Meet Trips by Transit!

Hello kind krafters!
 
My name is Patrick Bondy, and this is a guest blog post from the organization I’m representing, Trips By Transit—hereafter TBT. kind krafts and us are closing out 2017 with a collaboration, and so this is a chance for you to get to know us a bit. My hope is that after reading this post you’ll know what TBT does and some of the qualities that I think make us interesting. 

Backlands Series Finale. PC: Trips By Transit. 

But first, I ought to say what TBT does. We work towards a world where there are no barriers preventing us from connecting with ourselves, each other, and the natural world. We do this principally through organizing outdoor trips using public transit to access a variety of places in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). We partner with many other great organizations to accomplish our mission statement, including the friendly folks here at kind krafts. We’ve been operating for just under two years now. 
 
Essentially, then, TBT goes on outdoor trips using Halifax Transit to get there. Although that may sound simplistic, there are three ways in which I think TBT’s work is thought-provoking. First, we’ve intentionally chosen to limit our adventures to areas accessible via Halifax Transit. Limits and constraints get a bad rap today, but for us it’s helped us stay focused and connected to the ethics of what we do. None of our trips are putting more cars on the road; I think that’s an achievement worth celebrating. 

Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area. PC: Trips By Transit. 

​Second, when we go on outdoor adventures we try to relate to the natural spaces in specific, positive ways. We use it as an opportunity for people to slow down, clear their minds, meet new friends, or just pay attention to trees again. Life can be so fast that it leaves us disoriented. TBT Trips are a way to slow life down. Whenever I hear the wind chase itself through trees overhead, I remember why we do what we do.
 
Third, our trips attempt to undo the dichotomous relationship between the city and nature. Every trip we go to woods, lakes, coasts, trails, parks, wetlands, and boulder outcroppings that are within our city limits. They are part of the fabric of urban life, not outside of it. Though it is often not so in contemporary Nova Scotia, we believe humans can have a mutually beneficial relationship with Nature. We aim for such a relationship at TBT. Through practicing Leave No Trace, participating in cleanups, and campaigning for the preservation of natural gems in HRM, we recognize that nature is here and alive in HRM. The wellbeing of our species need not be at the detriment of others. 

Meditation in the Woods. Admiral Cove Park. PC: Trips By Transit. 

Anyways, those are a few thoughts from Patrick over at Trips By Transit. If you’d like to find out more about us, click here for a link to our Facebook page and here for a link to our website. And finally, shout-out to Kind Krafts for supporting us and letting me be a guest on their blog!
 
Thank you bunches,
Patrick and the TBT Team