This got me really excited because I would be able to connect my original intentions of exploring and immersing ourselves in a new environment, and still give something at the same time. I made many contacts with Appalachian Trail clubs, the Student Conservation Association and the National Park Service and found options for projects from Cumberland Island, Georgia to Shenandoah National Park. So we began looking into options for a trip to the southwestern part of the country. Through a contact with the NOLS branch office in Tucson, Arizona I was connected with Jerry Payne and eventually Tim Pohlman in Gila National Forest. The Forest Service would provide transportation from and to the airport and all camping equipment, a very enticing proposition.
Fear almost seems more concrete.
This is worry. Not only was I worried about the trip itself coming together, but I was also worried about the time it was taking from the rest of my Level 8 project and about the trip's significance to the rest of my study. As a group we ended up deciding that going to the Gila National Forest in New Mexico was the most appealing and worthwhile of our ideas. Meanwhile, we began scrambling to find affordable prices for airfare and wrote a proposal to obtain money from the school's Work College program to cover some of the trip's expenses. We also had to address the issue of re-advertising the trip, knowing that it would be a very popular idea and at the same time not wanting the group to become any larger than it was.