139 Days
It turns out that it is difficult to run a blog, 3 social medias, homeschool 4 kids, and plan an entire Appalachian Hike. One thing had to drop out of focus and unfortunately, that was the blog.
Do not fear though! I am back with a little more time and clarity. So, let’s update you guys on what we missed out on sharing.
This year was a lot of hiking (surprised?) and logistics. We did our first polar plunge, the annual spring ultra hiking marathon, some backpacking on the Cumberland Trail, the annual fall Hiking Marathon, and planned.
The planning was intense and covered basically 4 different categories.
Our first concern as always was the kids. We’ve been trying to stay ahead of the game when it comes to school. We also have done a lot of digging just to realize that no one has really made even a reddit post on how to “do school” while hiking 2200 miles. Isn’t that weird? I think when we are all said and done, we would like to make a more elaborate post on that. Once we figure out what works and what doesn’t, of course. As of now, we have kindles, tablets, and podcasts. Outside of school stuff, we also have the concern of “we know this hike is an adventure of a lifetime but we still want our kids to be….kids”. It’s been in a lot of discussions on how often our families will visit and how our weekly board game nights will look. I’ve even had 3 separate panic attacks about how I will get the Easter Bunny’s eggs to the trail. It’s all a work in progress.
Next planning category was gear. If you know Derek, you know he loves researching gear. It’s probably what he spends most of his time doing when he’s in front of a computer or phone. We’ve gotten things down to almost the exact weight of everything and roughly 90% of all of our gear has been purchased. Some things are still being debated but it’s more in a “is it too soon to buy their new puffer jackets” because these kids love a good growth spurt after you buy them clothing. The scariest gear purchase to me personally was trying to find the right pack. Your pack is your everything out there, you’re living out of it for the better part of the year. Packs are also not historically made in a kid focused way. The day we bought the last pack was a relief.
Third stop in this logistical nightmare was everything we are leaving behind. I’ve never had to winterize a house before or stop mail or ask someone to watch my car for this long of a time. I think our longest vacation ever was one 10 day trip to Florida. Learning how to do this has been overwhelming at times.
And finally, obviously, the biggest plan of all: The Hike.
I have spreadsheets. I tell everyone that I have spreadsheets and everyone offers a smile and something to the effect of, “well of course you would have to” but you guys. Listen, I have so many spreadsheets it almost is alarming. I have all of my gear broken down to the exact cost and the exact ounces. I have 2 different spreadsheets detailing exact mileage of every single day. Where I plan on sleeping and resupplying and the address of every single post office I will walk by.
The silliest part of this whole thing is you plan for years and I know that the very first day, it’s all going out the window. Weather happens. Sick days happen. Toddlers deciding to change your plans for the day definitely happens.
So for now, the planning will continue. We have more research to do for little kid shoes and some more work to figure out the logistics of shuttles as a large party. More research on food options and resupply boxes. I’m sure I’ll be planning and researching something the day before we go- it’s just what makes me feel better.
In the meantime, make sure you are following us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram (though I’m not on that one much), and here. We also have a fairly new GoFundMe that you can check out and I might update once I figure out how to do that too.
Thanks for still being here friends! See you out there.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-family-thru-hike-the-appalachian-trail
