I have to do this!! Am I crazy??

[davenc]

btw..off topic but if you get the cable channel called RFDTV..( I have dish network) check out the show called R5Sons...its pretty cool..about a family that has 5 sons and run a family resort up in Alaska..pretty cool.

[Delta-Dawn]

Thanks... Im really excited for those of you hiking the AT this year. I was out walking today at the local park and there was virtually noone there due to the recent ice...supposedly the trails were all closed due to the ice..even though there really wasnt any. Anyway was out walking and my inner voice was just like "what are you waiting for"? And I almost answered back with 'what AM I waiting for"? What is it thats stopping me? What am I so afraid of? I don't want to be 60 and wondering what it would have been like if I had done a,b,c...etc...
I dont know where things are headed for me. but I just feel like once I put some action behind all of my talk this ball is going to start rolling at crazy speed.!! It is exciting and scary all in the same!.

Listen to that inner voice. If it is true and correct, doors will fly open for you. I heard the voice last summer and the path just keeps opening up and getting clearer and clearer, at amazing speed! It just lets me know my SOBO this year is the right thing for my daughter and I at this time in our life. Good luck to whatever you decide, maybe we'll see each other out there.

[davenc]

Listen to that inner voice. If it is true and correct, doors will fly open for you. I heard the voice last summer and the path just keeps opening up and getting clearer and clearer, at amazing speed! It just lets me know my SOBO this year is the right thing for my daughter and I at this time in our life. Good luck to whatever you decide, maybe we'll see each other out there.

Thanks, by SOBO you mean SOuth BOund hike? If so I have been thinking that when I hike I would prefer SOBO as well. Living in NC it just seems like mentally it would be better to hike south as I would be thinking I was hiking home in a sense? just a thought. Also I could start later in the year maybe? When do most SOBO hikers start?

[davenc]

Listen to that inner voice. If it is true and correct, doors will fly open for you. I heard the voice last summer and the path just keeps opening up and getting clearer and clearer, at amazing speed! It just lets me know my SOBO this year is the right thing for my daughter and I at this time in our life. Good luck to whatever you decide, maybe we'll see each other out there.

btw...you and your daughter have the time of your lives!!

[Delta-Dawn]

Thanks, by SOBO you mean SOuth BOund hike? If so I have been thinking that when I hike I would prefer SOBO as well. Living in NC it just seems like mentally it would be better to hike south as I would be thinking I was hiking home in a sense? just a thought. Also I could start later in the year maybe? When do most SOBO hikers start?

Yes, SOuth BOund and you can start later. We are starting in July. Driving up from GA, we're doing the 4th of July in Boston and then a day or two with the family in ME before we get to Baxter. I'm thinking we summit Katahdin on the 7th, because I like odd numbers better than even and 7 is my lucky number. I know, silly, but it is what it is. When we come down we'll have one last night with the family and then we are off on our own.

I like the thought of walking towards home, not away from it. I also want to see the north in the summer. I'm a southern girl, I know all about spring and summer down here, rather do it up there and take our time. I don't want to worry about having to be there by a certain time, because I am hiking with a child. I would rather we meander and enjoy it if we want. Actual see what we want to see instead of obsessing about Oct. 1. By the time we get to TN, my family and friends will slack pack us down to the GA line (mostly because we've done the GSM and will have done them again by the time we start in July so we may skip entirely because of the dog-I haven't decided entirely but if I ever need to cut out miles it will be through here). I do not want to slack through GA though, I want to walk every single step to the Amicalola Lodge.

[Delta-Dawn]

btw...you and your daughter have the time of your lives!!

Thank you!! And you will, too!

[Firefighter503]

Read this: http://skwc.com/exile/Hail-nf.html

[davenc]

So I have decided to make 2012 the year. I took my mom out to dinner this evening and told her the news. I told her I didn't have all the details ironed out, but that I felt like it was something I needed to do.
About 5 minutes later she asked me if I was "afraid the mountains were going somewhere".... basically saying why do I feel like I need to do it now...
I will not get into the sordid details of my family life, we all have our stories, but is this the type of support I can expect from people? I even told my "best friend" and shes just kinda like whatever.
I have been making so many changes in my life over the past 4 months and I am beginning to feel like an alien walking this earth. if I dont physically connect with people that feel like me and think similar to me I'm gonna lose it. ugghhh!!!!

[takethisbread]

Not to be a stick in the mud or anything but once you start hiking this romanticism will quickly wear off. It's a LOT of work.

I really like your idea of a few section hikes before taking the plunge - that's pretty wise.

So true.

Planning and thinking about it is maybe the best part.,by the time you hit Franklin you know it's going to be a battle. a major 5 day section hike would certainly give you an idea of what you might be in for. Not really but it'd help.

It's like a marriage. It's romantic at the beginning, but after time, it's sexless drudgery, and you are just trying to get through it.

[TheChop]

So I have decided to make 2012 the year. I took my mom out to dinner this evening and told her the news. I told her I didn't have all the details ironed out, but that I felt like it was something I needed to do.
About 5 minutes later she asked me if I was "afraid the mountains were going somewhere".... basically saying why do I feel like I need to do it now...

