With our fast paced lives and overwhelming responsibilities, most of us are too busy anticipating the future or replaying the past to take the time to be in the present and truly engage in life. But at some point you may be able to separate yourself from the hustle and bustle to take up an activity that will allow you to be in the present and to experience the only moment that you are actually alive – right now.
One those activities is long distance hiking. A long distance hike allows you to reduce the speed of your life to the pace of a step, to live simply on only what you can carry on your back, and to be totally immersed in nature. Or, as described in Long Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail for the Older Adventurer:
One of the things you can do to prevent the hike from becoming a never-ending walk on a treadmill through a green tunnel is to take advantage of your reduced pace to observe. If you do, you will notice changes in the light, the pick-up of a breeze and the skittering of a creature. You will notice how each day is different – a slight change in the temperature or the exposure of a mountainside will completely alter the character of the trail. One stretch will be covered with small flowers and butterflies while a few hundred feet further up on the other side of the mountain there will be thousands of grasshoppers stirring up downed leaves as if they were making popcorn. You notice these because you have slowed your pace to allow yourself to experience the present. Even when these opportunities last only a second you will remember them long after you leave the trail, and all the struggles you go through will become worthwhile.
If this sounds appealing, all it takes is for you to know how to sustain yourself along the way and how to manage your affairs remotely. If you want to learn more you can order a copy of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy best seller – Long Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail for the Older Adventurer.
