This morning I opened my first resupply box shipped by Jessica. She placed a personal note inside on the back of this quote from Joseph Campbell, “The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.”

Yes, yes, one hundred times yes!

I am having so much fun out here. My favorite days are my days alone inside my own head, listening to podcasts, not thinking twice to stop and take photos or adjust my pack, speed up or slow down, tune into my thoughts or into my podcasts.

My other favorite days are my days hiking with new friends. Crooning Michael McDonald impressions while trudging through 6” of snow an extra 5 miles at night with headlamps on in the freezing cold in hopes the next shelter will have better amenities than the last one.

I am not building nearly enough “free” time into my weekly schedule. After shipping home my Zpacks Arc Haul 70L backpack — not up to the challenge of my 42 lb load and now replaced by a Gregory Stout 70 rated to 50 lbs — I easily filled today’s remaining 6 hours of downtime in Franklin, NC paying bills and planning out the logistics of my coming week. And this evening, did I edit videos, or help a hostel owner get their printer working? Try to picture it…

So, yet again, in lieu of any video from me, I direct you to this video released today courtesy of Metro, featuring yours truly in a supporting role. And though my own videos are (hopefully/eventually/belatedly) forthcoming, at least Rambling Roots Hostel now has a US Letter size test print of Joseph Cambell’s quote taped to its wall.

Hell yes.