You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old. ~ George Burns

In continuation of Part 1 and Part 2

Part 3 – What the Hell is Next?

So obviously I’m on the move again come the new year, February to be exact.  January will see me getting rid of many of my possessions and packing up the rest to send east.  How exactly I’ll be moving things east I’m not quite sure yet, but I’ll start working out those details in late September.

I guess this is as good a place and time to make it official and public, starting in late March/ early April I plan on another thru-hike attempt on the Appalachian Trail.  That decision has been an interesting journey.  I remember when I was on the trail and meeting folks on their second attempt who had done anywhere from a couple of hundred to a thousand miles on their first attempt.  I didn’t understand why they were starting over from the beginning.  I mean if you have half of the trail done, why not just do the second half?  So I told myself that if I didn’t finish and ever tried again, I sure as hell wouldn’t redo the whole damn trail.

So of course, I’m starting at the beginning.  There’s a really good reason for this, one of the best parts of hiking the Appalachian Trail is the amazing people you meet.  And yes, that’s coming from Mr. I hate people.  The thing is, by the very nature of attempting a thru-hike, the folks you meet on the trail are not normal.  They are people who have put their life on hold for six months to hike the trail.  These are people who have dreams and take chances.  People who love being out in nature and want to explore.  Are all of them amazing people, of course not, but a much higher proportion than you would normally encounter certainly are of that caliber.  As such, that first month or so on the trail is filled with interesting people, and great conversations.  It’s really easy to connect with like-minded people.  Last time on the trail I made at least four life-long friends in a month on the trail. 

Last time, after getting hurt and having to come off of the trail for a month, I also had the experience of being off cycle with the folks I had met.  It was a very different experience, it meant people being suspicious of you because you weren’t known to them.  It also meant at times being the only person in a camp at night and a lot less social interaction.  So this time out, I don’t want to miss out on that initial experience in what hikers call the bubble.  The bubble, is the term the hiking community uses for that early pulse of hikers who start out the same time from Georgia, typically during March and April.  After I get out of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina, hell even by time I get to the Smoky Mountains, all bets are off.  I’m not opposed to skipping around and just hitting the twelve hundred miles I’m still missing.  But having started off in the bubble, and being a slow hiker, chances are even as I jump around I’ll be running into familiar faces.

So between heading east, prepping for and hiking the trail I’ll be a full nomad again for six to eight months. That comes with a lot of excitement and a lot of trepidation. Right now, for the in between time, I have no plans or even any idea where I’ll be sleeping.

The plan is, either when I finish the AT, get hurt or just get tired of walking I’ll come off the trail.  Then it’s time to get a job.  I’m looking at getting a job at a four-year college, working with students and having NO supervisory responsibility, or at least no faculty to supervise.  That will determine where I’ll live, but I’m only looking at schools in places where property values are low.  The end goal is property where I can start my farm.  I created Invisible Sun Farms in my head decades ago, it’s time to make it a reality.  Fruit trees, huge gardens, land to forage and hike on and a place where I can pursue all of the things I love, photography, hiking, foraging and natural crafting.  Oh, and I definitely need a pool.

I’ll need to work for at least five years to be qualified for Medicare, thank you shitty US health insurance policies.  At that point, I’ll likely be less present in North America during the winter months and likely spend part of every winter in Oaxaca, Mexico.

I’ve also started a mentoring business.  I’ve been mentoring mid-level higher education professionals.  I’ll be carrying a small client load in retirement as well as running out some products available for people to support them in their career goals.

The other big decision I’ve made for the next chapter of my life is that I am no longer interested in being alone.  I want someone to be with, travel with, someone who I can make plans with, hell someone to give me a hug after a day like today.  I’ve basically been alone all of my adult life and while I’m perfectly capable of continuing that way, I’ve decided to change that.

So that’s the plan, my plans never work exactly the way I want them to.  However what I’ve learned along the way is that I usually end up in the neighborhood of where I expected to be.  So on to the next adventure and hopefully many more happy days my friends. ~ Rev Kane