Pay it forward

I've been having a nagging feeling that I need to do a blog post on how I got here. Here, as in, on this trip. You know when you stay at home on a Saturday, just watching TV and then you ask a friend what they did that day and they're all like "I got up this morning at 6, cleaned my entire house, ran 10 miles, saved a puppy from drowning and talked someone down from jumping off a bridge" and then you feel really useless in comparison. Its happened to me many times and I tend to walk away hating that friend. I have this worry that I'm that annoying friend -- posting on this blog, putting up pretty pictures and acting like this is just how I live, flying by the seat of my pants.

The truth is that this whole expedition is very out of the ordinary for me. I hate change. I find immense comfort in having my own space in the form of an apartment and spending lots of time watching ridiculous TV shows and surfing the web. I like to do something on a Monday and know that I will be doing the exact same thing the next Monday and the Monday after that, etc. There was a time when I went years without going outside of the state of Pennsylvania.

Long story relatively short, in the spring I started to have fun with just the thought of an extended road trip. In my free time I mapped out where I would go if I could. Then I talked obsessively about it with friends and everytime I'd bring it up they would say I should do it. It got to the point where I'd talked about it so much that I either had to truly do it or just let the idea go.

I did a whole process of listing everything that could go possibly wrong if I did the trip. Then I came up with possible solutions for those problems. I have a feeling that my mind was already made up at this point, but I did the list as a way to get realistic and to make sure I had thought of everything. My big obstacle was giving up a job that I really enjoyed. I realized though that I would always have a reason to not do the trip because of something. There had to be some sacrifices, and, if the job had to go, then I guess I just had to let it go and lead the tough life of unstructured days and lots of free time. Someone has to do it.

Months ago I read about a friend going to Brazil to follow a passion of his. I was down on myself that I didn't do such things, but, luckily, turned it around and asked myself what I would do to live life a little fuller. I hope this is a "pass it forward" type of influence. I'm debating whether I should end this post with some sort of joke to lighten the mood and not sound so "Go forth, and live your dreams!" but I'll leave it as it is.

Here are some pics from my week in the Olympic Peninsula:

Mt. Rainier:

Hurricane Ridge:

Trail to Cape Flattery:

Hoh Rainforest: