Needing a good laugh and inspired by a friend's chat of her young one's progress and how he isn't quite to the laughing yet phase, I found this video on Youtube.
It was the perfect two and a half minutes I needed.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Team ME!!
You all rock!!
Thank you all for the support over the last few days. And honestly, over the last few years. My friends and family are amazing in their belief in me and this dream that I have. But I really wanted to say thanks to all of you for bridging the gap the last few days with all the thoughts and prayers! To my brother, for the last few intense months. He's been a virtual rock, a text-by-phone cheerleader even at 2am, and someone who has never stopped believing in me. He always tells me I'm one of the smartest people he knows. To my extended 'family' who all think I'm a genius, even though I'm not, I love you all.
Kelly-thank you for cutting your break short and coming home to quiz me. I can't repay that.
Matt, who will likely never see this, risked me having a meltdown in public. Yeah, we're nerds and went shopping while he quizzed me on cardio. Then he decided to show me what an essay test felt like. Thanks a lot, dude.
After all of the stress revealed in my last post, was there a good outcome? I'd like to say so but the exam was pretty much on key with what I felt after it was over. I was told one professor would be grading the essay-another professor actually wound up looking at it. When something is graded subjectively, it's all in the mind of the reader. And if the person you expect to be grading the material has spent hours over the course of a semester with you, they're likely to understand your responses and know where you're going. The person who wound up grading the essays was just...harsh. At least that's what I'm going with based on comments from yesterday. That super awesome feeling I had over doing well on the essays? It was reduced to a sucker punch to the gut when I talked to the faculty who graded it. Instead of a reverse compliment, I got a reverse insult. This came from someone I've always admired, even when other students were critical. This week, I got a glimmer of why other students feel that way.
But you know what? At least the agony of the last few weeks is over. I feel as though I can say I put my everything into that exam. It didn't exactly go the way I'd hoped from the beginning but, overall, it didn't go the way I totally dreaded either. The most important thing? I'm still in med school and still headed down the road to be a physician.
Yesterday felt like I kept receiving reaffirmation that this is where I'm supposed to be. I will continue to work as hard as I have to in order to achieve the DO degree and achieve what I feel I've been led to do. The decision for me to be here wasn't made lightly or by myself. So I'm going to continue to stand on the dream that got this all started with the belief that everything is happening for a reason. Why? because it's a faith thing.
Thank you all for the support over the last few days. And honestly, over the last few years. My friends and family are amazing in their belief in me and this dream that I have. But I really wanted to say thanks to all of you for bridging the gap the last few days with all the thoughts and prayers! To my brother, for the last few intense months. He's been a virtual rock, a text-by-phone cheerleader even at 2am, and someone who has never stopped believing in me. He always tells me I'm one of the smartest people he knows. To my extended 'family' who all think I'm a genius, even though I'm not, I love you all.
Kelly-thank you for cutting your break short and coming home to quiz me. I can't repay that.
Matt, who will likely never see this, risked me having a meltdown in public. Yeah, we're nerds and went shopping while he quizzed me on cardio. Then he decided to show me what an essay test felt like. Thanks a lot, dude.
After all of the stress revealed in my last post, was there a good outcome? I'd like to say so but the exam was pretty much on key with what I felt after it was over. I was told one professor would be grading the essay-another professor actually wound up looking at it. When something is graded subjectively, it's all in the mind of the reader. And if the person you expect to be grading the material has spent hours over the course of a semester with you, they're likely to understand your responses and know where you're going. The person who wound up grading the essays was just...harsh. At least that's what I'm going with based on comments from yesterday. That super awesome feeling I had over doing well on the essays? It was reduced to a sucker punch to the gut when I talked to the faculty who graded it. Instead of a reverse compliment, I got a reverse insult. This came from someone I've always admired, even when other students were critical. This week, I got a glimmer of why other students feel that way.