Maybe your mom will come around. Maybe if you identified with Into the Wild a lot they won't.

Either way you're doing this for yourself and no one else and when you're out there cold and hungry and alone the only person you really have is yourself no matter how many cheerleaders you have back home.

Also once you thru hike or even section hike a little you'll realize Chris McCandless was a dumb ass. I just watched the movie this afternoon actually.

[hobbs]

So I have decided to make 2012 the year. I took my mom out to dinner this evening and told her the news. I told her I didn't have all the details ironed out, but that I felt like it was something I needed to do.
About 5 minutes later she asked me if I was "afraid the mountains were going somewhere".... basically saying why do I feel like I need to do it now...
I will not get into the sordid details of my family life, we all have our stories, but is this the type of support I can expect from people? I even told my "best friend" and shes just kinda like whatever.
I have been making so many changes in my life over the past 4 months and I am beginning to feel like an alien walking this earth. if I dont physically connect with people that feel like me and think similar to me I'm gonna lose it. ugghhh!!!!

Let me ask you this...I see your 33 so how did you just start school or are you a returning student after a long break? What I am getting at is your friend and family may see it as you putting off what they feel you should finish for you!!! Thats what I am getting at...I also know what it is like to start and stop and finish....YUP happened to me but the goverment helped in the stop part...But I do think hiking even section this summer break would do you good and look into an area club or start one on campus..You want to keep the sanity? Do something positive like you figure that is physical like the hiking....I ran. rock climbed and hiked and man was it refreshing and still is....

[davenc]

Was in a very unhappy job that I had been at for about 10 years. Decided to leave and go back to school. I'm basically changing everything about my life. I am even considering moving to an eco-village or intentional community(that is a whole other issue). Walking the trail has been on my mind since last Jan or so.
Like I told my mom and best friend I dont have all the details, but I know I have to move forward with what my gut tells me to do.

[hobbs]

Was in a very unhappy job that I had been at for about 10 years. Decided to leave and go back to school. I'm basically changing everything about my life. I am even considering moving to an eco-village or intentional community(that is a whole other issue). Walking the trail has been on my mind since last Jan or so.
Like I told my mom and best friend I dont have all the details, but I know I have to move forward with what my gut tells me to do.

Ok I understand...I have a sister that doesn't out of all my siblings but she is the Marterialistic type anyway....My answer was dont let the door hit you on the way out and my phone is disconnected.....Now dont do that with your mom and friend tho..LOL But I think I understand..i hope you do what you feel is best for you..But do start hiking even on your own.Low miles even to break the cycle of boredum and being overwhelmed..

[88BlueGT]

I have gotten the same response from MANY people when I told them that I wanted to do a thru-hike. Its funny how even your biggest supporters (friends, family, gf, bf, whatever) all turn their back when you mention going hiking for 5 months. I literally got the same response from my father (who was an avid hiker when he was my age), 'do you think the mountains are going to grow legs and run away'. The answer is no but if I don't do it I just have a feeling I'll never get the chance to for another 30yrs (you know, after schools done, after kids are grown, mortgage is paid bla bla bla).

I'm 23yrs old and in the middle of school and just started a new job (pretty good job too) but its just too bland. I try and get out on the weekends to go hiking but believe me, it doesn't help, only adds to the itch. That worst part is always waking up in the morning on that last day, looking north down the trail, and look south... deciding which way the car is and which way you REALLY want to go. I always tell myself... one day I won't have to backstep the trail! I can just GO!GO!GO!

Sorry for my rambling, anyway, moral of the story, its obviously very nice to have the support back home but if you cannot find the support within yourself you will never make it through a whole thru, like posted above, when your hungry, wet and cold laying in your tent by youself, your the only one who can perk yourself up.

[skooch]

People are afraid to try so they don't know how to respond to someone going WAY out of their comfort zone. Don't expect cheerleaders just set the wheels in motion and expect the best. Tell the world you are confident you can do it and smile

[harryfred]

when you boil it down, it's just going for a walk. nothing crazy about that.

That's how it starts. You just go for a little walk. Next thing you know your sitting in the dirt eating instant mashed potatoes and talking to chipmunks. You may not be crazy yet but your headed in the right direction.

[88BlueGT]

^^ lmfao ^^

[Rockhound]

Yes you are crazy. Welcome to the club. Be careful. Once you get out there you might not want to return to the "real world". On the plus side you may find you will not have to renew than Prozac perscription.

[Rockhound]

Was in a very unhappy job that I had been at for about 10 years. Decided to leave and go back to school. I'm basically changing everything about my life. I am even considering moving to an eco-village or intentional community(that is a whole other issue). Walking the trail has been on my mind since last Jan or so.
Like I told my mom and best friend I dont have all the details, but I know I have to move forward with what my gut tells me to do.

great. another hippie.

[JAK]

I keep trying to sit down and talk to the chipmunks and squirrels but so far they just keep brushing me off and laugh and make jokes about me. Just gotta keep trying I guess.