Backpacking. August 15–19, 2020

Hi, it’s been a while.

I had a couple of drafts that I wanted to post but none of them felt right and I couldn’t end it properly.

And I know the goal I set for myself was to write one article every day but that totally went to shit.

It’s like when your mom tells you to sell your old toys, the printer, or the fish tank and you say you’ll get to it.

But you never get to it.

Well, today's the day I break my inactivity with writing that has been going on in for…

around a month, 28 days to be exact.

So yeah, that’s my very roundabout way of saying.

IT’S BEEN A WHILE.

Anyways, it’s time to give an update on what’s happened so far.

I went on my first backpacking trip two weeks ago and it was the most painful, mentally challenging, and rewarding experience I’ve ever had.

4 days of carrying a 40-pound backpack walking 60 km up & down mountains and valleys.

It was quite the experience.

On the trip, we had to boil our own water with our 10$ stove on Kijiji (yes this is important lol), set up camp whenever we moved to a new area, and last but not least, dig our own potty holes.

Now, this may not sound like much, but when you walk for 8 hours straight with a backpack while being exposed to the elements it’s quite a different story.

You’ve got bugs constantly buzzing around you. Maneuvering through rocks, water, and mud is a skill itself.

And when it rains, you’ve got to cover your bag up with a rain jacket or garbage bag to prevent your gear from getting wet.

At the very end of the day, when you’ve finally arrived at the site, there’s no warm food waiting for you.

It’s time to set up the tent, and get cooking. No time for rest.

Only after all the dishes are done, do you get time to rest for a bit.

Oh, actually you do get to rest, and it’s called bedtime.

Gotta be ready for tomorrow so it’s time to hit the bed.

Rinse and repeat. That’s backpacking in a nutshell.

Luckily, there was one day where we explored the area we stayed in.

But most of the time was spent walking with a backpack, cursing and complaining about how hard it was, trying to pretend our backpack was a feather and the steep incline was flat ground, and how a 55-year-old man could out-hustle a couple of 20-year-olds.

Yeah, and as much as I complain about the difficulties.

Oh my god, it was worth it.

The mountains were majestic and it felt like I was Bilbo Baggins on the adventure of a lifetime.

A journey filled with challenges, hardship, self-doubt but with those challenges came, the breathtaking beauty of the wilderness.

It’s the realization of how amazing life can be.

How I could say while driving to Banff, “Yeah, you see that peak over there? I hiked from that peak to that peak to that peak in the span of one day. Oh, and you see those valleys between the peaks? I’ve physically been there.”

I am still awed by how big the world is and how much of it I haven’t experienced.

Now when people say they went backpacking, I’ll really understand what they mean when they say I went Backpacking. It’s not backpacking, it’s Backpacking.

Jokes aside, the trip was incredible and I am very lucky to have been able to go on a trip like this.

I can’t wait for what else life has in store for me.

So excited.