Heyyyy yoo! It's Joey here, and I'm glad to say I am still alive! Some of you might have been worried about a kid that decided to hike the Appalachian trail with absolutely 0 experience, but I am here to tell you I have been doing just fine. I would have to say that the extensive research I did when buying my gear and talking to previous thru hikers has helped immensely, but I also think it has to do a lot about what your mindset is when you are on the trail. I would say that my mindset is pretty strong, so that is why I think I am doing so well.
Every day has been enjoyable on the trail. I am really liking all of this so far. Since I had no experience hiking, the first week was a very 'intense' learning experience for me. But don't get me wrong, I loved it. I love not knowing how to do anything related to hiking and then learning all of the tricks from other hikers. I feel like coming into this with 0 experience, I was thrown into a fire, but really, this is a cakewalk compared to the fire I was thrown into at my first job. You start to learn all the little tricks and secrets about packing your bag right and how to set up your tent properly, how to make sure bears don't get your food, and how to properly take a dump in the woods. I love learning new things, so these weeks have been awesome. Also, everybody else out here loves hiking too, and what I have learned is that if someone is passionate about something, they usually have no problem telling you about the subject. It's great asking other hikers questions related to hiking, they have no problem talking your ear off all about what they know.
I have also met a lot of cool people on the trail. Lots of people are like me where they quit their jobs in order to do this. Everybody is so friendly on the trail too, which was expected, but awesome nonetheless. Everybody helps each other out which is such a relief to see, where in the "real world" I am so accustomed to people being slimy, non-trustworthy and talking smack behind each others backs.
I have been hiking mainly with a 21 year old dude nickednamed Simba as well as another 23 y.o chick nicknamed StickBug I think. Simba's super cool, he has a very outgoing personality and is super friendly and helpful to everyone he comes across, so I gravitated towards him. I really like to be around people like that, because they always have something to say or do to make the day a little better. I strive to be more and more like him in that sense every day.
I also found a chick named Jess (nicknamed Dibs for now) who is a freaking amazing singer. I was super stoked to hear her sing, and I immediately told her we should play stuff together. We have jammed out for a bit and I really hope we hike more together so we can do some duet covers and such. I think we could def make money in town busking (or whatever its called), so that would be a fun experience. Maybe I can record and upload some stuff we do! fingers crossed!!
I am kinda rambling cause I have a 30 min time limit on here so I'm not sure if this is coherent or making sense, but I am def loving my time on the trail. I am working hard during the day, then at night we set up our tents, have campfires, and shoot the shit with each other. Its so fun. I wish people my age would like just getting together and having some nice conversations instead of what seems like the norm to me of "hey lets go to a bar get get freaking plastered, not hear each other talk, spend a lot of money, and have a terrible hangover the next day, that sounds fun yayy!"
There are a lot of hippies on the trail too. They are alright in my book, at least on the trail. They basically learn how to live life with minimal money, and I think they basically just share whatever they have with all of their other hippie friends too. It's too much of a lifestyle change for me, so don't worry I'm not going to become a full blown hippie. Just maybe a slight one. They really like to share certain "things" with other hikers (wink wink), which is alright in my book. tee hee!
Everybody says the novelty of the trail will wear off in about a month, but I don't know if that will really happen for me. I am totally fine with exhausting my body every day, getting fit, eating, being disconnected from the interwebz, and having campfires every night. Who knows, maybe my opinion might change in a few months, but there is only one way to find out!
It kinda sucks being sweaty and gross all the time and not around women alot (at least well groomed women) but I'm fine with that. It's not like I was slaying b$*chEs when I was in the real world anyways. Im hoping that I will become the worlds most interesting man after this and all the ladies will want to come and talk to me and run their hands through my MANLY BEARD. I can dream right?
Alright, I think my crew is back from running errands so I am about to head out now and go have some fun. I uploaded some voice recordings I recorded at the end of my days. Just me rambling more about the app trail. You can find the 3 recordings here.
http://soundcloud.com/kljweshrfgkeqrhflkqrefh
Later DuDeZ!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Well...here I go!
I haven't had much doubt/nerves about this trip until a couple of days ago. Part of me thinks I am crazy for quitting my job to go do something that I "thought was cool". I've never even freaking hiked before...how do I even know if I will like doing this? I'm not sure, but something tells me that I will have a good time. I think that as soon as I get out there and start hiking, all my nerves and doubts will disappear. From there, its just one step after the other....for a very, very, very long time.
My first job out of college was a super demanding one. I was working 70-80 hours a week, 6 days a week (sometimes even 13 straight days), and I was working in a factory under stressful conditions. Not to mention I worked with all Italians who chose to spoke mainly in Italian, unless they needed to give me something to do. It was the hardest time of my life, but I am really glad I did it. I think that most Americans (especially new college graduates) are pansies when it comes to working hard. After my experience working, most things don't seem too daunting to me any more, which is pretty awesome in my opinion.
Also, after seeing what my sister had to go through with her cancer up until the very end helped me get through the tough times at work. Whenever I wanted to bitch about what I was dealing with my job, I always thought about my sister and how she knew that her time was very limited, and she never bitched about it once. She just made the most out of every day. It made me realize that I shouldn't bitch about things too much, after all I still have my health. I think this will help me get through the tough times on the trail. There are no doubts that I will have days where it will be cold, raining, and just plain shitty all day. But, as long as I can stick it through, things will get better.
After working at my job, I really looked at this Appalachian trail journey and said "I made it through my job, I can freaking do this." And now its go time! Lets see if I can make this entire 2,200 journey happen!! Hopefully you will not hear from me again for a few weeks, and hopefully I will have some cool stories for all of you all!
ciao!
Joe
Friday, April 12, 2013
My second AT video - pack list
This is my second video (yes it is long) describing all that I am bringing for this journey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epKpChbQTdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epKpChbQTdg
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