GOOD TIMES JOURNAL // PHOTO SERIES 012 // SAM THERIAULT

Sam Theriault is a self-described "ordinary guy who loves extraordinary things" from Quebec, Canada. 

Ida Scott Taylor once wrote: “Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering”.

I’ve been trying for years to live according to that quote, but too often I am worried about the future, and I’ve come to realize that because of that, I wasn’t having quality time with the people I spend time with, especially with the people I love.

I grew up in a small town surrounded by rivers, forest, mountains, and the ocean. As a child, my parents taught me to respect, to love, and to appreciate nature. I never really stopped exploring around, but as you grow older, it gets tougher to find time and to find friends that are willing to just go on adventures, without any plans. So I’ve been on many trips alone, I guess I wanted to find silence.. and I did find it.

By sharing those solo adventures on Instagram, I wanted to inspire people to go out, to leave the comfort of their houses and just live. No way you will remember the nights you drank at a bar, but I can assure you that you’ll have stars in your eyes when you'll explain to your grandchildren how beautiful the milky way is, how vast the ocean can be and how amazing it can be to wake up in the middle of a forest at dawn’s early light.

Quebec doesn’t have the same kind of landscape Pacific Northwest has. Everything is smaller and colder here. I’ve spent so much time wishing I was somewhere else that it made me forgot what truly matters: Friends & Family. Christopher McCandless wrote before he died, “Happiness only real when shared”.

So last weekend, I decided to go on a trip and I have to say, there was something truly magical about that adventure. I watched the first snowfall of the year, I slept in a traditional yurt and I spent time relaxing around a bonfire. Yeah, I know, it already sounds pretty nice... but you know what? It wasn’t because I had a perfect set-up that I appreciated this trip so much. It was because I was lucky enough to have with me two of the most important people in my life. I couldn’t have enjoyed it more with any other people in the world.

Nature will always be on my mind, and as long as I’ll be able to walk, I will be exploring, I will be traveling and I will be learning as much as I can. But now I know that what will make my life worth remembering is the people I’ll spend time with.