I was talking to someone at work today who was born and raised in New Mexico and I was a bit stunned when he said he did not see an ocean or any other major body of water until he was in his 20’s. I then realized soon afterwards that I didn’t see snow or a mountain until I was 23 when I visited Colorado in 1996! Has anyone else here had a similar experience?
4 Likes
I guess I never saw a desert until I moved to the US and started flying over West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and parts of California.
5 Likes
I didn’t see a desert until I got stationed in Yuma in my 20s.
In fact, when I went to Texas, it was the first time that I ever saw to the horizon. In the northeast, there are trees in every direction…other than the ocean.
It freaked me out! 
3 Likes
I guess the reason that I take geographic features for granted is because by the time I was 20, I had pretty much seen it all.
Grew up in New Zealand, where they have actual mountains (unlike the overgrown hills they have where I now live) and I had walked to the hot springs on an active volcano before I was 10. There are seismic fault lines and in school we not only had fire drills but also earthquake drills. We lived on the West coast and I remember looking out to sea and watching the sun set.
When we moved to Australia, it was to the East coast and I remember looking out to sea and watching the sun rise. By the time I was 20 I had been in the Army for a couple of years and seen everything from tropical rain forest to scorching desert.
4 Likes
I might be weird because the emotional reaction I have to seeing a picture of something vs. seeing it with my own eyes is kinda the same, so I’ve taken a lot of geographic features for granted just because I’ve seen so many pictures of them.
First time I really saw a desert was 23 when I drove from one end of the US to the other. My first mountains were probably the Smoky Mountains when I was really young but I don’t recall much. Same for my first beach/ocean, somewhere in North Carolina probably.
I tend to take things for granted less when I interact with or experience them, like hiking or scuba diving.
3 Likes
I never saw snow until I was 23, and growing up in a coastal area I never saw the flat plains of Western Queensland that make up most of the grazing and farming areas until I started working out there until my late 20s.
Coincidentally with seeing snow, I also saw the first real mountain I saw. And shortly afterwards I realised that having to drive (or worse, walk) over these terrain features largely undoes the wonder in seeing them for the first time 
5 Likes
I forgot about deserts. First one I saw was in New Mexico.
3 Likes
12 Likes
lol. Good one.
Been all over the Appalachian mountains on east coast including Mt Mitchell, but mind blown while working in Milan Italy and seeing Monte Rosa every day… an awesome and impressive sight.
3 Likes