But you know what? At least the agony of the last few weeks is over. I feel as though I can say I put my everything into that exam. It didn't exactly go the way I'd hoped from the beginning but, overall, it didn't go the way I totally dreaded either. The most important thing? I'm still in med school and still headed down the road to be a physician.
Yesterday felt like I kept receiving reaffirmation that this is where I'm supposed to be. I will continue to work as hard as I have to in order to achieve the DO degree and achieve what I feel I've been led to do. The decision for me to be here wasn't made lightly or by myself. So I'm going to continue to stand on the dream that got this all started with the belief that everything is happening for a reason. Why? because it's a faith thing.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Not on the Mountain Top
Wow! I've been through some problematic stuff before but this is just craziness. How is it that I used to be so good at getting any freak outs over and done and moving on and now I can't? Tests seem to throw me for a loop. It's a flippin' test. That last statement was the rational statement, the one I keep telling myself and the one I know in my head but it's somehow getting lost in translation.
Do you ever go through something and you just feel like you're losing your mind? Or no one really understands what's going on? That's where I am. Oddly enough, one of the only posts I wrote in the fall of 2011 dealt with these same issues that haven't gotten better. I would say they calmed down and then showed up with all their friends and threw a huge party!
The above post referenced the severe symptoms I get surrounding my exams. Nausea and anxiety are the ones that show up earliest. Sometimes 2-3 days before exams. It's sometimes difficult to focus when it gets bad. On the day of the exam, there's nausea and stress beyond the 'ohmygosh, I have an exam' stress. It's more like 'I have a test, I'm going to die'. My ability to concentrate my breathing during the exam is pretty much nil.
Take today for example. I had a make-up exam that I had been told would be awful. Professors directing the course had even told me the exam would be intense. Sweet! So cue the plan! I stayed home over Christmas break to study. Lined up multiple people to school me on the various aspects of this course I was somehow misunderstanding. My roommate came home early to review with me, over and over. A friend who is an upperclassmen spent an evening before Christmas break reviewing with me. Then hammered me with essay questions yesterday. We won't talk about the study sessions that didn't work out. They're bygones.
One of the solutions for test anxiety is to focus your breathing and take deep breaths. I do try and do that during exams and sometimes it helps me a little. Today, I tried and then kept freaking myself out because the questions were sooo long and I was running out of time. There was no time to recenter and deep breathe!
The next part of the freak-out involved me practically running out of the lecture hall to the bathroom, bawling my eyes out for about 2.5 minutes because I realized I didn't have time to get through the exam with the number of questions I still had to answer plus whatever questions I needed to go back to, having skipped due to the difficulty. Why didn't I stay in the exam for those 2.5 minutes you might ask? I was going to cry. There was no getting around it. So I needed to do it where I could sob it out and get back in there.
If you remember, I mentioned there was an essay component? I'm fairly certain I hit a homerun. Or at least a triple with it. It was straight and to the point, addressing all the points raised in the question. I'm pretty confident about it.
When all was said and done and I walked out of the exam, in tears, one of my favorite professors hugged me and told me, "Let it go." He said there was nothing I could do about it at the moment and getting worked up was definitely not going to do any good. He was right. And I calmed down for 30 minutes or so. Until the phone calls started coming in, friends checking in to see how things went.
You would think I was a totally crazy person with the number of tears I've shed the last few weeks. It's been a veritable fountain, if you want an idea. Any mention of test or failing or being ready for the exam and I'm off. Oh, or if you ask me why it stresses me out. That sets me off too. The idea that staying here or having to continue at another school is frightening. Failing out is a foreign concept. Not failing. I've failed before. Just knowing that this is what I'm meant to do, being a smidge closer to the next stage of things and wondering how long it's going to take to finish.
