On Turning Twenty-Six, and Other Adventures
Twenty-six. No longer in the early twenties. Most of the way past the twenties, actually.
Thirties, here I come.
With thoughts of mortality freshly fixed in my mind, I have decided on three goals I hope to accomplish by this time next year. Two are concrete, one is abstract, but they’re all significant to me.
- Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail. This may be my most ambitious goal, so it has the right to come first. In the next four years, I would like to complete the Triple Crown of Hiking, starting with the Appalachian Trail this spring. This may be an unrealistic goal, and something may intervene to prevent me from accomplishing it, but as of this writing it is something I hope to achieve.
After hiking the Appalachian Trail this spring, I hope to tackle the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017 and the Continental Divide Trail in 2018. It’s ambitious — yes. It’s crazy — yes. But it’s been done before.
2. Writing a book. Since November 2014, I have been doggedly writing every day. The ideas come and go. Some stick around. I am enlisting the ones still kicking around in my brain for the first book of a series of fiction that I hope will be my mainstay for years to come. I share some thoughts about building the story here.
As a corollary to this point, I also plan to blog about my hiking adventures. If I can find the proper equipment, I hope to write about each day on the trail, coming at the trail from my own unique angle — which leads me to the next point…
3. Connecting with people. This may sound ironic — talking about heading off into the wilderness for half a year or so, and in the same breath saying I want to connect more with people. It’s not ironic. Let me explain.
I’m not ready to tell my full story here, but I will say that it’s difficult for me to connect with people in a meaningful way. That has been my experience since my early teenage years. I have tried many methods, from counseling to over-the-counter pills to meditation and just about anything else that was suggested to me.
Some things worked a little. Nothing worked completely.
I felt unfulfilled. I feel unfulfilled. I need a fresh perspective, a place where I can forget about myself and get lost in the grandeur of the natural world.
I don’t expect to come out the other side and discover I dropped all my emotional and psychological baggage along the way. But I do expect to discover a new perspective. That will be enough.
So those are the major milestones I hope to achieve in the next year. Have you set any major goals for yourself? If so, please share in the comments below.
