It’s not so much the venue but
conditions and the water that make it different for me.
Flatwater bores me. I mostly seakayak in open water and along coastlines, usually in ChesBay although a good bit along the Atlantic at different areas. Conditions are different everytime I go out. It depends on wind force and direction, how much open fetch, tide cycles affecting channel and shoal flow, the previous period of activity leaving residual swells…
Then there is the migration, breeding seasons and daily life of different bird species and marine life, the changing landscape from storms, the water itself as it moves from winter’s crystal clarity to summer’s biotic cloudiness, the feel of that day’s sun, wind and air, having a warm day on the sand alone or seeing other people, periods of longer waves, shorter chop and combinations thereof, simply the water itself. Almost every paddling experience is different and unique.
I agree completely
"…UNFETTERED discovery—being able to wander and camp at will in the wilderness. Like the 1950s in the Adirondacks."
… Wait, what’s that hear in the distance? Is that banjo music? :-o
same old places…
…change a little bit over time…it’s the little things that you should look for when you paddle the same old places…things like: Hey Gerty! …i don’t remember that big ole pine tree missing that branch…or : Hey harry ! look…we hit the pond just as the Anisoptera are mating. or the beaver dam that is no longer there, or a family of ospreys that has moved into the area,or there’s a new wildlife crossing where you never seen one before.
Take new people to your old places
Your experience of the activity will be different than going alone or with the same olds. Enjoy turning new folks on to your special places and seeing their pleasure; enjoy their gratitude; notice/enjoy how they experience the place differently from the way you do.
Same river twice?
I know what you mean in a way. There are places I’ve been to so often they are a bit boring… but now, when I go to those places, its to see folks I’m paddling with again, not the place. And the ones I tire of are always small, and usually lakes and ponds. They can loose their charm for me, especially if the shore lines are developed.
Rivers aren’t like that for me. I see changes of some sort every single time I revisit any river I can think of.
But my “home river” - I’ve been living here since '83 and I moved here in part because I wanted to be nearer this river - I’ve paddled that soooo many times… What is said about how “on the person who steps in the same river twice, different and different waters flow”… because the waters change and so does the person… Well, I find that to be as true as any words that have ever been uttered.
I think it helps if you have a big chunk of river that you revisit often. Not every island, every beach, every channel, subtly changes, but most do if you look at a large enough section often enough. And the same stretch often seems quite different in different weather conditions, times of day, seasons, even with different people. And then there are places I pass where I’ve camped with different folks, or dogs, or where I’ve seen some unusual bird, swarms of butterflies, an otter, a beaver, or something memorable - the same place might trigger different memories each time, and make the experience different. And It’ll be different next time, too. I’ll sometimes go out after a storm or flood just to survey the changes. It would be disappointing not to find any…
Usually, at least for me, if boredom is a problem while paddling it isn’t the place that’s at fault. Its me. I’ve allowed my interest, my curiosity, my willingness to be observant, or my memories have failed me - but the place hasn’t. Places change in interesting ways, but I just am not paying attention enough to see it. Usually if that happens its because my head has been too involved for too long in speed, in stroke dynamics, or some maybe problem at home that I can’t let go of… all fine and normal things but things that can keep me from “being here now” and noticing the changes and wildlife that are all around me. Even if I’ve been there a thousand times. THAT’s boring.
Advice, suggestions, general help? Perhaps, like me, you’d find flowing water more interesting over time than “still” water. (If there really is such a thing.) Keep a log of wildlife sightings, perhaps? Go out in the wake of storms and floods (be careful…) and see what the news from the river is. Maybe paddle at different times of day or night? Try going when the weather perhaps isn’t as nice as when you usually go - you’ll see different things in the same place. Get to know your body of water like a very old friend, in every season and every mood. Try to remember folks who you’ve been paddling with at the same place over the years, or what they said at this place or that.
New places are nice. I like to go to a new river or two every year. I know people who live for this and who keep lists of rivers like notches on a gunfighter’s gun. I understand that. I especially love to visit rivers in environments that are foreign to me - desert rivers or Spanish moss lined rivers - but THAT’s where gas prices can be a problem. But its the old familiar places, my old familiar friends, that I would miss most if I had to give up paddling. I’d miss seeing them change and I’d miss changing with them. The problem with dying is that after paddling a river long enough, heaven would be too static, a disappointment.