Date: 2006-03-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Making 5 lists and checking them twice, getting stuff done and feeling so nice!Wow! amazing i have 3 days left in seattle before i head to RI to set up my boxes and then leave for georgia. I am getting everything done, and feeling better about my space (in my basement) I did another pack check and it seemed with 5 days worth of food and all my gear i was at 22lbs! WOW not sure if it will stay there, (or if my scale works right) won't know until i make it there and hit the trail. I am so ready to get out there and experience this new world of thru hiking the AT. Where a community like no other exists, and joy comes from the simplest of lifes pleasures. I still can not believe how much goes into planning all of this compared to my other trips. but it makes it sweeter in the end.I am ready to leave a few things behind me for a few months, and will also miss many!But i am realizing in life that is how it goes. I always (well for the past 5 years at least) love my world. My friends, my job, my day to day. I did not move across the country to find happiness, i had it. but i thought my life could be better, and if nothing else i could learn something. And now i could not imagine a better life. I still love my job and all my friends,hobbies, and even more so, i have a community here, that i did not have in rhode island. I love having groups of friends over for dinner and going out to see music with. It happens all the time here, i work less and play more and never could have imagined how much better my life could be. When i first left the country it was for adventure. i had no idea how much 3 months in new zealand would change me. I had no idea it would inspire me to travel for 6 more months to even more amazing countries. that i would meet people that i still keep in touch with 2 years later! So now i wonder what will this trail do for me? Is it a stepping stone for the PCT, for more adventures in a life closer to nature, and things that are really important? I have no idea. but i know it will have its struggles, like anything we do in life. I miss my family and friends from RI, but know i am where i am suppose to be. I will miss my life here in seattle when i am on the trail, but i know i am suppose to be there. there is good and not that good in everything we do but nothing is bad. I will take the good out of every moment, and remember that. Attitude! it is where it is at! my friend matt once said"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it."It is so true. I will not stand still on my path. I will keep walking in my life and getting to the next place, taking memories and sharing all the way. So many people have touched my life, taught me so much, made me who i am today. So many more will continue to add to that and i will keep growing as long as i keep an open mind and am willing. Am I scared? nopAm i excited? sureAm i nervous? maybeIs there a word to decribe what someone feels before doing something like this.I don't think so.wow i am really going