Hey y'all,
Lighthouse here once again. I just finished the state of Vermont, and now I am in NEW HAMPSHIRE!!! I am on the campus of Dartmouth on one of their computers in their Outdoor Club building. It's pretty nice being in a college town again. It's really great seeing college women in shorts. I might just stay here for a few days just for that :)
ANYHOOTIE the state of Vermont was pretty darn sweet. The terrain was harder than Massachusetts, but still real fun. It is a good workout for my legs, I need to build them up for the tough terrain that is ahead. There were lots of fire towers that we could climb up and see really sweet views of all the mountains around us. I wish I could upload lots of pictures, but I am a DUM DUM. My SD card was full so I sent it home yesterday. I didn't think about it until today that NOW I CAN'T UPLOAD ANY OF MY SWEET PICS :( Oh well, we are about to go into the White mountains of New Hampshire, and they are supposed to be mind blowing. I will upload those pictures in a few weeks or so.
Me and Simba did have a pretty exciting experience just before the town of Bennington, Vermont. We stealthed camped right before Bennington so that we could get into town at an early time. Stealth camping is where you just set up your tent on the side of the trail that is not really a designated campsite. Anyways, it was just a normal night in the woods until midnight, when we were woken up my some monstrous animal making some crazy noises. It almost sounded like a horses neigh, but a lot more pissed off. We were pretty sure it was a moose. We just talked to some local Vermont people the day before and talked about how cray cray mooses are. Apparently they are unpredictable, and don't care too much for humans.
So, what I think what happened is that this moose was just going along doing its business until it realized it was really close to our tents and then it started to freak out, stumble a little bit, and then make that pissed off neighing sound. We both didn't wake up until it started making that sound, but BOY were we awake after that! It's funny, Me and Simba talked about the experience the morning after, because we both were pretty much crapping our pants in our tents, but we didn't want to say anything so that we didn't alarm the moose. We both were in our tents at night with our eyes wide open (though we could see absolutely nothing) and our hearts beating out of our chests, but we didn't say a word. The moose hung around our area for about 25 minutes making a noise about once every 30 seconds. Finally, the moose ventured off far enough that we couldn't hear it any more, and then I calmed down and went to sleep. I didn't really think that the moose was going to do anything, but man it was scary but kinda fun at the same time. It was def an adrenaline rush where I was thinking to myself "Ok, what are the chances this moose would charge my tent? Am I able to get out in time if he actually charges me? Where would I run to if I did get out of my tent?" Anyways, I think we both learned our lesson in that we are not going to stealth camp in moose country any more. Mooses are hella scarier than black bears!
Since I don't have any pictures to share, I just thought I would rant for a minute and I guess do a "reflection blog". So, if you just wanted to see some cool pictures, and think FEELINGS ARE FOR QUEERS, then just save yourself some time and close the page NOW.
It is going to be a bittersweet feeling that this trip is going to come to an end in just about a month. I mean, this seriously has been a trip of a lifetime. I am soooooooooooooooo glad I made the decision to walk this trip. Every single day has been freaking awesome. Even the days where it is freezing and pouring down rain, you feel soo good when you are in your sleeping bag at night, its totally worth it. I mean, I have spent only about $2,500 so far on this trip (that is not including all my gear). And I have been out here for 4 months and 3 days. Can anyone else tell me where you can have a freaking amazing and unique experience almost every day, and only spend about 20 bucks per day? I can't think of anything else.
I really don't think I will have a "normal" life after this. I have talked to quite a bit of thru hikers from previous years, and they all say "soak it up as much as you can! You gotta go back to normal life after this!" and you can see in their eyes that basically they have to go back to the same old bullshit when they are done with this trail. This is going to be a huge highlight in my life, but I guarantee you that this is not the peak moment of my life. I am still young, and single, and have no things tying me down. There is no way in hell that I am going to go back to an office job, where my life just sucks all day. Granted, I will probably go back to an office job sometime, but I will make sure it is not soul sucking. IF it is, I will say BYE BYE to that!
I really think I need to pursue my passion for music even harder when I am done with this trail. I mean, I knew that I was pretty good at the music stuff, but all the words of encouragement I have gotten on this trail just makes more sense that I should incorporate music into my normal life somehow. I mean, every time I have busted it out at campsites around new people, I always get claps or compliments about my playing. And, I know people sometimes do the sympathy claps where they are like "Oh hey great job, here's a pat on the back" but I do think that these people are genuine about it.
