This Canada Day, We're Remembering our First Trip to Western Canada

Maryam and Nivaal Rehman | Toronto, Canada

First of all, we want to wish a very happy Canada Day to all Canadians! Canada is arguably the most beautiful country in the world, and yet, so many young people are not getting out there and exploring the landscapes and culture that exist in the vast area that makes up Canada. This Canada Day, we're encouraging you all to get out there and explore some nature in our beautiful country and be reminded of all that it has to offer. We're also remembering our first trip to Canada's West, because it really helped us appreciate the natural beauty in this country once again and want to get out into nature a lot more than we did before we visited.

Last month, we went to Whistler, Canada for the G7 Finance and Development Ministers' Meetings. It was an incredible time that we had, representing the voices of girls all around the world, and advocating for the need to invest in girls' education. You can read more about those experiences in our other blog post here.

When we weren't attending meetings or participating in the symposium that took place, we had a chance to take in our surroundings, go for a hike, or just wake up early in the morning and enjoy the view from the balcony of our hotel room.

Some photos we took during our time outdoors in Whistler

As our world becomes more digital, and more of our homework, entertainment and extra curricular activities go online, it gets so easy to get cooped up inside for hours on end, staring at a blue computer screen, and switching over to a bigger screen to watch T.V. or a smaller screen to go on the phone. So much of the world is accessible to us on our fingertips. While this is all really great, we believe that this dependence on technology has made us go away from nature, and the beauty of the outside world. We used to spend hours soaking up the sun playing in the park, or going for walks, or having picnics with our friends, and it seems like we never get time to go outdoors now.

Some more pictures we took in Whistler (From hikes, stops along our drive from Vancouver to Whistler, and in between meetings)

Being in Whistler, and seeing the natural beauty in Western Canada for the first time, was a mind-blowing experience, which really made us long to be outdoors all over again.

We felt like we needed to spend more time outside, appreciating nature, and seeing all of the beautiful landscapes, especially in Canada. Seeing the huge trees, the snow-capped mountains, the trails, the wildflowers, everything was just breathtaking and so wonderful to see. We absolutely loved being outside, and taking in the fresh air.

It was the perfect getaway from our regular lives back in a suburb of Toronto, where we spend so much time online. A lot of the beautiful instagram-worthy pictures we saw before, were no longer just pictures. We saw those places in real life, and it was such an enriching experience.

We think that especially in a country like Canada, where we have such a rich display of natural beauty and such breathtaking landscapes, it's not hard to find a place in nature that you can enjoy. While we absolutely loved being in Whistler, surrounded by natural beauty that we won't soon forget, it made us long to be in nature even when we came back home. We spent so much more time outside after that trip, because it helped us realize how rewarding it can be to spend time in nature.

We encourage you all to do the same.

Get out there, enjoy a walk in the park, next to a creek, looking at the clouds, the grass, and the nature. All of these beautiful places that surround us should be enjoyed as much as they can.

We know that being able to go outside and spend time in nature will help you become refreshed and revitalized, just like it did for us.