In 2013, my wife and I walked from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Katahdin, Maine. Walking is not exactly the best word to describe what we were doing. What we experienced is commonly known as a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. It is a very difficult trek; 2,186 miles across 14 states along the backbone of the Appalachian Mountains taking us 6 months and 10 days to complete the journey. Part of the journey was adapting to what is known as "trail life," learning to cope with the stresses of walking all day everyday and living off of very little. By very little, I mean very little comforts and conveniences. The thrill of adventure stifles this adaption period and folks starting are generally very excited to be out hiking despite the cold weather. After six months of living an alternative life style, including the widely accepted adoption of pseudonyms known as "trail names", almost entire isolation from main stream society, and a singular focus on walking each day and enjoying the simple things, like being dry, the journey was over. We now had the task to re-adapt to "normal" life. Six months later I sat down to reflect on our trail experience and our new revelations on life. These are some of our lessons from walking.
Simplicity of Choice
In today's society, we have an abundance of choice and decision. Our choices are so wide in variety and in substance that the choices themselves are choices; I choose to be someone that chooses these things. I'm a Mac, I'm a PC. This over abundance of choice has led to an extreme increase in the amount of meaningless distress in people's lives. Is this the car I really wanted? Is this the best school for my kid? Is this the career path I really want? We second guess ourse...
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...e once had, Chet is an overall, happy man. On our worst days, we thought back humbly to Chet and his story and remembered how grateful we are to walk and be alive.
In the beginning of our hike, we referred to our reality before trail as "real life" and our current state as "trail life". The further we went, the more trail life became real life and our old real life became an empty set of standards. Life is not about all the false pretenses that humans have fabricated. We are not designed to be falling into line with others, buying our dreams, drifting into a passive existence, inviting brainwashing, or ignoring those that surround us. Life is about living, being happy, loving others and experiencing this world with the ones you love. Everything else is secondary. If we choose to set our priorities to what is truly important, we would all be better off.
Bill Bryson uses his experience on the Appalachian Trail to show how different your expectations can be compared to the reality of the situation. Bryson believed that he was fully prepared for the hike and that it would be exciting but, in all actuality it was very difficult. He also believed that the hike would be stimulating for the mind but, at times it didn’t require a lot of thinking or attention. His experience and the background research he provided created an image for his audience so they could understand the point he was trying to make. These elements served as evidence in the book and was very effective because it was abundant and meaningful.
Is Bill Bryson, the author of a Walk in the Woods, an Appalachian Trail hiker? To most people, the only type of AT hiker is someone who hikes it all at once, also known as a “thru hiker.” Bryson has hiked a large amount of the AT, along with Katz, and has come across many obstacles along the way. He has encountered a bear, obnoxious hikers, and especially harsh weather conditions. None of these hurdles have seemed to stop Bryson. They have reduced his progress but have not stopped him completely by any means. Critics have expressed their irritation with Bryson and his negativity towards all of the impediments on the trail. For example, one critic said, “As a hiker laying in a strategy to thru-hike the AT in a couple years, I was looking forward to a light and lively tale. Boy was I disappointed. Grumping about the cold, rain, mud, vermin, tourons, monotony, ugly people and places, and an inept hiking partner didn't let up.” (Anonymous: A Protracted Whine. Book review of A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. November 2, 2007) Although many tough critics do not consider him to be an AT trail hiker, he should be considered an AT hiker because he has hiked most of the trail and has written a best-selling novel to inform people of his long, vigorous journey.
This essay is an excerpt by Rebecca Solnit 's book, Wanderlust: A History of Walking,. The purpose of this essay is to create awareness about walking which is seen inferior in our society as compared to driving and using public transportation. This essay is not targeted towards a specific group of people. However, it might be of more interest to social activists and people who consider walking a good exercise. Solnit talks about the value of walking and how it is being lost with the changes in our society and environment. She also talks about the increase of suburban spaces in our society due to rapid industrialization which discourage walking. Solnit suggests that if we continue to devalue walking in our society, we would be alienated
Life on the Road It’s fair to say that life on the road is something most people do not desire, as a way to live out their days; but a young man named Chris McCandless believed it was necessary to avoid the venomous grips of society. McCandless goes as far as to venture out to the rest of the United States and even crossing borders to achieve his true destination, Alaska. He shows us living such a life can hold many unique and wonderful experiences.
... hikers to experience the wilderness the way it was initially intended. With unpredictable weather, wildlife, etc. Where hikers are granted the freedom to make their own decisions. As much as the tangible dangers hinder the journey one may face during the trail--the desire, attitude and the love for hiking are perhaps what keeps them yearning for the next level.
