custom, in- ly had hotel housekeepers chase after me withthe tp left for them inthe room, tlde all services, ve act About those hotel housckeepers. Over sears of journeys ve come to grins with iy tip amet by cobing together ast of idiosyncratic guidelines. While [wish that travels invisible tax would disappear ping wil endure a ongs thee are uncer paid frontline workers, Soin ands where local price a rates are relatively lowe and {can afford to be generous, Lam. At the same time Ly to give my limited funds to the people whic the actual work. That ‘means mang efor to hunt down the lessrisble hand that make my beh seen ‘my’ mvom, cook and serve my food. Hands that belong, so ete, to women, As sou as I sete into a hotel ind oat \who wil be cleaning my oom an tp her right ava Is the smartest travel mave— especially in cheaper hotels as [earned fn Belem, Brail‘The raver ithe sun down backpackers hotel where I stayed complained nonstop about their grotty rooars Not mesmy room was spedesss an Thc! fresh toes each cay thanks 16 the mndest amount of us [sipped to Dona Iphigenia shordy after arivl As for those her eagerly outstretched hhands, | make an on-the-spot calculation bused on my beurt, my budget, und the situation. In Csiro, where baksheesh isan ingrained fact of life, gave a small token. to Ar. Asaf, the tool-less end probably salary-less) engineer, He could fix my shower, but he did help me in an important way: He helped me figure out my nest step. The manager atthe front desk didn't oom surprised to soe me agai This is @ terrible situation, madame, My apologies.” Ls resigned, ihe, suf reaches nea my wal Room J05 ws IBhce the sizeof ol room SUM, came a expansive view ener Cairo’ rooftops tnd boasted a shower that owed just 28 zenro Une Nie. Corti eur DAISANN MCLANE Sos Fgh oneal ways in er og edema! weir BeLLows Sacer cata eteeenatretparnco BD tienr te nearMatson, Boyd. "I Blame the Boy Scouts." National Geographic Traveler Nov-Dec 2010: 20+. National Geographic Virtual Library. Web. 28 Apr. 2015. URL http://tinyurl.galegroup.com/tinyurl/XYHD3