I seem to value older peoples opinions more, and all the old people dig the jams that I lay down. I think I have gotten "Your music was lovely!" a bunch of times, which is good to hear over and over again. So, that being said, I really do just need to hit up a bunch of coffee shops when I get back to just play for public. It's one thing playing to yourself, but a whole nother experience playing in front of crowds. But, I am getting much better at it, which is why I am so glad I brought my travel guitar on this trip! At this stage in my life, I am happy just learning a bunch of cover songs and trying to get them as close to perfection as possible. Most of the songs I play aren't too challenging technically, but it still is challenging to get them to a level where people can connect and listen and be like "wow, that was super good...that like resonated with my soul mannnnnn!", instead of "Oh hey hell yeah, I remember that song! Let me sing along with you!"
All throughout playing guitar, I have gotten a bunch of people asking me "why don't you write your own music?" And, its just kinda hard for me to try and convey my feelings into songs. I think it is too personal to write lovey dovey songs and play it to a bunch of people. It also doesn't seem too genuine for me to write stuff like that. I have no problems doing cover songs of lovey dovey stuff, but writing stuff, nuh uh. I have realized that if I do write some songs, it will be down the road of funny songs from bands like The Lonely Island, or The Flight of The Conchords. Writing stuff like that comes muuuuuch easier to me, and I think writing funny stuff like that resonates with me more. The first funny song that I wrote called "Waking Up My Roommate" (WHICH YOU CAN LISTEN TO RIGHT HERE!!!) was just super fun for me to make. All I really do is just imitate a certain sound, and then put funny lyrics over it, and people seem to like it! And, producing music is one field that reallllllly interests me a lot. It is very technical and uses a lot of engineering concepts, which I am all on board to learn about. I think you should NEVER stop learning stuff, that is super important! It also helps that one of my BFFs back in Indy knows a bunchhhh about recording stuff since that what he went to college for, so I need to get back and soak up as much information as I can from him when I get back!
Anyways, I have started to think a lot about what I am going to do when I get done with this trail, And I am justtttt starting to form a plan. The most important things for me to do are to:
- Play songs at open mics around in coffee shops and start making my own funny songs.
- Get some sort of job
- Be healthy!
So I have already talked about the guitar stuff, so I will now blab about the JERB situation. So, I have the opportunity to go back to my old job and do the same old same old, but I am just not too sure about that. I mean, if I had to rate my experience, I would say it was about a 6/10. I learned to work SUPER hard, and learned a lot from it, but the overall working conditions were not very good. Working 70-80 hours a week is NO FUN. I was never too happy, although I did meet a lot of cool people and worked with a bunch of cool coworkers.
With that being said, I just don't think I am ready to step back into the corporate world and get a real job again. I am too afraid that it will be soul sucking and my life will just suck. I just kinda want a simpler job where the quality of my life doesn't suffer, so I kinda want an 'easy' job. Now, don't take this as I want to be a lazy bum, because that is just not me. I have worked hard ALL my life. School has never come easy for me, so I have to work my butt off all throughout K-12, as well as college, and in the real world. But, it is making more and more sense to me that working that hard for a big paycheck doesn't make sense at all. I am not really sure what that means job wise for me...but I have confidence that I will figure it out relatively soon.
I also found that when I was working at my high stress job, I needed outlets, and my favorite outlet was FOOD. I would eat out all the damn time because that was the best part of my day. Eating "good" food is soooo delicious, and you think that you deserve it when you are working your ass off every day. I don't like that...so I want to change that....which brings me to my next point!
When I get finished with this, I want my biggest focus to be on my body. I have learned a LOT about my body and how it operates out here, but I still got LOTS to learn. I mean, I am 25 years old, and I have no fucking clue what a carbohydrate, protein, or a saturated fat is. That really amazes me that soooooo many people have zero clue what any of that stuff is, and I think that is why we are becoming so unhealthy as a country. That and we are putting so much crap into our bodies because they are so readily available everywhere. I think the biggest challenge for me when I get done with this is to start to learn about all things nutrition, and make decisions for myself on what I should eat. I would love to start to get on a workout schedule too. I work out every day on the trail, and I always feel great, so it would be really nice to be able to do that on a daily basis. This is def going to be tough, because I have a fast metabolism, so I was able to eat like absolute crap for my entire life. "You know what sounds like a good snack....a whole bag of potato chips! But wait, I'm thirsty! OOOO I'll just wash it down with a Dr. Pepper!" Yeah, thats gotta stop. But the few times I have gone on a short "healthy eating" stint, I did notice how much better I felt, and how clearer my mind was. So, really I think that is my next new "adventure", if you can call it that.
Alright, I think I am done rambling for now. I am about to go check out campus here and try to FIND SOME COOL COLLEGE PEEPS AND GO PARTAY.
