So This Is Really Going To Happen

Who We Are

My name is James.  Nancy Drew is my wife.  That is not her real name but I am going to secretly push for that to become her trail name.  For those family and friends who are reading this and don’t know; each hiker is usually dubbed with a trail name that takes over for their given name while doing a thru-hike.  Nancy has a knack for follow-up questions; and then some more follow-up questions.  In the end she will get to the bottom of any situation.  So until she is officially dubbed Nancy Drew by the hiker trash conglomerate I guess it is best to refer to her as Rebekah.

The wife and I are both mid 40’s (one a little more mid than the other) Gen X products who think a six month sabbatical spent hiking would be a great way to spend the middle half of 2017.  Unfortunately, our employer did not agree.  So now no jobs for us after March 31.  Pretty big change for us as we are trading in our commute, air conditioned office cube space, business casual attire, and work deadlines for the ability to leisurely walk up and down hills for 8-15 miles a day, rain or shine.  We will have no where in particular to go but due north toward Mount Katahdin.

What We Are Doing

The Appalachian Trail is roughly 2,200 miles long from Georgia to Maine.  You can start in Georgia, as most do, or start in Maine and follow the white blazes all along the eastern portion of the United States of America.  With our pace of 8 miles a day during the first month and 15ish miles a day thereafter we should be able to complete the trek in about six months.  One day a week we are planning to just rest (and hopefully I’ll catch up on Game of Thrones).

During all this time it will be interesting to see how often I can provide updates regarding our adventure on this website.  I am shooting for once a week.  Don’t get mad if it is less; my online presence has been non-existent up until this time.  No Facebook, no twitter, no whatever the app that you use.  I’ve always said that I know where my friends live and they know how to get a hold of me if they want to so blogging is something new for me.  The desire to have our family and friends kept up to date of our whereabouts is what drives this blog for me.

Why We Are Doing It

Our family does not need us right now.  Kids are not married and not starting families of their own yet.  Parents are doing well.  Our financial situation seems to allow something this foolish.  And our intellect doesn’t seem to convince us to not do it.  Our only hesitation is our love for coming home to Otis (our dog).  He always makes even the worst days better.  My niece, with my mom as backup, is watching him so we feel comfortable he will be well taken care of.  Missing him is another story but I can’t really sit here and say how much we are going to miss him and not say the same about our families.  They might get jealous.  Soooooooo, away we go!