That this test anxiety thing has been going on for two years and I've made it known. To multiple faculty/physicians at the school (physicians were either course directors or I saw them at the clinic, faculty were course directors). They sent me for ADHD testing. Which, I guess on the surface, when I say I have problems staying focused when I study, that makes sense. But I am about the least ADHD person I know. So up until about 7 weeks ago, no one identified test anxiety. At this point, it's a tentative diagnosis as it has to actually be diagnosed by a psychologist. And the only one in this area that accepts our school insurance is booked until March. The problem with having the general diagnosis and how the school is handling it, besides that they can't exactly go back and let it serve as remedy for prior exams, is that the school hasn't used any consistency with a test environment since this all started.
In spite of all of this, I trust the reason I'm here. To be a doctor. I'm not a super-religiousy person. You won't find me preaching at you all day. But I do firmly believe the things that guide me. Being a doctor was a dream from the time I was much younger. I set it aside, choosing another path, but the dream came back. With a lot of devotion and prayer and such, it's my dream that is in progress. How long it will take? I don't know. But I trust that God is working somehow. From where I am right now, I can't go back and change anything about today's exam. I also can't really see whatever lessons I"m supposed to be learning. I can only hope I'm not too stubborn to learn them!
I was reminded today by a friend that I'm not on the mountain top. This whole med school process is like a long climb up a mountain by way of a cliff face, falling off the cliff, hanging on by two fingers, being bloodied and battered and continuing the climb.
He's right.
Each successive system we complete is a tiny victory on the way to the summit but it's in no way the victorious element.
So for today, I'm hanging by two fingers off the edge of the cliff and trusting God and his plan.
Do you ever go through something and you just feel like you're losing your mind? Or no one really understands what's going on? That's where I am. Oddly enough, one of the only posts I wrote in the fall of 2011 dealt with these same issues that haven't gotten better. I would say they calmed down and then showed up with all their friends and threw a huge party!
The above post referenced the severe symptoms I get surrounding my exams. Nausea and anxiety are the ones that show up earliest. Sometimes 2-3 days before exams. It's sometimes difficult to focus when it gets bad. On the day of the exam, there's nausea and stress beyond the 'ohmygosh, I have an exam' stress. It's more like 'I have a test, I'm going to die'. My ability to concentrate my breathing during the exam is pretty much nil.
Take today for example. I had a make-up exam that I had been told would be awful. Professors directing the course had even told me the exam would be intense. Sweet! So cue the plan! I stayed home over Christmas break to study. Lined up multiple people to school me on the various aspects of this course I was somehow misunderstanding. My roommate came home early to review with me, over and over. A friend who is an upperclassmen spent an evening before Christmas break reviewing with me. Then hammered me with essay questions yesterday. We won't talk about the study sessions that didn't work out. They're bygones.
One of the solutions for test anxiety is to focus your breathing and take deep breaths. I do try and do that during exams and sometimes it helps me a little. Today, I tried and then kept freaking myself out because the questions were sooo long and I was running out of time. There was no time to recenter and deep breathe!
The next part of the freak-out involved me practically running out of the lecture hall to the bathroom, bawling my eyes out for about 2.5 minutes because I realized I didn't have time to get through the exam with the number of questions I still had to answer plus whatever questions I needed to go back to, having skipped due to the difficulty. Why didn't I stay in the exam for those 2.5 minutes you might ask? I was going to cry. There was no getting around it. So I needed to do it where I could sob it out and get back in there.
If you remember, I mentioned there was an essay component? I'm fairly certain I hit a homerun. Or at least a triple with it. It was straight and to the point, addressing all the points raised in the question. I'm pretty confident about it.
When all was said and done and I walked out of the exam, in tears, one of my favorite professors hugged me and told me, "Let it go." He said there was nothing I could do about it at the moment and getting worked up was definitely not going to do any good. He was right. And I calmed down for 30 minutes or so. Until the phone calls started coming in, friends checking in to see how things went.
