Interesting question. I spent my childhood in Dallas and I yearned for the outdoors, which I found by moving west to Arizona and California for college and an NPS career. You, obviously, prefer a more urban environment.

The island in question, San Miguel Island, is remote even by park standards. I relish its solitude and remote location. The setting required exercise (hiking), and provided intellectual stimulation (what are those bony bits, anyway?), and gorgeous views of the mainland and the other Channel Islands,although San Nicolas didn't come into view until I was on the plane headed back to the mainland. There was interesting wildlife - Island Foxes, seals and other pinnipeds, and whales spouting offshore. Vegetation was turning a verdant green.

You could say the hills were alive....