In belief my opinion I believe route 66 is better.Because it is much better to ride on.It is better to me because the Interstate is all loud and noisy while on the other hand Route 66 is much much more quieter and peaceful.When your riding on the interstate its like your baby brother crying all night long while Route 66 is sleeping like a peaceful cloud.Route 66 is the highway of the unknown and the Interstate is the highway to hell.What i mean by that is the Interstate is sometimes narrow while Route 66 is a open road.On the Interstate people are cursing and fussing about how slow or how fast one is going or doing wrong.Wherever you are on any Interstate will get you there faster you will also have to deal with a lot of traffic but on Route 66 you wont have to deal with much traffic.Although there are more places to stop and Drink on the interstate On Route 66 there are many places to look see and maybe visit. In the prompt it talks about and states that sometimes its like a journey or sometimes like a rush to get from point A to point B.It also says that Route 66 is old so that means that there would be some more things to look at.Sure the interstate gets you there faster.When you drive the two lane highways it does not matter how much time it takes.In fact you might even wanna keep driving and driving and driving because you are having so much fun.
I have heard many great things about studying abroad from family and friends. I hear things, including: studying abroad allows one to experience another culture directly, helps you develop new skills that you cannot learn in a classroom, and also helps one learn about themselves. Listening to the people close to me talk about how amazing their time abroad, was made me realize it is something I desire to do. I know this opportunity will be extremely beneficial to me for numerous reasons: I want to learn more about who I am and my values, I have never been off of the continent before, it is a great thing to put on my résumé and will enhance employment opportunities. I will value studying abroad in Italy because this experience will assist me
The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less, by Barry Schwartz, is focused on the analysis of personal behavior in relation to decision making. As the title implies, the author emphasizes the main point that more choices actually lead to less of an ideal experience. In recent years, choices have become almost unlimited, and this has led to an increase in unnecessary stress placed on the consumer. The availability to make decisions in virtually every aspect of life creates a new level of responsibility on individuals. Decision making can lead to an enormous group of positive and negative feelings. Some of which include satisfaction, happiness, regret, disappointment and even depression. It is important to explore the broad category of decision making
Overcoming adversity is imperative. In fact, you can 't have the happiness and success you want unless you have adversity in your life and overcome it. It is essential for progressing into who you want to be. It shows you what you are made of. It teaches you more about yourself, how to approach what you want, and how to maintain the success that you have. Without it, you wouldn 't know how far you could go or how capable you are because you wouldn 't have anything to push you or compare to.
A man walks down a road, life, and suddenly there’s a fork in the road; the man must choose which path to go. One of the paths is a course he already knows the destination and the other route is a road he has never been through before. Whichever path he chooses to continue on he will have to accept the result. “We have two choices in life: to accept the condition we are put in or accept the responsibility for changing them” (Denis Waitley).
Having a healthy lifestyle is a treasure in one’s life. Being healthy means taking care of the brain, body and know what to do and what to eat. Many people think that eating diet food makes them be healthy and fitness but it is not true. Diets usually mean eating special kinds of food or a little amount of it to lose weight. This way of depriving self of eating diverse types of food and focus on specific types that have low calories to avoid gaining extra weight is not healthy. Although losing weight can be considered a way to be healthy, but this is not the main idea. There are three important ways to stay healthy, such eating healthy food, doing physical activity, and getting enough sleep.
There are thousands of things I love, but vacation is on the number one list. Many times over the years I have taken vacation time; It was only a while back, when I realized how amaz-ing, and the great value it gives the sole and body. There have been times when I felt not wanting to leave my work, whether it’s financial problems or among other things. Other times I thought my work was at a decisive juncture and it wouldn 't get accomplished without me. All profession-als or employees know that the money does not just make itself unless they are there to make sure everything is going according to their policy. I know I am not alone in making excuses not to take a vacation. When I asked a couple of my co-workers, they also agreed on not even taking a week off for the entire year, some even included holidays.
One of the most enjoyable things in life are road trips, particularly to the Colorado mountains. Getting to spend time with your family and friends, while being in a beautiful place, is irreplaceable. The fifteen-hour road trip may feel never-ending, but gazing at the mountains from afar makes life’s problems seem a little smaller and causes worries to become a thing of the past. Coming in contact with nature, untouched, is a surreal experience. My family trip to the Colorado mountains last summer was inspiring.
In the world, every countries people like to travel, but Chinese is the one who travel the most in the world. When Chinese people are improving, most people outbound to different countries to see the different culture and personality. Chinese people like to travel, because they can buy local cuisine is cheaper in China. They also like see different destination to take photo. Now, Chinese people who travel abound mostly they go with the tour guides. Not everyone can speak English, they usually speak Chinese only. Sometime, they like to travel by themselves or backpacker. This they can have more personal time to look around. Therefore, Chinese people go travel to different countries, they like to take photo at any places or
We make choices every hour, every minute, and every second of our lives; whether big or small our choices are slowly putting us in the direction we choose or end up. Many of us do not realize what contributes to the choices we make and why it affects others the same way if affects us and because of this many authors and writers have written stories and articles about coming to terms with making a choice and how to better ourselves when it comes to decision-making for the future.