Hi! I’m Robert. During an adventure and travel filled life, I have found junctions where Shangri-La, Heaven, Nirvana, and Utopia meet. This is where time stops. It is where the brain blossoms so that the mental, emotional, and physical unify. The universe collapses to finite space and the burdensome manifestations of existentialism cease. I anticipate entering more on the AT in 2015. My hope is for all of you to find similar junctions in your lives. They are not physical locations....... Recently, I entered another while surrounded by the Gulf of Thailand. There was nothing possible to do but run long distances on soft pure white sand, swim endlessly in the warmth of the sea, and contemplate the myriad forms of life’s complexities...... Due to political controversies, my Peace Corps work in the small Muslim country of Azerbaijan, which is in the middle of a very rough neighborhood, ended early and abruptly. I find myself homeless, carless, and jobless. Some would say clueless!. Ironically, an unfortunate situation provides me the perfect opportunity to hike the AT...... Consider this a friendly invitation to follow my hike and read my blog “Mingechevir to Mount Katahdin.” It has two objectives. The first is to help me wrap my head around the verbal, cultural, interpersonal, economic, and political enigmas of my Peace Corps adventure. Second, is to provide a structured writing platform where I can utilize the AT as a vehicle to learn, understand, and to communicate critical aspects of our lives and how to discover mind expanding junctions. I start hiking March 18.