Early 40's office worker. Soccer enthusiast, day hiker, and casual nerd. Immediate family is ‘Echo’ and our two dogs. Very comfortable and satisfying life. Things are genuinely more amazing than I ever expected when I was younger.

Soooo obviously, it is time to screw that up.

I have been dreaming of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail for almost a decade now. A six month journey covering almost 2200 miles of mud, ticks, and mountains running from Georgia to Maine in one continuous path.
Yup, that should screw things up quite nicely.

As I have been slowly informing friends, family, and coworkers about my plans I keep hearing the same five questions:

"Are you hiking alone? Are you taking a gun? Did you and Echo break up? Are you going to do a blog?" Yes. No. Hell no. Guess so.

The fifth question they ask is usually more of whisper: "How did you pull this off?"

I intend to set out for the trail on March 29th (weather permitting). Until then, I will use this journal to explain how I managed to walk away from all the normal adult life stuff for six months. Once on the trail I will catalogue my hike with as many pictures as I can manage. Finally, when I get back I will cover my reintegration back into my old life. Lofty goals, but hopefully it will help someone else realize it can be done while being a responsible adult. If you have specific questions please email me and I will do my best to answer you.

Life is funny and full of the unexpected. For all I know, I will break my leg on the second day and all you will see are a bunch of pictures of my hospital room. But I have been dreaming about what lies over the next mountain for too long and now I have a rare opportunity to find out. I hope you will follow along with me.