Laterrrrrr
Lighthouse
Lighthouse here once again. I just finished the state of Vermont, and now I am in NEW HAMPSHIRE!!! I am on the campus of Dartmouth on one of their computers in their Outdoor Club building. It's pretty nice being in a college town again. It's really great seeing college women in shorts. I might just stay here for a few days just for that :)
ANYHOOTIE the state of Vermont was pretty darn sweet. The terrain was harder than Massachusetts, but still real fun. It is a good workout for my legs, I need to build them up for the tough terrain that is ahead. There were lots of fire towers that we could climb up and see really sweet views of all the mountains around us. I wish I could upload lots of pictures, but I am a DUM DUM. My SD card was full so I sent it home yesterday. I didn't think about it until today that NOW I CAN'T UPLOAD ANY OF MY SWEET PICS :( Oh well, we are about to go into the White mountains of New Hampshire, and they are supposed to be mind blowing. I will upload those pictures in a few weeks or so.
Me and Simba did have a pretty exciting experience just before the town of Bennington, Vermont. We stealthed camped right before Bennington so that we could get into town at an early time. Stealth camping is where you just set up your tent on the side of the trail that is not really a designated campsite. Anyways, it was just a normal night in the woods until midnight, when we were woken up my some monstrous animal making some crazy noises. It almost sounded like a horses neigh, but a lot more pissed off. We were pretty sure it was a moose. We just talked to some local Vermont people the day before and talked about how cray cray mooses are. Apparently they are unpredictable, and don't care too much for humans.
So, what I think what happened is that this moose was just going along doing its business until it realized it was really close to our tents and then it started to freak out, stumble a little bit, and then make that pissed off neighing sound. We both didn't wake up until it started making that sound, but BOY were we awake after that! It's funny, Me and Simba talked about the experience the morning after, because we both were pretty much crapping our pants in our tents, but we didn't want to say anything so that we didn't alarm the moose. We both were in our tents at night with our eyes wide open (though we could see absolutely nothing) and our hearts beating out of our chests, but we didn't say a word. The moose hung around our area for about 25 minutes making a noise about once every 30 seconds. Finally, the moose ventured off far enough that we couldn't hear it any more, and then I calmed down and went to sleep. I didn't really think that the moose was going to do anything, but man it was scary but kinda fun at the same time. It was def an adrenaline rush where I was thinking to myself "Ok, what are the chances this moose would charge my tent? Am I able to get out in time if he actually charges me? Where would I run to if I did get out of my tent?" Anyways, I think we both learned our lesson in that we are not going to stealth camp in moose country any more. Mooses are hella scarier than black bears!
Since I don't have any pictures to share, I just thought I would rant for a minute and I guess do a "reflection blog". So, if you just wanted to see some cool pictures, and think FEELINGS ARE FOR QUEERS, then just save yourself some time and close the page NOW.
It is going to be a bittersweet feeling that this trip is going to come to an end in just about a month. I mean, this seriously has been a trip of a lifetime. I am soooooooooooooooo glad I made the decision to walk this trip. Every single day has been freaking awesome. Even the days where it is freezing and pouring down rain, you feel soo good when you are in your sleeping bag at night, its totally worth it. I mean, I have spent only about $2,500 so far on this trip (that is not including all my gear). And I have been out here for 4 months and 3 days. Can anyone else tell me where you can have a freaking amazing and unique experience almost every day, and only spend about 20 bucks per day? I can't think of anything else.
I really don't think I will have a "normal" life after this. I have talked to quite a bit of thru hikers from previous years, and they all say "soak it up as much as you can! You gotta go back to normal life after this!" and you can see in their eyes that basically they have to go back to the same old bullshit when they are done with this trail. This is going to be a huge highlight in my life, but I guarantee you that this is not the peak moment of my life. I am still young, and single, and have no things tying me down. There is no way in hell that I am going to go back to an office job, where my life just sucks all day. Granted, I will probably go back to an office job sometime, but I will make sure it is not soul sucking. IF it is, I will say BYE BYE to that!
I really think I need to pursue my passion for music even harder when I am done with this trail. I mean, I knew that I was pretty good at the music stuff, but all the words of encouragement I have gotten on this trail just makes more sense that I should incorporate music into my normal life somehow. I mean, every time I have busted it out at campsites around new people, I always get claps or compliments about my playing. And, I know people sometimes do the sympathy claps where they are like "Oh hey great job, here's a pat on the back" but I do think that these people are genuine about it.
