Hike Your Own Hike: 7 Life Lessons from Backpacking Across America (Wanderlearn)
Francis Tapon's book worth reading, for anyone and everyone unsure of their current path . . . . The 351-page book has helped bring focus to my own journey. I'm confident it'll help you, too.The lesson here is to hike the trail the way you want - live the life you want.The author challenges himself with Lisa, his hiking partner, physically through this backpacking trip, and intellectually by pondering the meaning of it all, what we can do to find more meaning and how to go about reaching this meaning. "Most people lead a life of quiet desperation," Henry David Thoreau said. Mr. Tapon thinks we should not settle for comfort, not "stay put and cling". We should get up and out - "soar". Comfort is not magic. And isn't magic what we're striving for? Well, yes! Passion, joy from passion, both leading to this magic.You guessed it. This book is a guide, a self help, a how-to read that happens to take place while on a journey, and that's how it landed on my desk.Hike your own Hike has a textbook appearance - headings, sub headings, charts, bullets, quotes interspersed throughout, photographs, maps, an index, endnotes, even quizzes. It is also personal and honest.Comparisons will be made to Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Bryson's A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail). It is neither and a little bit of both. As such, it is a beneficial guide to improving the quality of one's life. Hardly new, rather another reminder and nudge to get back on the track of optimization. From that perspective, it's a worthwhile read.The travel portion is valuable for newbies; disappointing for seasoned hikers of the Appalachian Trail and those well read about it.It is hoped the book becomes a catalyst for a new trend in the reader's life. Mr. Tapon has done his part well. He has provided numerous tools. The value lies in what the reader chooses to take from it. ----Thom Gabrukiewicz, Redding.comBy hiking the Appalachian Trail, Francis gave himself 4 months to find out if he could get more out of life. This became his inflection point, where he let himself pursue a radically different direction in life. In doing so, Francis discovered his true passion is to be a travel writer, book author, and backpacker.Understandably, Francis' new, itinerant lifestyle is not for everyone, and hiking the AT might not be your inflection point. Francis gets that. But what Hike Your Own Hike is about, is giving yourself permission to take a break from the everyday groove that you've worked yourself into, to try something different that might make you a lot more happy. It's about reducing the level of fear we all experience when we question our life-course and consider alternative options. ----BootsnAll.com reviewHike Your Own Hike is a wonderful self development and self help book that shows you why walking is so powerful for your mind, body and soul, as well as covering life lessons that will change our life with increased self empowerment, emotional health and emotional wealth." --BellaOnline.com