When our family took a two week holiday this summer along the coast of California from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back through Yosemite Valley, I expected to be wowed by great urban centres and spectacular nature. What I didn't expect was a lesson in community building.

This area is home to soaring cliffs, oceanfronts, waterfalls, mountain meadows and some of the biggest trees in the world. It's also where I spent my earliest years.

My father worked for a time as a park ranger in Yosemite National Park and our family lived in the park. I recall being "homeschooled" in the front of a camper with flashcards as we ascended dirt switchback roads to get to our cabin (occasionally getting out for own own safety when the road was particularly steep and narrow). My mom remembers asking what I'd like to learn first. My response, "Well I don't know anything yet it doesn't matter where we start." My family would remind me of that in later years as we debated issues across the dinner table.

In retrospect, when you're motivated to learn, create, build, preserve, it truly doesn't matter where you start - so long as you do start.