a new journey...
In 2014, my brother and I did a short 30 mile hike along the Ouachita Trail in Southeast Oklahoma and it changed my life. Where I was and where I was going would be altered as a result of that journey.
Years before this hike my brother and I had been deployed to Iraq, which is a long and whole different story. As a result, like many other vets, I suffered from internal demons and PTSD when I returned.
Years of therapy and a litany of pills only provided a small amount of help. It was only with the discovery of the therapeutic effects of hiking that I realized what inner peace truly felt like.
The quest was on. Like a squirrel looking for a nut, I craved and sought out how and when I would do another long hike. My brother and I did short day hikes on the weekend but this was a band-aid to minimize the daily routine that taxed my soul.
In the summer of 2015 I learned about the Warrior Hike "Walk off the war" program. Essentially, it's a nonprofit organization, started by a veteran, for veterans to help them with PTSD by sending them on long distance hiking expeditions.
Obviously this organization was exactly what I needed in my life. My brother and I immediately applied for an opportunity to join one of their various expeditions.
I had wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) for probably the last 10 years before I learned about Warrior Hike. Now there was an organization that supported veterans to do the exact thing and along the way they would organize meetings with local VFW's near the trails and give veterans the chance to meet other vets and receive logistical and personal support.
One problem was I had applied without considering everything I had to do just to accomplish something of this magnitude.
I needed to coordinate with my employer, and more importantly, make sure my wife didn't mind me being gone for a six month long expedition…if I was chosen. Honestly, I figured I would deal with it when and IF I was selected.
I was later notified that there was only about a 1 in 10 chance I would be selected. However, there was something inside me that knew I would make the cut. There have been a handful of times in my life where I just knew the outcome of something before it happened and when I got that feeling it always worked out.
The process included an interview and a survey. After an extra couple weeks past the original date we were supposed to find out if we were selected, I got an email. The sender was from, Sean Gobin, the creator of Warrior Hike and a personal hero to me now. I remember I was driving to the gym with my wife and daughter when I got the email and I was so excited I couldn't wait to learn if I was in or even if I hadn't gotten selected. Either way, I was about to have an answer.
The email read this:
"Dear Warrior Expeditions Applicant,
Congratulations on being selected to participate in the 2016 Warrior Hike Appalachian Trail Program. You were selected because we believe you will benefit from participating in this type of program and that you will represent the veteran and outdoor communities in a positive light during your journey."
Not only was I selected but I was selected for the expedition I wanted. To really sweeten the deal, my brother got the same email.
From that point on there were a steady stream of follow on emails with more information and contact info for the other vets who had also applied and would be hiking the Appalachian Trail with me.
This began a new journey in my life and the birth of this blog.
I would have a great deal of coordination with my employer and even more with the family duties. Just cause I was leaving didn't mean that life for my wife and daughter paused. In fact, their lives were about to get more challenging. Simple things like taking my daughter to school, which I always did, would now have to be done by my wife. Mowing the lawn, car maintenance, and all the things which were set as my part in our family's division of labor plan, now fell completely on my wife.
Now on top of all of that, I wanted to document this journey and every other journey to follow. I may even take time to look back and share some of my past experiences.
All of this and more to come as I become "a Lane more traveled…"
