March 30, 2022

Well I leave tomorrow. It's starting to feel real. All of my stuff is packed away in my car and I'm finalizing all my gear. (linked here if you're curious what all I'm taking with me to walk from Georgia to Maine : https://lighterpack.com/r/q5nkf7). It's a strange feeling to finally be so close to the start of this trip after talking about doing this big thing for years. It's always felt like this far-off hypothetical thing, but here we are. On Saturday, I'll be spending my first night of many out in the woods. I won't be sleeping in the same place twice for months.

I spent a good chunk of time yesterday researching and adjusting settings on my Garmin instinct watch that my boyfriend got me for Christmas. It's nice to know that I'll be able to know barometric pressure changes to alert me to storms before they happen, even without phone service. I have a compass on my watch as well as other helpful functions. It's interesting to think how the main stressors and daily obstacles I'll face will be so different from what they have been all my life. The weather, my joints, the next water or food source, and finding good strong trees with no loose limbs will be front and center in my mind.

For the time being, no more alarms. No more traffic, no more rushing around to do xyz for so-and-so or such-and-such. Just one foot in front of the next. If I'm lucky, I'll find myself on top of Mt. Katadyn in a few months. No part of me is ready to say goodbye to my cats or people I love for this long. That will be 100% the hardest part of this. However, it's amazing to know that I have so much support in this endeavor and lots of people cheering me on. Time to go embrace the suck!