Well done Niki! Franconia looks stunning! I know that feeling of finishing something you've looked forward too for so long. It makes the accomplishment tinged with sadness, but still motivating to look forward to what's next.
Also, your struggle between being alone vs needing other people strikes a chord. I'd love to read more on you thoughts on that. I hike alone every time. Mostly because I cannot find anyone to go with me. I've become highly confident in myself, but at the same time feel like I can't really share the experience with anyone. Someone was going to go with me on my overnight trip the last couple of days. I agreed, but actually wasn't looking forward to that. It felt like an intrusion of some kind. But, then he cancelled and I was back to going solo.
Anyway, have a fantastic September. I'll be over here pondering my own publishing schedule!
Mmm...for sure. It was definitely a mixed bag of feelings that day - before and after Franconia.
Yes! I remember a conversation Costco and I had at some point on exactly that topic: how when we hike or travel alone, it's great because you have ultimate freedom and answer to no one. Which is it's own beauty! And when you travel with others, you lose a bit of that independence but you get to share the experience of something special with someone else. He also lamented how we tend to want to be alone when we travel in groups, and want to be in a group when we're alone!
Anyway all that to say that what you describe sounds familiar!
Your approach throughout this series is interesting. It seems that you guys hike independently through the day and then meet up at camp. The times I’ve hiked or camped with a group it has always been the everybody sticks together way.
Yeah, as much as we all liked each other (both when it was a big group and when it eventually whittled down to just Costco and I) we'd spend a few hours hiking on our own and not together. It was refreshing not to always be together but know we'd see each other later to debrief.
Well done Niki! Franconia looks stunning! I know that feeling of finishing something you've looked forward too for so long. It makes the accomplishment tinged with sadness, but still motivating to look forward to what's next.
Also, your struggle between being alone vs needing other people strikes a chord. I'd love to read more on you thoughts on that. I hike alone every time. Mostly because I cannot find anyone to go with me. I've become highly confident in myself, but at the same time feel like I can't really share the experience with anyone. Someone was going to go with me on my overnight trip the last couple of days. I agreed, but actually wasn't looking forward to that. It felt like an intrusion of some kind. But, then he cancelled and I was back to going solo.
Anyway, have a fantastic September. I'll be over here pondering my own publishing schedule!
Mmm...for sure. It was definitely a mixed bag of feelings that day - before and after Franconia.
Yes! I remember a conversation Costco and I had at some point on exactly that topic: how when we hike or travel alone, it's great because you have ultimate freedom and answer to no one. Which is it's own beauty! And when you travel with others, you lose a bit of that independence but you get to share the experience of something special with someone else. He also lamented how we tend to want to be alone when we travel in groups, and want to be in a group when we're alone!
Anyway all that to say that what you describe sounds familiar!
Your approach throughout this series is interesting. It seems that you guys hike independently through the day and then meet up at camp. The times I’ve hiked or camped with a group it has always been the everybody sticks together way.
Yeah, as much as we all liked each other (both when it was a big group and when it eventually whittled down to just Costco and I) we'd spend a few hours hiking on our own and not together. It was refreshing not to always be together but know we'd see each other later to debrief.