I seem to value older peoples opinions more, and all the old people dig the jams that I lay down. I think I have gotten "Your music was lovely!" a bunch of times, which is good to hear over and over again. So, that being said, I really do just need to hit up a bunch of coffee shops when I get back to just play for public. It's one thing playing to yourself, but a whole nother experience playing in front of crowds. But, I am getting much better at it, which is why I am so glad I brought my travel guitar on this trip! At this stage in my life, I am happy just learning a bunch of cover songs and trying to get them as close to perfection as possible. Most of the songs I play aren't too challenging technically, but it still is challenging to get them to a level where people can connect and listen and be like "wow, that was super good...that like resonated with my soul mannnnnn!", instead of "Oh hey hell yeah, I remember that song! Let me sing along with you!"
All throughout playing guitar, I have gotten a bunch of people asking me "why don't you write your own music?" And, its just kinda hard for me to try and convey my feelings into songs. I think it is too personal to write lovey dovey songs and play it to a bunch of people. It also doesn't seem too genuine for me to write stuff like that. I have no problems doing cover songs of lovey dovey stuff, but writing stuff, nuh uh. I have realized that if I do write some songs, it will be down the road of funny songs from bands like The Lonely Island, or The Flight of The Conchords. Writing stuff like that comes muuuuuch easier to me, and I think writing funny stuff like that resonates with me more. The first funny song that I wrote called "Waking Up My Roommate" (WHICH YOU CAN LISTEN TO RIGHT HERE!!!) was just super fun for me to make. All I really do is just imitate a certain sound, and then put funny lyrics over it, and people seem to like it! And, producing music is one field that reallllllly interests me a lot. It is very technical and uses a lot of engineering concepts, which I am all on board to learn about. I think you should NEVER stop learning stuff, that is super important! It also helps that one of my BFFs back in Indy knows a bunchhhh about recording stuff since that what he went to college for, so I need to get back and soak up as much information as I can from him when I get back!
Anyways, I have started to think a lot about what I am going to do when I get done with this trail, And I am justtttt starting to form a plan. The most important things for me to do are to:
- Play songs at open mics around in coffee shops and start making my own funny songs.
- Get some sort of job
- Be healthy!
So I have already talked about the guitar stuff, so I will now blab about the JERB situation. So, I have the opportunity to go back to my old job and do the same old same old, but I am just not too sure about that. I mean, if I had to rate my experience, I would say it was about a 6/10. I learned to work SUPER hard, and learned a lot from it, but the overall working conditions were not very good. Working 70-80 hours a week is NO FUN. I was never too happy, although I did meet a lot of cool people and worked with a bunch of cool coworkers.
With that being said, I just don't think I am ready to step back into the corporate world and get a real job again. I am too afraid that it will be soul sucking and my life will just suck. I just kinda want a simpler job where the quality of my life doesn't suffer, so I kinda want an 'easy' job. Now, don't take this as I want to be a lazy bum, because that is just not me. I have worked hard ALL my life. School has never come easy for me, so I have to work my butt off all throughout K-12, as well as college, and in the real world. But, it is making more and more sense to me that working that hard for a big paycheck doesn't make sense at all. I am not really sure what that means job wise for me...but I have confidence that I will figure it out relatively soon.
I also found that when I was working at my high stress job, I needed outlets, and my favorite outlet was FOOD. I would eat out all the damn time because that was the best part of my day. Eating "good" food is soooo delicious, and you think that you deserve it when you are working your ass off every day. I don't like that...so I want to change that....which brings me to my next point!
When I get finished with this, I want my biggest focus to be on my body. I have learned a LOT about my body and how it operates out here, but I still got LOTS to learn. I mean, I am 25 years old, and I have no fucking clue what a carbohydrate, protein, or a saturated fat is. That really amazes me that soooooo many people have zero clue what any of that stuff is, and I think that is why we are becoming so unhealthy as a country. That and we are putting so much crap into our bodies because they are so readily available everywhere. I think the biggest challenge for me when I get done with this is to start to learn about all things nutrition, and make decisions for myself on what I should eat. I would love to start to get on a workout schedule too. I work out every day on the trail, and I always feel great, so it would be really nice to be able to do that on a daily basis. This is def going to be tough, because I have a fast metabolism, so I was able to eat like absolute crap for my entire life. "You know what sounds like a good snack....a whole bag of potato chips! But wait, I'm thirsty! OOOO I'll just wash it down with a Dr. Pepper!" Yeah, thats gotta stop. But the few times I have gone on a short "healthy eating" stint, I did notice how much better I felt, and how clearer my mind was. So, really I think that is my next new "adventure", if you can call it that.
Alright, I think I am done rambling for now. I am about to go check out campus here and try to FIND SOME COOL COLLEGE PEEPS AND GO PARTAY.
Laterrrrrr
Lighthouse
