I’ve noticed that different countries have different ideas about what constitutes a national park. For example, in Cuba and Vietnam, the people who traditionally worked the land that was later designated a national park are allowed to stay there and continue farming. I was taken aback when I visited Cuba’s Viñales national park and saw that the stunning mogotes (karst formations), famed on tourist websites, were surrounded by tobacco fields.

If you grew up or lived in another country, what was your access to the outdoors like? What were the national parks like? Where did you go on vacations, if you did? Did you camp or hike? Write up your memories and include some pictures, if you have them. Send them to wordznpix@gmail.com and we may feature them in a future issue.

—editor