[Artikel ini juga tersedia dalam bahasa Indonesia.]
Sometimes, when I need to clear my mind, make a significant decision, or simply sync with the earth, I sleep outside. There was a phase in my life where I spent half of the summer living under the sky.
My latest ritual took me to Bad Ragaz, near the Liechtenstein border. I purposefully avoid cars on these journeys. I execute everything purely via public transit and my own feet. I pack my back with a tent, a stove, water and prepare for a few days completely cut off from civilization.
I arrived in Bad Ragaz late under a pitch-black sky. The local campground staff, a professional mountain guide, took one look at my boots and pack and told me to just pick a spot without paying since I’d be leaving early anyway. Being recognized by an absolute pro felt like a quiet honor.
The next morning, fueled by an outdoor breakfast, I hiked the Tamina Gorge. The sheer scale of the ravine keeps the air chilled. The perfect sanctuary to cool down on a early summer day. By evening, I reached a small village near Pizol. At a local farm store, a kind elderly woman selling cheese and bread told me her own sons used to camp in the wilderness, and she pointed me toward a hidden alpine lake.
I pitched my tent directly on the water’s edge. Throughout the night, I listened to animals calling from one side of the valley to the other. It is in these exact spaces that you feel the raw moisture of the night on your skin, the pure resolution of the sky and the mystery of the dark.
The following day, hiking toward Mount Pizol, I crossed paths with two traditional hunters waiting for a cable car to transport a deer they had just taken. Though I am rarely a fan of hunting, these gentlemen treated the animal with immense dignity and respect. It made me reflect on how baseline sustainability should actually look.
It was two days of absolute simplicity. Nothing but walking, local bread, and the quiet company of the wodds and mountains. Out here, away from the daily grind, decisions become effortless. Clarity isn’t complicated when you return to the source.
Sonic Layer #
IOKOI is a Swiss avant-pop artist and co-founder of the laboel -OUS.
Visual Logs #
