Portland callin. Great article. My friend has canoed the entire Willammette River a few times, solo and with friends, and loves it... he makes it almost sound like a Huck Finn adventure, stopping in at weird private landings, dive bars, river parties, sleeping in the parks, making friends with strangers. Personally, I'd be terrified to embark on a trip like this. I wish I had the confidence that I would be able to survive a bad day or two of food poisoning with nowhere to go.

Also relevant is Henry David Thoreau’s trip with his brother:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Week_on_the_Concord_and_Me...

It was very pleasant jail reading. In truth it’s about 30% trip diary and 70% musings on the nature of life, friendships, religion, and language.

Great read. I think connecting with nature while you’re young is great — when you’re older, even better. Would love to read more of these.

Ben, the authors brother, is a friend of mine. Ben happens to be a very successful and capable software engineer.

Nice story. I wish I were closer to the area so I could explore its nature.

Paddling is one of the activities that makes me feel more present—no time for scrolling while slowly moving through the water. For the last 10 years, I’ve gone once or twice a year to the Danube swamps to disconnect and recharge. We’re lucky there aren’t any crocodiles!”

A very wholesome read. Thank you for sharing. I’ve never been so into outdoors/camping/fishing, but it made me reflect on some of my adventure trips I’m doing right now while I’m still young. And maybe these will be talked about in my future family.

I’ve done a lot of canoeing. It doesn’t even seem possible that you could canoe in the Pacific Ocean for any amount of time without being swamped.

This is beautiful.

I would really like to know how his father's trip influenced the author's life. He mentions this several times, but does not explain.