Leaving

I am so incredibly excited for the hike. But I am truly sad to be leaving. Leaving my extremely supportive & all-around lovely partner. Leaving our two aging cats. Leaving our incredible apartment and comfortable bed in exchange for a tent and a sleeping bag. Leaving a job I truly enjoy and co-workers I will miss. Leaving my ipad. Leaving before the finale of the Breaking Bad series. Leaving the internet. Leaving hot water and air conditioning and indoor plumbing. And for what?

To chase a dream.

I have been dreaming of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail for a long time – basically since I found out what the Appalachian Trail was. At every transition period in my life it has been something I’ve thought about. Between high school and college it seemed an unreachable goal. After college, I didn’t have money or time before starting grad school. After I left grad school I needed to start working right away (see again: no money), and knew I couldn’t start working and then quit a few months later to go hike.

OWL (my hiking buddy here in town) and I have talked for years – ever since we have known each other – about hiking the AT. It was always a goal for “when we retire”. But last year we started talking about maybe hiking in 2013. And as it worked out, the stars have aligned so that I am able to chase that dream. We have money in the bank. I was able to get on Emily’s insurance. Work will always be work.

Am I nervous? You bet I am. But I know that this will be the adventure of a lifetime. Whether you are the praying kind or the meditating kind or just the kind kind, please send positive and good thoughts our way. You can follow our adventures here.

There will be days I don’t know if I can hike the Appalachian Trail. There will be a lifetime knowing that I have.

It's official

I put in my notice on Tuesday. "This is extremely bad news", my new boss said, and he was right. I do feel genuinely bad for leaving my co-workers short staffed, and I am sad to be leaving a job that I love. But - I am SO EXCITED to be a step closer to my dream of thru hiking.

It is also a huge relief to have announced the big news. I'm not very good at keeping secrets.

Reaction to the news has been overwhelmingly positive. One co-worker said "you can't go *hike* for six months...life isn't a tv show...you can't just take off whenever you want!" - sort of joking but also sort of serious. I'm like - why not? I am not shirking responsibility  This isn't a mid-life crisis (my life is really truly awesome!). If my employer offered a 7 month personal leave of absence, I might have thought about taking it instead of quitting. But they didn't, and so I am left with the responsibility of deciding my own fate. I have a super supportive partner, we have money in the bank, and I have time to chase my dream. And so I will take my own leap of faith, thank you very much.

I've also had a couple people say they want to come hike with us - which would be pretty great - and found out someone I know has a house in Virginia they will let us stay at...and they may even be there around the time we'll be there. Which is awesome!

I am a little nervous about keeping pace with OWL. But she knows I am slow - and she is also one of the most patient people I know (except in traffic) - so I am not too worried about it, just nervous (if that makes sense).

I am a dehydrating fool.

wow

Amazing photographs of the AT can be found here: http://benbenvieblog.com/tag/appalachian-trail/

Em says, "Wow, that makes me feel a lot better about you hiking the AT". Me, too.

self-reflection

They say you pack your fears when you're hiking the AT. At first I was afraid of being cold, but I'm not so afraid of that anymore. I realize it is inevitable with a March start, and I will deal with it.

Upon reviewing all the gadgets I am planning on taking (a nook, an iphone, a tiny music player), I think I am afraid of being bored. Or maybe I'm afraid of not having any distractions.

I'm not sure exactly what that means for now. I'll probably leave the dedicated music player at home, and see if it's something I miss. Not sure about the nook. My gut says it is a luxury worth keeping (8 oz, battery lasts for a month, e-ink screen makes reading easy). But I might leave it at home and see if I can just read on the iphone.

P.S. applesauce + cinnamon on the dehydrator = delicious fruit roll ups.

Update on 2/1/2013: the mp3 player/fm radio weighs exactly 1 ounce - totally keeping it. And the nook stays with me for now, too. We'll see how many mountains I go over before that changes.