Finding something completely unexpected in your own backyard...

Where is this? It's honestly a little hard to tell from the picture. The cabins are octagonally shaped and look like they sprung from the hippie movement... so maybe the Pacific Northwest? But, the land doesn't look right, the trees are oaks... so maybe it's a commune somewhere near Asheville? Well, at least I know there aren't any elves so it can't be Lothlorien and there aren't any Ewoks so it can't be Endor.

Sometimes beauty is found in the most unexpected places, even an hour outside of Jacksonville. Because unless you already knew about the Hostel in the Forest, you'd would probably never guess it was in Brunswick, Georgia... about two miles from a Dollar General and a Harvey's Supermarket.

Walking into this place is like walking into a dream. Even though the hostel isonly a mile off of a major highway, it feels like a completely other world. The tree coverage obscures nearly all the light from the sun and only small gaps of light make it down to the forest floor. The rich smells of the earth eminate from the leaves and soil in the ground. The buzzing cicadas provides some sort of solace that though the surroundings are serene and unmoving, they are simultaneously full of life.


The people who stay at the hostel have an indescribably special quality as well. Warm, open, honest, smiling, giving lots of hugs, and wearing no shoes. Plus they make the best darn vegan lasagna I've ever tasted.

There's also a spring-fed lake open for canoeing and swimming. In late-August, the lake was a perfect temperature for swimming. And laughing. And floating to look up at the sky and wondering why it took you so long to find a place so beautiful.

I fell asleep Monday evening in a screened-in cabin in complete perfect darkness except for the tiny sporadic soft light of firefies.

Everything here reminded me of the importance of nature to human existence and how easy it can be to forget if time isn't taken to do so.