You would think I was a totally crazy person with the number of tears I've shed the last few weeks. It's been a veritable fountain, if you want an idea. Any mention of test or failing or being ready for the exam and I'm off. Oh, or if you ask me why it stresses me out. That sets me off too. The idea that staying here or having to continue at another school is frightening. Failing out is a foreign concept. Not failing. I've failed before. Just knowing that this is what I'm meant to do, being a smidge closer to the next stage of things and wondering how long it's going to take to finish.
That this test anxiety thing has been going on for two years and I've made it known. To multiple faculty/physicians at the school (physicians were either course directors or I saw them at the clinic, faculty were course directors). They sent me for ADHD testing. Which, I guess on the surface, when I say I have problems staying focused when I study, that makes sense. But I am about the least ADHD person I know. So up until about 7 weeks ago, no one identified test anxiety. At this point, it's a tentative diagnosis as it has to actually be diagnosed by a psychologist. And the only one in this area that accepts our school insurance is booked until March. The problem with having the general diagnosis and how the school is handling it, besides that they can't exactly go back and let it serve as remedy for prior exams, is that the school hasn't used any consistency with a test environment since this all started.
You need a private room? Sure but there's going to be some kind of meet and greet right outside.
You need a private room? Sure. We'll just send someone in once an hour to ask you how you're doing, make sure things are okay.
You need a private room? Sure. Oh wait. How about a lecture hall? Awesome.
In spite of all of this, I trust the reason I'm here. To be a doctor. I'm not a super-religiousy person. You won't find me preaching at you all day. But I do firmly believe the things that guide me. Being a doctor was a dream from the time I was much younger. I set it aside, choosing another path, but the dream came back. With a lot of devotion and prayer and such, it's my dream that is in progress. How long it will take? I don't know. But I trust that God is working somehow. From where I am right now, I can't go back and change anything about today's exam. I also can't really see whatever lessons I"m supposed to be learning. I can only hope I'm not too stubborn to learn them!
I was reminded today by a friend that I'm not on the mountain top. This whole med school process is like a long climb up a mountain by way of a cliff face, falling off the cliff, hanging on by two fingers, being bloodied and battered and continuing the climb.
He's right.
Each successive system we complete is a tiny victory on the way to the summit but it's in no way the victorious element.
So for today, I'm hanging by two fingers off the edge of the cliff and trusting God and his plan.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Welcome to the world, Baby Viktor!!
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| Congrats to Megan and her Mister on their new bundle
After shutting down all form of social media a few weeks ago, I've felt disconnected from friends. Never more so than when I realized that one of them was getting close to a possible delivery and I no longer had a way of keeping in touch. Well, never fear!! There is ALWAYS a grapevine!
How did I find out the good news? Words with Friends. Yes. That joyous medium of scrabbletastic wonder was my herald of Viktor's arrival and Megan's good health. What a relief!!
So for Megan. Congratulations on getting to your big day, with all the hurdles you had to cross along the way. From what I hear, your life will never be the same. But I know you wouldn't have it any other way.
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Saturday, September 3, 2011
Just Gotta have Faith
That's my mantra these days. As well as 'must study more!'. I'm not dumb by any stretch of the imagination but school makes me feel that way. A lot. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not a genius either.)
Way back when I started the blog, I may have referenced the ongoing struggle with school. It's really nonstop. That hasn't changed with the new school year. Exam weekends, which are now every two weeks, leave me nauseous and 0.02 seconds from throwing everything up for 3 days straight because I don't think I'll ever understand everything the way my professors test on it. I feel like the guy in The Blind Side. I know the material and can have a conversation with you on it but there is this one professor...I just don't get what he's asking with his questions. And sadly, his questions are a very large part of each exam.
The conclusion I reached tonight is that I just need a little faith. Maybe somewhere along the way I lost what bit I had. Medical school was a dream for a long time, one that I put aside for awhile, for assorted reasons. Coming back to it and pursuing it wasn't a light undertaking. Many prayers went up and challenges put out to see if this was in God's big plan for me.
