Letters from the Path

Letters from the Path

Dear Mom,

Well it’s been about a month now since you dropped me off at Chattahoochee National Forest in North Georgia. I’ve gotten pretty far, I’m already near the Virginia-Tennessee border in an area called Shady Valley. I’m averaging around twenty miles a day! Thanks for sending me that extra twenty dollar bill in the last package, I severely underestimated how much this would cost.

I miss you a lot, it’s been hard, but I needed to be alone. It’s been really hard since everything fell apart. Losing my job and John leaving me was like having a rug pulled out from under me. Everything I saw back home in Oklahoma just reminded me of him or my inability to support myself. I really appreciate Dad and you letting me move back in, but it made me feel like a failure as I moved back into my parents house at thirty.

I needed to go on this trip to take control of my life. This was something that I could manage and overcome. The only other one manipulating my time was mother nature, just as she always has. I have a newfound confidence in myself, by climbing the literal mountains, looking down, and thinking wow I conquered that is amazing. Being on this trip has allowed me to enjoy disconnecting from our modern world.

This is good for me I promise. I have met so many amazing people who have opened my eyes to the world. I really don’t have it that bad. It’s just a phase and I’ll grow out of it, the Appalachian Trail is helping me do that.

Love,

Anna