Date: 2018-10-25
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Miles today: 0.0

I¢ve been home in Ohio for three weeks now and have been undergoing a slow process to acclimate back to life away from the Appalachian Trail (AT). For the most part, it has gone according to what I expected. I¢ve seen most of my family at least once and that aspect of my return is fully back to normal. I still need to make a trip to Indiana to see extended family and that will be done in the upcoming weeks. A trip was made to visit my friend of 40 years that lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We had a great time celebrating my accomplishment. Mike drove me to Georgia and continuously contacted me via text to ensure I was ¢good to go¢ on the trail. He also made a visit while I was wrapping-up Virginia and moving into West Virginia. Thanks Mike for all your support and ensuring I didn¢t come home until I finished!Being home feels weird. Part of me misses life on the trail. Even though I was ready to come home and leave the hiking behind, I greatly miss the people on the trail, both hikers and those supporting us hikers. The kindness I experienced along the Georgia-to-Maine route was extraordinary. The world would be a much better place if we all displayed the kindness I encountered on my adventure. Hopefully the world moves in this direction, even if it is one person at a time. I¢ve joined local hiking groups and will continue to hike as part of my exercise program. I went on a hike yesterday, for the first time, with four others and it was great to get back into the woods and meet new people. When I returned home my heels were sore, a clear reminder of life on the trail.My body has experienced more soreness since I¢ve returned home than I had while on the trail. I¢m no doctor, but I think since I¢m not hiking 6-7 days a week that the body finally has a chance to fully recover. Going up and down stairs has not been easy even though I spent months climbing mountains with weight on my back. It¢s just a different kind of up and down I guess. As the days go by, I¢m getting better with stairs. Last week I climbed a ladder to clean a second story gutter on my house. It was as if I¢d never been on a ladder before. I told my brother-in-law, ¢I¢d rather be climbing a mountain,¢ since I was not stable on the ladder. Perhaps it is just part of being 50 years old now.My idea of hiking the AT started on a bus trip some years ago. I will be taking the same bus trip in a couple of weeks with my friend Brian. He was on the trip when the idea sprouted. It will be nice to catch-up with him and share stories of my adventure. Maybe he¢ll be energized to the point to take future hiking trips with me to visit my favorite portions of the trail. There are portions I¢d love to return to with family and friends so that they can experience the trail in the way I did. Although I¢ve taken and shared many pictures, seeing things in person far exceeds the pictures. I also plan to visit the trail in the future to conduct trail magic for hikers to carry on the tradition. The trail magic I experienced certainly helped me along the way and enhanced my adventure.Where do I go from here? Well, that has yet to be determined. I have a few options I¢m still considering which include deciding to stay here in Ohio or relocate. Now is the time to make this decision as I need to return to the workforce in the next few months. I have the financial resources to take the time to ensure I make solid life-decisions post-AT.Thanks to all those that have supported my adventure through care packages, gear, reading my journal, posting on Facebook, and simply sending texts along the way. I can¢t tell you how many times a so-so day was turned into a good day on the trail as I was reminded that family and friends were back home going about their daily lives while I had this awesome opportunity of hiking the AT. It was by far the best thing I¢ve ever done and without your support, it would not have happened, thanks. I need to mention a special thank you to Michael Martin, a good friend and former co-worker. When I broke my molar in half on my third day of hiking and had to return home to address it, I ran into him by chance in the Atlanta airport. When I noticed him and said, ¢Hey Martin, is that you,¢ he turned around and simply said, ¢You giving up already?¢ I¢ll be honest, at that point I felt as though I may have undertaken a bigger adventure than I was prepared for. But, I needed to hear what he had to say, even if it was in a joking manner (you¢d need to know him). By the time the plane landed in Cleveland I knew 100% that I¢d return to the trail once my tooth issue was taken care of. Thanks Michael for helping me realize the adventure wasn¢t going to be easy, but it needed to go on. In the end I got¢er done and I¢ll never have to ask myself, ¢What if¢¦¢I challenge all of you to elevate yourself in one way or another. You don¢t have to hike the AT either. There is something in your life you¢ve been putting off, whether in your personal of professional life, and there is no better time to get¢er done than now. You simply need to take action and put one foot in front of the other to move forward. No matter how big the task, each step forward gets you closer to the goal. Often on the trail I sang the following out loud while I hiked, which I took from a Christmas cartoon and modified to fit my adventure.¢Put one foot in front of the other.Trust in yourself, you cannot fail!Put one foot in front of the other.And soon you¢ll be hiking down the trail!¢-Elevate yourself, Jawz