I often get asked how one can just decide to go hiking and take six months off from regular life. Here is how I did it: Long term planning: 1. Research Google, whiteblaze, amazon, google, google, google. 2. Determine expenses and save lots of money I love mint.com. 3. Arrange for a leave of absence… Read more »
What is it you’re doing again? I am thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. What is the Appalachian Trail? The Appalachian Trail is one of the longest continuously marked footpath in the world, measuring roughly 2,180 miles in length. The Trail goes through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian mountain range from the… Read more »
No turning back now. I just sent in my leave of absence application at work, informed my landlord that I’m moving out in March, and informed BBBS that I’ll no longer be able to be a Big Sister. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t scary. I’ve had a messed up sleep schedule recently,… Read more »
I’ve been traveling so much for work lately that I haven’t been keeping up with the physical preparations needed for a thru-hike. Since I postponed the hike, I saw that as an opportunity to really get in shape since I’ve been pretty lazy up until now. To that end, I signed up for a couple… Read more »
For various reasons, I’ve made the tough decision to postpone my hike by one year. Postponing my thru-hike once makes me worried that something will come up in the next year that will potentially make me postpone it again. I can’t let that happen though and will continue planning for the hike as if it’s… Read more »
I took a Wilderness First Aid class over the weekend and am now WFA certified! It was pretty intense, covering a lot of ground in the classroom and also going through potential emergency scenarios outside, with some students acting as victims and some as rescuers. I felt like I learned a lot but the trick… Read more »
I’ve been very lazy in getting started with physical preparations but I’ve finally gotten moving. I started yoga and am enjoying the classes immensely. That’s something I’ve wanted to do for years any way but it took a groupon to get me started. I also started running again, sort of following the Couch to 5k… Read more »
I definitely wanted to upgrade my tent since I started out with a Mountainsmith Satellite – over 4 pounds, not freestanding, could barely fit my boots in the vestibule, and couldn’t fit anything but myself sleeping in the tent. I started looking at lighter tent options. Most of those are just wide enough to fit… Read more »
I went to the PA Ruck this weekend, a gathering of previous and potential thruhikers to discuss the trail and give presentations. It was at the Bear’s Den Trail Center in Bluemont, VA, and a gorgeous location it was too. I arrived after dinner Friday but just in time to hear a women-specific presentation, then… Read more »
