The Call of an Adventure

Have you ever considered walking the length of an entire country?  2,600-odd miles on a trail that visits some of the most amazing expanses of the American wilderness, and for days at a time runs far removed from the comforts and conveniences of everyday life as most of us know it?

Three months from now, Dave and I will do just that. We will walk from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail. The idea excites me, it fuels a flame in my heart that I can feel is expanding into a raging fire of passion and desire for such a grand adventure, but it also puts a dark daunting cloud above my head, and it stirs a storm of emotions every time a glimpse of reality creeps in and reminds me that once we lock the door of our apartment for that very last time, we won’t have a home to came back to, we won’t have a security of a job waiting for us, friendships we build over the years will be put on hold.

Pulling a plug on a perfectly good life is not easy, definitely not as easy as I once imagined when as a ten-year-old I wrote The Grand Journey, a story in which a group of friends left everything behind, hopped in a car they constructed for that purpose, and off they went to see the world. Contrary to that, I feel a slight nag of hesitation. Do I really want to leave the familiarity of my rather comfortable life behind? As hard as it will be, the answer is yes. Strong and loud yes. Many of life’s best rewards are only available to those who are not afraid to face difficult challenges to get to them. If everything in life were easy, there would be no opportunity for self-growth and fulfillment.

And with that sentiment in mind, I’m going to embrace the hesitation as first of the many challenges we are likely to face on our journey, and I hope to take you on one hell of an adventure as we make our way to Canada.

The Pacific Crest Trail will be our home for five to six month this year and I want to acknowledge that it would not be possible for us to hike it without thousands of hours of hard work volunteers put into maintaining it and protecting it. I will donate 1% of all 2017 sales of my new book I Had a Dream, I Lived It to Pacific Crest Trail Associating as a token of my appreciating for all they do for us PCT hikers. If you want to help us help the trail, you can get a copy from Amazon . Both Kindle and printed versions are available. 🙂