Date: 2006-03-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

First leg of my trip and it is feeling real. My last day at work, my last day with friends. What a great week. It makes it so hard to leave. I could not have asked for a better send off! A reservation for 20 at the local pub and then Greyboy All-stars! Music and dancing surrounded by people i love and have a blast with! Of course staying up until 4am and then getting up at 5 for my flight was rough, but worth every minute! I have to realize my friends will continue to have breakfast together every weekend, have community dinners, go to see live music, and go on bike rides with out me, but i will be having fun too, so it is ok! Going away makes you realize how lucky you are some times!There was also a really interesting coincidence that made me realize how much i love traveling and the people you meet. When i was in Thailand (Sept 04) I was taking a bus and met this girl Claire from the UK. She was just getting to Thailand and starting her trip. we bumped into each other in Bangkok a couple times. Then in Laos i was walking down the street, and Claire comes out of a restaurant she saw me walking by. She was having dinner with my friend Pok from Seattle, that she had randomly met that day. nuts! So that was one of those "its a small world" moments. Fast forward to last week (19 months later) I get an email telling me she was in Seattle. So it was my last night in Seattle and i am ready to leave for RI and then onto the Appalachian trail. And Claire had been traveling since i saw her, went to the same countries i had gone and been to many of the same places, now on her way back home. Weird how that can happen. I met her on her first day out and in a new country, and now she is done traveling and will be going home and i will be off on another adventure. I love having people in my life that keep this circle going. Make the gaps between other countries and cultures small by opening their mind and heart to them. I know that i will love being on this trail, because i have loved all of my adventures. It is so hard to be away from Seattle even already, but i am out making bridges and that is worth it. I am with my family, and getting to see friends (it has been 8 months since i visited last) I only have 3 days here and i am trying to organize my food drops, it is so much harder then i thought! I started to think about the fact that i have no idea how many miles i will be able to hike in 5 days, and therefore can not really plan my drops. I don't want to set myself up by saying i have to walk 15 miles a day, i really want to do what i feel, listen to my body, and enjoy my time. It will all work out i am sure, i will just have to plan as i go, instead of now. It will all be worth it when i am out on the trail and my dinner will have white wine, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, fresh basil, cheese, and flavored pastas as the ingredients. So i sorta feel like i have stopped thinking about it. I want to live in the present and enjoy my time here with my friends and family, and not worry about the trail. And even on the trail, take it one day at a time, figure it out as i go along. Nothing ever goes as planned 100% so in this case i think.. why bother! no plan is fine with me! i have one day left i get a massage from my wonderful friends and massage therapist Angie in the morning, and dinner with family. It is all so close and i don't feel nervous or scared anymore, i just feel like this is what i do. This is my life. i am so lucky!