Date: 2016-09-08
To: 2 Weeks Later
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, it's been 2 weeks since I was standing atop legendary Katahdin watching the sun rise in the northeast. Right now, I am sitting at the kitchen table of my parent's house trying to find some type of job to provide an income. The two situations could not be more different. Being home does have its perks, but I am rapidly becoming bored. The day after my summit of Katahdin, my parents picked me up in Millinocket, and, after one last meal at the AT Cafe, we drove to Bangor, ME. We were on our way to Acadia National Park, specifically Bar Harbour, for 3 days. In Bangor, a festival was being held on the waterfront and it turns out that Moonshine was there. Mama Moonshine owns a delicious food stand serving sauteed chicken and grilled vegetables and he was helping out. Needless to say, it was great to see him. On Saturday, my family arrived in Bar Harbour - the first event on the agenda was a nature cruise included with our stay at the Grand Hotel. The cruise tour guide had a few interesting things to say about the history of the island and pointed out several bald eagles in the area. The rest of the day was spent walking around town exploring the touristy shops and various bars on Main Street. Dinner was the highlight of the day, as it usually is - lobster and filet mignon with a side of veggies. The day after my summit, I immediately reverted to a paleo diet and, I must say, it feels amazing to eat healthy again. On Sunday, the three of us hiked the 7.1 mile round trip trail on Cadillac Mountain, which is the first place the sun hits in the United States when it rises every morning. I don't think I've ever seen my Dad go hiking before so I was curious to see how the hike would play out. Well, if we're keeping score, my Dad definitely fared better than my Mom. At one point, while I was inevitably waiting for my parents to catch up, I picked a handful of blueberries. When my Mom walked past me, I chucked a blueberry at my Mom's back. She thought it was a bug and proceeded to freak out. I egged her on by insisting that I saw a bug crawl down her shirt. She quickly lost all composure, took off her shirt, and, with nothing but a bra on, started smacking her shirt against the nearby blueberry bushes. People were approaching on the trail so I admitted that I was kidding and there was no bug. Totally worth it. Other than food and drink, Bar Harbour really didn't have that much more to offer and, due to my fear of the ocean, I refused to go whale watching. With hardly anything to do, we decided to cut our losses and head home a day early. On Moonshine's recommendation, we stopped at Red's Eats, which apparently served the best lobster roll in Maine. We waited in line for nearly an hour and confirmed that it was, indeed, one damn good lobster roll. I actually ordered the fried clams, though, as they are one of my all time favorites. So, late Monday night, I finally arrived home. I opted to sleep in the twin size guest bed downstairs simply because the east facing windows had no shades and the sun would wake me every morning. It's a pitiful attempt at recreating the intense calm achieved by sleeping outdoors, but it'll have to do. Breakfast was my favorite - 3 scrambled eggs with 2 slices of American cheese in a pool of butter. After breakfast, I forced myself to shower (I do have to remind myself sometimes. In Acadia, I actually realized I wore the same boxers 3 days in a row before I remembered to change them) and got to work on compiling the statistics from my trip, creating Thank You postcards and attempting to clean my gear. I also visited my Grandma and godson, Chase. My friends from home surprised me with a get together at our house where we caught up over some good food and drinks. I also took a drive (I forgot how much driving sucked and how much attention it actually requires) up to Connecticut to see Training Wheels before she flew back to Kansas City. Frankly, it really sucks that she has to go back. After only a day, my long checklist had been reduced to basically one item: "figure out life". If only it was that easy. I started the menial task of sitting at a computer again and looking through potential avenues of work. The only thing I know for certain is that I cannot return to the confines of a windowless cubicle. The way I see it, I essentially have 3 options for work: 1. Take a Wilderness First Responder certification course and apply to be an outdoor leader / educator. I think this job would be a lot of fun, but my salary would take a pretty big hit and this would involve moving away from my friends and family at home. I'm not that concerned about the salary, but leaving my friends and family would definitely bother me. It was easy to drop everything and leave for the AT because I knew I would be coming back. A job is definitely more permanent than a thru-hike. I guess, if I'm being honest, I'm a little afraid of leaving home and abandoning engineering, which I've devoted nearly 8 years to.2. Find an engineering job in an outdoor company related to product design and development. The only problem is I think a lot of these types of jobs would be sedentary and, again, would involve traveling simply because there are very few outdoor gear companies stationed near New Jersey. The salary would certainly be more comfortable, but I want to do something I would really enjoy and I don't know if engineering is that something. 3. Find a temporary, outdoor job around town in the service industry (carpentry, painting, electrician, plumbing, etc.) to simply pay the bills and make the process of finding a more permanent job less stressful. This would be ideal because it would also provide me the opportunity to learn skills that I consider useful. Again, the salary isn't important here - I want to learn these handy skills and if I could earn a small salary to keep my head above water while I do it, that would be wonderful. I could even see if any local breweries need help.As you can see, my mind is all over the place and I am quickly becoming a little overwhelmed with these life decisions. Any advice is greatly appreciated. The first weekend back, I drove to Broadkill Beach in Delaware to see my friends from school. Seeing my friend Tom crouched at the top of the stairs waiting to give me a hug because he heard me open the door is the best sort of welcome I could have asked for. Even though I had just gotten home, it was relaxing to forget about my difficult decisions and enjoy the beautiful weather courtesy of Tropical Storm Hermine with some of my favorite people. During the second week home, I was back on the job hunt. I also caught up with my old boss, Nick, who had left our company to take a chance on a riskier venture in California. The opportunity fell through, and, unfortunately, he has been unemployed for more than 6 months now. At least he took a chance and went after something he believed would benefit him and his family. That's living with no regrets. I'll continue to be hopeful as I search for jobs and look for the courage I need to take the next step in my life.