It's somewhat irksome that I'm losing sleep to this hike that's still over a month away, but my mind just won't stop spinning in circles about it. I'm kind of unclear what I'm feeling. Some of it of it is just continually running everything through my head, thinking about what I want to do and how to do it. Then there's the anxiousness. This will be one of the largest and most involved (and honestly, most dangerous) tasks I've ever undertaken. And maybe even a twinge of fear that I'm in way over my head. I've never done anything even remotely like this before. I guess the best thing I can do is just be honest with myself that I'll be going in far less prepared than I'd like (and probably should be). And yet, I'm (over?) confident I'll manage just fine.
read more (165 words)
I continued to slowly announce my impending disappearance. I now have a friend who's agreed to watch my place and bring in my mail while I'm out, and they live about 5 minutes away, even, so that's one significant issue resolved. (Thanks, Mo!)
read more (487 words)
Earlier this week, I let my friends know about my plans to hike the Appalachian Trail. On Sunday, I let my friends Andrew and Monica know. (Starting Monday, Monica is running the weekly D&D game myself and friends play in, so she needed to know first.)
read more (275 words)
I visited my mom earlier today, ostensibly to do her taxes, but also so I could inform her of my plans to hike the AT. I had decided going in that this was the conversation that was most likely to cause me to abort my plans, but she took it better than I expected (and also raised a number of concerns I had already anticipated). Apparently, this is something my dad would have liked to have done, had he known about it when he was still healthy enough to do this sort of thing. And apparently, one of my cousins had hiked part of the AT at some point, so I potentially have someone else to talk to for pointers.
read more (218 words)
Strictly speaking, the last time I touched the Appalachian Trail was October 13, 2014, when leaving the "Jersey House". But, that was when we drove over the road crossing on US-206 in Branchville, NJ.
read more (109 words)