Date: 2003-02-18
To: To Mom and Dad 
Miles today: 0.0

Excerpts...This summer, I plan to embark on the greatest adventure of my life. I anticipate the greatest physical challenge, the greatest mental challenge, the greatest emotional challenge, the greatest social challenge, and the greatest spiritual challenge I have ever ¢ and may ever ¢ experienced in my life. Why do I want to place myself in the path of these extreme challenges? I want to widen my horizons by seeing new places and meeting new people. I want to show myself that I am capable of planning something of this magnitude, and carrying it out all on my own. I want to increase my self-esteem and confidence. I want to live life at a slower pace. I want adventure; I want to live an extraordinary life; I want abundant life. I want to experience life outside the box I grew up in, to see that life can be done differently, and to learn to accept other people's ways of doing things differently - to recognize that there is more than one right way. I want to be super-fit! I want to focus on my spiritual connection, having at the same time daily opportunities to share Light with people who may not be familiar with Him. I want to learn how to live a simpler life, with less "stuff." I want to grow. I want some time, after the last two years, to just BE. I want peace. Why do I want to do it now? Largely, because I want to do it now. Things like this have a way of needing to be done when the inspiration grabs you. I want to do it now because I don¢t have as many obligations as I will in the future. Right now as I finish college, there is a natural break in the succession of my life that will not be easy to manufacture at any other point in the future. Ron Gladden said, "Passion equals suffer. If you say something is your passion, you're really saying you're willing to suffer for it." Right now, hiking the Appalachian Trail is my passion. In fact I have never felt so passionate about anything before, never wanted to do anything more. Am I going to suffer in my pursuit of Mt. Katahdin and the Northern Terminus? Absolutely. My legs will burn, my knees will ache, my feet will throb. I¢m going to be hot and sweaty, wet and cold. I'm going to stink and feel dirty and hairy. I¢ll wonder what in the world made me want to do this. I'll be lonely and homesick and tired of sleeping on the ground. I¢ll wake up some mornings and not want to take another step. Will this be the most amazing experience of my life? Absolutely.You know what? Hiking the Appalachian Trail will also probably be the greatest financial challenge I have ever faced. It is a challenge now to save the amount of money I am going to need during and after my hike. It is a challenge now to find the gear I need at a good price. It will be a challenge to stick to a budget while I'm out there. And yes, it will be a challenge to re-establish myself once I come back to the "real world."I know you love me very much and want "the best" for me - but our definitions of "the best" are bound to clash, and at some point you are going to have to trust me (and the job you've done as parents) to make a good choice. Thanks for your patience throughout these "growing pains."