Coin Flip and XL- 28 Days Later

Today, I’ve officially been on the trail for 28 days. It seems like we just started sometimes and other times, it’s hard to remember what life was like before I was hiker trash. My hiking partner Coinflip and I are still going north. In the interest of time and preventing further ankle problems, we yellow-blazed about 90 miles of PA and are now in New Jersey.

The trail has given me a ton of time to think and reflect on my life. There’s not a whole lot of things to do other than walk and think. I think about the places I’ve lived, my friends back home in Maine, what I’ll do when I get back. I ponder how my feet can possibly hurt all the time. Like everyone I meet out here, I think about good food, what I’d like to cook myself when I get home. How nice it would be to sit on my deck and grill a steak, a six pack of cold beer next to me.

Then I look around me, I see the woods and the trail ahead. I measure my days in miles, not punching in and out at a job that I hate. I sit on a cool rock, and enjoy a drink of water that I took from a spring a few miles back. I’ve grown to hate the taste of tap water. I feel lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to meet the people I’ve met so far. I’m blessed that I have a chance to change my life. I walk for the kids at The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland, Maine. The love and support I get from my friends and family makes putting on my wet shoes and heaving my heavy pack on a little bit easier.

Almost 300 miles in and I’ve already seen some of the beauty that most people miss. The sun dappled forest, the shifting branches of the trees blowing in the wind. This world is poetry, and with each step my soul is a bit lighter. This is not a journey for everyone, but it has already changed my perspective.