I was living a comfy-but-unfulfilling life in 2015 when I met my first thru-hikers, my heralds, my calls to action. They said it was "never too late," and even though I didn't think I was too close to death's door, I saw they had a point. So nine months later I quit my job, put my furniture in my parents' basement, and started my NOBO thru-hike, which, when a stress fracture grounded me 675 miles later, turned into a LASH. But the trail taught me what I needed to know about myself, which is that although I will never like lashing rainstorms on mountainsides, I can survive them. This fact gave me the courage to start a freelance life, one that is breathtakingly more authentic than the one I had before. If you're on the fence, leap. If you want to read more of my writing, check out www.mathinacalliope.com Hugs, Notebook. Twitter: @mathinacalliope IG: mathinacalliope
Posts
The Waiting Place
So what happens when youre not gone a long, long time? What happens when injury or heartbreak forces you back home before youre finished? Before the metamorphosis has fully taken hold and wrought the change you wanted?
5 Things I Got Wrong About Hiking the ATand 2 I Got Right
What I Got Wrong 1. Because Im a woman I wont lose weight. On day hikes before I planned my own thru-hike, I encountered male and female
They Say It’s the People; They’re Right
This one time, at Fontana Village, back in early May, I was hanging out by myself in the lower level of the lodge when I heard the door open behind
It Doesn’t Take Much to Make a Hiker Happy
I'm still off trail healing up my foot; this post describes one evening in June. As odd as are a lot of the situations in which you find yourself
Musings of a Laid-up Long-ass Section Hiker
As most of you probably know, Im off the trail healing up a foot. I have been off now foroh, mansix weeks as of today. Sheeeeeyit. Thats like,
Has the AT Had Enough of Me? The Last of Three Ridiculous Days
I wrote a LABE (long-ass blog entry). I broke it up so as not to overstay my welcome on your screen. You can read Part I and Part II at your
Has the AT Had Enough of Me? The Second of Three Ridiculous Days
I wrote a LABE (long-ass blog entry). I broke it up so as not to exhaust you. This is part 2. You can read part 1 if you like. "Okay! That's
Has the AT Had Enough of Me? The First of Three Ridiculous Days
I wrote a LABE (long-ass blog entry), so I broke it up since I know people don't have hours to thumb their screens on one post. This is Part 1 of
Some Sunshine in My Life
She likes herself, a quality that is rarer than you might think, not to be confused with self-absorption or any other brand of narcissism.
Probably More Detail Than You Need About What I Eat on the AT
F**k whole wheat tortillas, gimme summa dat high-glycemic-index trash!