Roam Channel Islands National Park via a Free Short Film

SOLITUDE, as a way of life, a pursuit, a passion, and daily practice? Many people have sought space of the physical and social kind since the spring of 2020. Following pandemic guidelines, making room for neighbors when out and about, and finding nurturing ways to experience nature have been at the forefront of many minds. Some devoted travelers, as they looked ahead to a future trip, may have also contemplated those places where sweet solitude, a serene all-by-yourself-ness, come as naturally as the tides of nature itself. California, with its vastness, has plenty of peace-laden locations, but few come by their all-by-yourself-ness as naturally as the water-surrounded wonders of Channel Islands National Park.

"TREASURE IN THE SEA," "The Official Film of Channel Islands National Park," is giving at-home adventurers plenty of peaceful daydreams these days, thanks to just over 24 minutes of marvelous island views. The free-to-see film may be savored on the national park's official NPS page or Youtube, and the narrator? It's Kevin Costner. The roles the islands have played in the past are explored, as well as its wilder gifts. All sorts of birds gather on Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara in refuge, while island foxes and island deer mice, and other land-based beasties, offering pictures of how California looked centuries ago. Settle in for the not-quite-a-half-hour soul-and-mind treat, a lovely look at one of our state's remotest places to connect with the spirit of solitude.