No More Secrets

After waking up to views like this for a week, it became clear a life in rural Indiana was not going to cut it.

Today I let my employer know that I will not be returning next school year (I’m a teacher). I was originally planning on waiting until the last minute to make it official, but I’m not capable of lying to children, so when one of my students blatantly asked me if I was going to be teaching next year, I had to say no. Once kids know something there is no way to keep it a secret, so I had to tell my principal the news. 

Now that the truth is out I feel like I can really start finalizing all the details necessary to make my thru-hike a success. I have 9 weeks to tie up all my loose ends so that I can spend 6 months (hopefully more)  in peace as I restart life. As far as I am concerned, here are the biggest issues that need to be taken care of before starting a thru-hike:

1. Getting health insurance- Obamacare maybe? Being an adult is hard. I honestly have no clue where to even start with this issue.
2. Deferring student loans- no income = no payments! But of course I’ll have to jump through all sorts of hoops and fill out tons of paperwork to make this happen.
3. Updating my resume- seems silly, but eventually I will have to get off the trail and convince someone to give me money for doing stuff. I want to have a solid resume ready for when I return from the wilderness.

Anything else? Probably, but like I said before: being an adult is hard. I’m probably overlooking many major details that normal people think to take care of. I’ll focus on my 3 biggies for now and deal with other issues as they come along. It is hard to believe that the big day is almost here. After months of planning, practicing, and gathering supplies, I’m just about ready to start the life I should have always been living.