Thanks, man. Nature has always been my jam, and after school, I thought backpacking was going to be my thing. I was obsessed with looking at the map of wilderness areas once I learned about them, got some tent camping in with my now wife, and had a trip planned to the Pecos Wilderness, before it ended up falling on the same week as her grad school interview. Between school and now kids, I've only ever squeezed in a weekend of backpacking in Lassen. But as I was learning what Houston didn't have to offer in terms of hiking and megafauna, I discovered how insanely diverse birdlife was, even within city limits. Despite being stuck in the suburbs, birding gives me the connection to nature, and especially seasons, that I otherwise wouldn't feel without traveling somewhere more wild.
I've now been at it for 9 years and recorded 531 species, mostly staying fairly local, or at least domestic. Hopefully that changes as the kids get older, but it has definitely helped keep me sane this last decade.