Which is why I struggle so much at the idea that I'm struggling so much. Make sense? I don't expect a diploma on a gold platter. Not at all. But the idea that with a single wrong answer, my medical career is over before it ever really started and I'll have several hundred thousand in debt...well, that's just mind-numbing. Is it possible that the God that I trusted to help me with the decision about medical school changed his mind about me being here? sure. But that's beyond my understanding of everything I know about him so I keep trusting that he didn't. Because I"m not really sure where that would leave me if that happened. But every time I trust that he would not do that, something seems to happen that tells me maybe he did.
You guys are all essentially my confessional tonight because crying over my toothbrush got a little soggy. So, if you pray, keep medical students everywhere in your prayers, many would probably appreciate it. And if you say a prayer for me, I would definitely appreciate it.
Way back when I started the blog, I may have referenced the ongoing struggle with school. It's really nonstop. That hasn't changed with the new school year. Exam weekends, which are now every two weeks, leave me nauseous and 0.02 seconds from throwing everything up for 3 days straight because I don't think I'll ever understand everything the way my professors test on it. I feel like the guy in The Blind Side. I know the material and can have a conversation with you on it but there is this one professor...I just don't get what he's asking with his questions. And sadly, his questions are a very large part of each exam.
The conclusion I reached tonight is that I just need a little faith. Maybe somewhere along the way I lost what bit I had. Medical school was a dream for a long time, one that I put aside for awhile, for assorted reasons. Coming back to it and pursuing it wasn't a light undertaking. Many prayers went up and challenges put out to see if this was in God's big plan for me.
Which is why I struggle so much at the idea that I'm struggling so much. Make sense? I don't expect a diploma on a gold platter. Not at all. But the idea that with a single wrong answer, my medical career is over before it ever really started and I'll have several hundred thousand in debt...well, that's just mind-numbing. Is it possible that the God that I trusted to help me with the decision about medical school changed his mind about me being here? sure. But that's beyond my understanding of everything I know about him so I keep trusting that he didn't. Because I"m not really sure where that would leave me if that happened. But every time I trust that he would not do that, something seems to happen that tells me maybe he did.
You guys are all essentially my confessional tonight because crying over my toothbrush got a little soggy. So, if you pray, keep medical students everywhere in your prayers, many would probably appreciate it. And if you say a prayer for me, I would definitely appreciate it.
Monday, July 18, 2011
All By Myself
Sorry for my prolonged absence! Internet access is limited to mostly my phone or while I'm grabbing a coffee or something so I haven't posted in ages. Hopefully, there are are a few of you still out there reading my blog!
Back to today's title-Have you heard that song? Have you ever felt that way? I do. More often than not. Sad isn't it? And lonely. And boring. It's so frustrating to want to do something or go somewhere or hang out and realize, there's no one to call. Or you do call or text or message and it takes days to hear back and there's always a reason.
*sigh*
It just doesn't really make sense that everyone always wants you to make them a priority but can't show a moderate amount of ability to do the same? I don't need to be at the top of anyone's list but I don't want to be at the bottom either.
Is it possible it's my fault? When people have other things going on or can't meet, it doesn't tend to affect me. I make other plans and move on. That's really not what this is about. But don't make me feel guilty because of your lack of response or your social agenda that has you making excuses.
Living as a student means living on a very fixed budget. Our cost of living allowance hasn't increased in the last several years, in spite of the cost of living in this area increasing significantly. Don't even get me started on the local residents ripping off the med students. All of that means that I get less money to 'play' with which means going and seeing friends/family less often. It means that if I can't make plans with enough people, I won't go home. It's too much money to do it too often.
Think about it-traveling away from home isn't just the gas to get there. You aren't in the comfort of home with groceries and your normal entertainment options. So that's extra money that's spent. Always. I can spend more in 2-3 days going home that I spend in 3 weeks at home.
