Ask Sita Mylavarapu if she’d like to go on vacation to Disney World, or another similar popular destination, and chances are she would politely decline.
It’s not that the 14-year-old Oak Brook resident doesn’t enjoy traveling, it’s that she has found her passion on other kinds of trips.
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Sita has visited 18 national parks with her parents and brother and has found what her father calls “an obsession” in those trips, which have included hiking several hundreds of miles on trails, with both moderate and very strenuous challenges, back packing for days through mountains, valleys, canyons, cliffs, rainforests, glaciers, snow, wind, rain, wildflowers and having wildlife encounters.
“At national parks, you get the true effect of nature, and you get to see places you normally wouldn’t see,” Sita said. “When I’m in nature and in national parks, I feel much more content. I would love to be in national parks all the time.”
Sita said she was about 6 years old when she took her first trip to a national park, Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.
“We went in the caves, and it was pretty cool,” she said. “I’ve gotten to see so many wonderful places on our trips.”
Sita’s father, Naveen Mylavarapu, said his daughter has always surprised him and his wife, Neelima, with her attitude and passion or, “maybe obsession now,” which has allowed the family to go on hiking vacations for several years.
“The trips would not be possible if kids aren’t ready, especially with no electronics and civilization around,” he said. “Living in nature, enjoying it at this age is grand for Sita, and I strongly believe she will push herself more to do bigger things, as she is curious and also a thrill seeker.
“Backpacking for days, without showers or change of clothes, drinking water from streams, carrying 20 to 25 pounds, and scaling 10,000-plus feet in different terrains showcases the love, excitement and curiosity.”
Along with her love of hiking and being in nature, Sita said there’s been a bonus for her on the family trips with her parents and 16-year-old brother, Eshaan.
“There’s definitely a big family bond on trips, and my brother and I talk a lot more than we usually do, which is one of the things I look forward to,” Sita said.
Her biggest disappointment related to her trips was not being able to go on a planned venture to a base camp at Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, she is hopeful to make that trip next spring and plans on continuing with family trips to national parks.
“There are some I haven’t seen, yet, and some I have been to, but would like to go back,” she said. “You either love or hate hiking, and I love it. You can do other stuff when you’re 90.”