As a man who both goes to therapy and enjoys wandering in the back country for no purpose but to be in nature, they’re two useful actions that meet different needs. A therapist one trusts can meet the need of putting your struggles into words, even your most troubling ones that you are embarrassed to share with the people closest to you, or possibly involve those close to you but need help figuring out how to address with them.

Wandering through nature alone is perspective, and disconnection from the noise of humanity. Nature is vast, whether endless ocean to the horizon or never ending mountain ranges as far as you can see. The sound of waves or birds, insects, and a river are quiet compared to the hum of electricity, cars, machines, and people we’re so inundated with that we forget it’s unnatural until we’re away from it. Sense of smell might be our weakest sense but in nature you realize how unclean what we breathe daily really is.

Also, let’s not pretend that escaping civilization and embracing the isolation of nature is something only men enjoy.