I have been planning this trip for well over a year now. I have spent an exhausting amount of time on my gear. Researching it, buying it, using it, hating it, returning it, researching, buying, using, and on and on... I have also spent countless hours reading about the trail, following other people's hikes online, watching documentaries, and asking questions in forums. It is impossible to be fully prepared for a trip like this, but I feel like I've done as much as I can to prepare.
By now I thought for sure I would be ready to romanticize the whole experience. Become voluntarily homeless, quit the office job, and strike out into nature. Wrong. There is a ton of work involved with shucking responsibility to become a vagabond.
- Terminating my lease
- Canceling my utilities
- Packing up all of my stuff
- Finding a storage unit
- Finding movers
- Adjusting my car insurance
- Changing health insurance
- Going to doctors appointments before my good insurance expires
- Updating addresses on everything
- Filing my taxes
- Getting my finances sorted
- Getting my backup/summer gear organized (thanks for the help Aunt Mary!)
- Renewing all the things that will expire while I'm living in the woods
- Remembering I promised everyone a blog and hastily throwing it together
- Switching cellphone carriers (Verizon gets the best service in the woods)
- Registering and activating my locator beacon
- Storing my car
- And a host of other things I'm sure I won't remember until the last possible second
Thankfully I'm surrounded by supportive family and friends who are helping make this trip possible. I'm getting close to finishing all of my adulting, and I am ready to start the adventure. Very exciting stuff. Slightly terrifying, but very exciting.