Planning, planning, planning

I never imagined the amount of planning that goes into organizing a six month trip. I had experience planning a 50-mile backpacking trip when I was in middle school, but the scale of this trip just blows that out of the water. I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the menu planning yet. Hopefully tomorrow, I will have a clear idea of how many mail drops I will have so I can start packaging them up. I anticipate being on the phone for quite a bit tomorrow talking to hostel owners and outfitters trying to figure everything out. Luckily Whiteblaze is an amazing resource for the trip planning. I don't know what I would do without it. It is a lot of fun though and I am enjoying myself while doing all of the logistics.

Today was a pretty productive day. I was interviewed for the local paper and that went pretty well. The article should be coming out in about two weeks. I'll definitely post a link when it is published. I also watched TREK, which is an awesome DVD about the AT. It is the story of 4 guys attempting the trip in 2001. It really puts the whole thing in perspective and the thing that I found most valuable was learning more about the struggles that you face on trail. Of course not everyday is going to be rosy. There are going to be days that will be an absolute hell. But I think the movie did a good job of showing how you have to roll with the punches and take everything in stride. As I look forward to my trip, I hope that I am able to persevere through the tough times and become part of the 10% of thru-hikers that complete the trail.

Tomorrow, I look forward to returning to my workout plan. I have fallen off of the wagon the past two days because I tweaked my back while shoveling snow on Tuesday. It was absolute agony on Tuesday evening, but with the help of vitamin I (AT code for ibuprofen) and the massage pillow that my mom got for Christmas, I am feeling much better tonight. I'll be hitting the stair-climber in the morning. So that's the latest news. Time to hit the sack.