So with all the whining from others, what makes me continue to feel awful is being made to feel guilty if I have to skip seeing someone, or can't make it home. I've made a promise to myself that I probably won't go home but twice this coming school year. Not out of revenge. But so I can focus on studying. It's going to be an intense year. If it means I'll be more alone at the end of the year, so be it. I'll have more money in my bank account because of it. I hope.
I realize this was a very whiny post for you to read on my first day back. For that, I'm sorry. I do want to know if you all have felt this way or feel this way. How do you deal with it?
The next post will have pics from my summer adventure. It was...interesting.
Back to today's title-Have you heard that song? Have you ever felt that way? I do. More often than not. Sad isn't it? And lonely. And boring. It's so frustrating to want to do something or go somewhere or hang out and realize, there's no one to call. Or you do call or text or message and it takes days to hear back and there's always a reason.
*sigh*
It just doesn't really make sense that everyone always wants you to make them a priority but can't show a moderate amount of ability to do the same? I don't need to be at the top of anyone's list but I don't want to be at the bottom either.
Is it possible it's my fault? When people have other things going on or can't meet, it doesn't tend to affect me. I make other plans and move on. That's really not what this is about. But don't make me feel guilty because of your lack of response or your social agenda that has you making excuses.
Living as a student means living on a very fixed budget. Our cost of living allowance hasn't increased in the last several years, in spite of the cost of living in this area increasing significantly. Don't even get me started on the local residents ripping off the med students. All of that means that I get less money to 'play' with which means going and seeing friends/family less often. It means that if I can't make plans with enough people, I won't go home. It's too much money to do it too often.
Think about it-traveling away from home isn't just the gas to get there. You aren't in the comfort of home with groceries and your normal entertainment options. So that's extra money that's spent. Always. I can spend more in 2-3 days going home that I spend in 3 weeks at home.
So with all the whining from others, what makes me continue to feel awful is being made to feel guilty if I have to skip seeing someone, or can't make it home. I've made a promise to myself that I probably won't go home but twice this coming school year. Not out of revenge. But so I can focus on studying. It's going to be an intense year. If it means I'll be more alone at the end of the year, so be it. I'll have more money in my bank account because of it. I hope.
I realize this was a very whiny post for you to read on my first day back. For that, I'm sorry. I do want to know if you all have felt this way or feel this way. How do you deal with it?
The next post will have pics from my summer adventure. It was...interesting.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Call me Crazy!!
Life has a way of realigning your priorities and reminding you to stop putting off the living.
This summer is technically the last time I'll have a true summer vacation without having to take vacation time from a j-o-b. After giving notice in my current apartment, I was at a loss for what to do and where to move. The landlord is going up on rent and staying here wasn't an option when I could find something cheaper that's the same quality or better. Knowing I didn't want to be in the current town, I started looked for places in surrounding towns, feeling the stress of having to find a place to go in 30 days.
Then...I had an epiphany.
I didn't have to move into any place when I moved out. I could store my stuff and go on an adventure for a few weeks.
Do you have a list of things you want to do but have never had a chance to? Some of my 'to do' list that would be easy to do with the funds available included see the Florida Keys, go camping for an extended period of time, hike the Appalachian Trail, visit D.C, NYC, and Norfolk VA. I want to go white water rafting again, find a place to zipline, and jump out of an airplane. Learning to kayak is on my 'to do' list too.
So when I realized I could road trip on the East Coast for the duration of the summer, the next step was figuring out a rough itinerary. The only real deadline was that I needed to be back in time to get moved in before school started in August.
Seeing D.C, NYC, and the Keys was kind of my guide, a way to plot the trip, but that wasn't going to take the entire summer. So I looked at the AT to figure out how long it would take me to hike a single section, starting in GA and going to VA. Based on the research, I now have an idea based on low-key hiking and have given myself an extra week to finish. I don't want to race through the trail and not get to see any of the sights.
I've been telling everyone about this. Sharing my plan is part of my agenda to create some accountability. I feel like if I didn't tell anyone, it would be easier to flake out and do nothing all summer. Where's the fun in that?!
