Preparing Mentally

[Old_Man]

You sound like me about 3 years ago. Look at it this way--lot's of people have degrees and jobs and houses, etc. Not so many people have hiked LD trails. I am filled with regret at taking the job instead of the adventure. I needed a sense of purpose at that time in my life so I opted for security. Looking back, all I can think is where would I be now if I'd truly followed my bliss...security seems overrated when all I can think about is the trail.

Don't let age be an excuse--you are still so young. Degrees and jobs are important but only as important as the life skills/experiences that back them up. You've got this--get out there and hike!

[FooFooCuddlyPoops]

Thanks you guys. Seriously, you guys are amazing. I needed this little bit of inspiration. Mostly, I am fighting what is the "norm" around me. College, job, babies. I am taking this hike to get back to what really truly is "me". You know? Like what Lyle said, I want to make memory's to share to grandchildren. Already I have the reputation of having the travel bug. I am brave because I drive to nyc, into the city, to visit my best friend like its nothing. Or that I go hiking across mountains for the hell of it just because I love getting dirty, and sleeping on the ground. Friends always say, "bad ass Cara can do it!" Or "bad ass Cara's ft this.."With college I was so caught up with what I do will define who I am. Money this, or degree that. What I should be paying attention is the other way around, who I am defines what I do. Ether way: thank you guys. Hike on.

[Old Boots]

I spent years canoeing in the boundary waters of Minn. and Ontario. When I felt that I had grown to old to continue the rigors and isolation of that wilderness, I hung my paddle up. My younger brother suggested backpacking and after several long hikes in Wis. and Vermont, I decided to try the AT. My preparation was a lifetime of wilderness experience, but mentally it all boils down to taking up your pack everyday and beginning to walk, as simple as that.

[Mr. Sparky]

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
-Thoreau

[AlyontheAT2016]

College, job, babies.

And not always in that order *shudders*

There are definitely still people around me who don't "get it." They think this is just a phase, that I will settle down eventually and have their grandbabies or whatever. Ok they're my parents. And they probably won't ever fully "get it." What worked for their generation isn't working for everyone in ours. Get out there and do your thing! That's what I'm gonna do.