[Cdt-l] A bit of CDT navel grazing.. ;)

[Jim and/or Ginny Owen]

This post hit close to home for me.  It's been almost 20 years since my first long distance hike.  It changed my life in a lot of ways, but especially in my inability to settle to normal life again.  I want, need, to be traveling.  That's been true my whole life, but developed into a very different way of life after I hiked the AT the first time.  I love exploring new places and am most fully alive when I am traveling. I especially love spending time in the backcountry, the more remote the better, but I have discovered that I can get a lot of pleasure out of visiting beautiful places in a car, plane or train as well.  As long as I am moving, I am happy.  It is both a blessing and a curse.   I remember talking with Rainman in the kitchen of Cindy's house at an ALDHA Spring Steering Committee meeting several years ago.  He said, "Maybe if I hike the CDT I'll finally get it out of my system."  We laughed.  I think Mags had the same hope.  
 
Seems the more you wander, the more you want to wander - at least for some of us.  After a few years of being homeless, I feel the need to nest for a while, but only for a short while.  The wanderlust hits again remarkably quickly and soon we're making plans for the next trip.  As I get older, the hiking gets harder.  I've abused my body badly over the years.  But I can't stop.  I can't imagine settling down for good, ending my wandering.  At Halloween as a kid I was almost always a gypsy.  When I grew older, I took off the costume, but continued the lifestyle.  Being rootless has its problems, but at this point in my life I doubt I'll change.  
 
Ginny
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