One night recently, I was sharing my plan with my neighbor and friends when one of her guests piped up that I should look into couchsurfing. It would offer an alternative to camping every night and having to occasionally seek out hostels/motels along the way. And from the way his face lit up when he talked of it, it would a memorable experience. Which pretty much instantly won me over.
The evening went in another direction so I didn't get as much story-time as I would have liked but signed up for an account on www.couchsurfing.org. I'm looking forward to meeting new people. I won't 'surf the entire trip. Probably for parts of the Florida trip and after I leave the AT. There should be some fantastic stories, once I get back.
The idea that I'll flake out is potentially there, at least for the hiking part. It's something that I've recognized and am facing full on with the attitude that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. And flaking out isn't really an option. The trip is almost 300 miles of trail hiking, not including the side trips into town for resupply. If you know me, you know I'm not in top-notch shape. But I don't want to wait to get to a top physical condition before starting the AT. That's just another excuse. And people have started this in way worse shape than me. And finished the entire trail.
So...yeah.
I'll be doing this.
Is there something you keep telling yourself that you'll do 'later'? I'd love to hear from you.
This summer is technically the last time I'll have a true summer vacation without having to take vacation time from a j-o-b. After giving notice in my current apartment, I was at a loss for what to do and where to move. The landlord is going up on rent and staying here wasn't an option when I could find something cheaper that's the same quality or better. Knowing I didn't want to be in the current town, I started looked for places in surrounding towns, feeling the stress of having to find a place to go in 30 days.
Then...I had an epiphany.
I didn't have to move into any place when I moved out. I could store my stuff and go on an adventure for a few weeks.
Do you have a list of things you want to do but have never had a chance to? Some of my 'to do' list that would be easy to do with the funds available included see the Florida Keys, go camping for an extended period of time, hike the Appalachian Trail, visit D.C, NYC, and Norfolk VA. I want to go white water rafting again, find a place to zipline, and jump out of an airplane. Learning to kayak is on my 'to do' list too.
So when I realized I could road trip on the East Coast for the duration of the summer, the next step was figuring out a rough itinerary. The only real deadline was that I needed to be back in time to get moved in before school started in August.
Seeing D.C, NYC, and the Keys was kind of my guide, a way to plot the trip, but that wasn't going to take the entire summer. So I looked at the AT to figure out how long it would take me to hike a single section, starting in GA and going to VA. Based on the research, I now have an idea based on low-key hiking and have given myself an extra week to finish. I don't want to race through the trail and not get to see any of the sights.
I've been telling everyone about this. Sharing my plan is part of my agenda to create some accountability. I feel like if I didn't tell anyone, it would be easier to flake out and do nothing all summer. Where's the fun in that?!
One night recently, I was sharing my plan with my neighbor and friends when one of her guests piped up that I should look into couchsurfing. It would offer an alternative to camping every night and having to occasionally seek out hostels/motels along the way. And from the way his face lit up when he talked of it, it would a memorable experience. Which pretty much instantly won me over.
The evening went in another direction so I didn't get as much story-time as I would have liked but signed up for an account on www.couchsurfing.org. I'm looking forward to meeting new people. I won't 'surf the entire trip. Probably for parts of the Florida trip and after I leave the AT. There should be some fantastic stories, once I get back.
The idea that I'll flake out is potentially there, at least for the hiking part. It's something that I've recognized and am facing full on with the attitude that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. And flaking out isn't really an option. The trip is almost 300 miles of trail hiking, not including the side trips into town for resupply. If you know me, you know I'm not in top-notch shape. But I don't want to wait to get to a top physical condition before starting the AT. That's just another excuse. And people have started this in way worse shape than me. And finished the entire trail.
So...yeah.
I'll be doing this.
Is there something you keep telling yourself that you'll do 'later'? I'd love to hear from you.