Whether you are on your campsite, on the beach, along the trail or in your own back yard, you can experience some amazing things.
Yes, you will get those around you that like to have their music blaring and kids screaming while they play but if you want to really experience all the things your senses offer, get away from the main stream and take a closer look around.
When all of your senses are open it is more difficult to experience just one or the other.
Try sitting quietly with your eyes closed and what do you hear? Listen to the birds singing or just the silence.
Listen to the insects purring in the heat.
Listen to the wolves howl at night.
Listen to the fish jumping early in the morning.
Listen to the water as it gently touches the shore or crashes on the beach or rocks.
Hear the wind as it soughs through the trees.
Try covering your ears and what do you see? Watch the butterfly coming out of its cocoon.
See the sun rise or set.
See the stars and the clouds in the sky.
Watch the waves as they slap up against the rocks and the spray as it comes back down again.
Watch the ants or the chipmunks as they go about collecting food for the winter months ahead or to feed their young.
Try closing your eyes and covering your ears and what do you smell? If you try, you can smell the needles and tree leaves.
You can smell the mushrooms and fungi that grown on the trees or on the ground.
You can smell the cleanliness after a rain.
You can smell the sand on a dry day.
You can smell the campfires from other campsites and you can smell the fishy smell of the lakes.
And yes, you can smell the coffee and the roses as well as somebody cooking bacon or popping corn.
No, I am not going to recommend you try to cover your ears, close your eyes and plug your nose to taste.
To taste things you have to know what it is you're tasting.
Be very careful because some things look very edible when in actual fact they are not.
Hopefully you will recognize a blackberry, a raspberry or a strawberry that is just right for sampling.
Taste the clear, clean water of a spring.
Taste the rain or snow as it falls.
Last but not least - try to touch or feel some of the things you can hear, see, smell, and taste.
Feel the coarse or smooth texture of the rocks along the shore, when they are wet and when they are dry.
Feel the softness of the moss growing in the bogs.
Feel the silkiness of the water as you run it through your fingers.
Feel the air when it is still and when the breezes are blowing through your hair.
Feel the different types of bark on the trees.
Pop a blister on a balsam fir (just make sure you don't have any fancy clothes on for that little experiment).
By using your 5 senses you can experience things that will surely amaze you.
Each trip you make or each time you try, no matter where you are, these tips will give you new and exciting things to hear, see, smell, taste and touch.
Ahhhh, that's the life.