6 Lessons You Will Learn on the Appalachian Trail

No one comes back from a six-month trek through the wilderness unchanged. You meet new people, encounter challenges, and learn about yourself. Taking a step back from hectic day-to-day life helps to reorganize your priorities. On my 2014 Thru-Hike I learned a lot about life and about myself. Today I want to share with you six of those lessons.

1. Patience in decision making

I learned very quickly that making fast decisions on the trail wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to be. My first experience with this was at the airport, waiting for my flight to Georgia. The shuttle driver that was supposed to meet us at the airport in Georgia sent me a text saying that he might not make it because of car trouble. I was about to get on the plane and had two choices: scramble to call another shuttle driver or wait until the plane landed to figure things out. I decided to wait. The original shuttle driver ended up being able to make it. During my hike, the best decisions always ended up being the ones that took the longest to make. Now that I am home, I take much longer to make decisions, weigh my options, and I allow myself time to think.

 2. A bad day can always become a good one if you let it

There wasn’t a single day on the trail that ended up being entirely bad. Just when things seemed their worst, the sun would come out or I would come upon unexpected trail magic. I remember one particular day that turned out to be rainy and miserable. I was hiking ahead of a group. With wet socks, we trudged through the miles trying to make it to a shelter. When we finally reached the shelter, there was a man saving the space for his friends who were on their way (don’t even get me started on everything that’s wrong with that).

Cue moment of despair.

To lump on the disappointment, there were no tent spots at this shelter, which meant that we had to keep hiking until we found a suitable spot to set up our tents. My hiking partner and I hiked on wondering where we would sleep that night. Eventually we stumbled on a very small site and began setting up. One by one, our friends started showing up. We ended up cramming seven people, four tents, and two hammocks into a tent site the size of a parking space. The rain slowed, we built a fire, and sat around it joking and sharing our best food and booze. Looking back, it is now one of my favorite days on the trail.

A happy ending to a rough day

 3. Food on the trail is King

Feeling tired? Cold? Maybe you have decided that you want to quit. Okay, but first why don’t you have something to eat? Nine times out of ten, food will make you feel better. The longer I stayed on the trail, the more I realized that most of my problems can be solved by eating. I’m only slightly exaggerating. If I had a problem that I couldn’t solve, I would eat. Making decisions when you are hungry is hard. After eating, the solution was usually as clear as day.

4. Everything is better when you work for it

I will never in my everyday life drink a soda that tasted as good as it did on the trail. Hiking in 90-degree weather and stumbling on a cooler full of ice-cold soda is like finding buried treasure in your backyard. Everything just tasted better, whether my body just craved it or because I seriously deserved it. The same goes for other simple pleasures like a hot shower and a bed with a real pillow.

Donut ice cream anyone?

 5. I love extended travel

Short-term travel can be stressful. You have a short time to cram in as much excitement as possible. Not so with long-term travel. I didn’t get to see everything the AT had to offer, but I was able to take my time and check out the things that were important to me. I also had the ability to change up my plans as it suited me. If I ran across an unexpected attraction, I could stay and enjoy myself without worrying that I was missing out. I didn’t have any crazy plan to stick to. This seriously changed the way I think about travel.

 6. Living simply is the bees knees

It’s great! I had everything I needed. I felt free. There were no bills or doctor’s appointments. I carried everything that I needed right on my back. That feeling of self-sufficiency is something that everyone should be able to experience. In fact, this feeling is what leads many thru-hikers to clean out their belongings when they return home. I found myself digging through my closet, donating old shoes, dropping off kitchen appliances at Goodwill, and trying to sell my belongings on eBay. A simple life is a stress-free life.

A peaceful mountain in Maine

Putting it into practice

Its hard to remember some of these lessons when re-entering everyday life. I find my patience tested, and my priorities may start to wander. However, I try to put these lessons into practice everyday, and I can continually see the benefits of them as a result. They have helped me to have a better understanding of the person that I want to be, and a clear pathway on how to achieve it.