Who I am

Early December 2015. A sleepless night. The evening before I had “accidentally” watched a documentary on the Pacific Crest Trail that kept me up all night.

It felt like a seed had fallen on fertile ground. 

It seemed as if I had already unconsciously searched for “something” in the back of my mind. A welcome escape to flee from a daily routine that makes time fly by scarily fast, a chance to relax my busy brain that was exhausted from the buzzing city life and an occasion to find new inspiration for a job that I liked but somehow had started feeling tedious. 

Over Christmas, I tell family and friends about it. They are curious and ask a lot of interesting questions that I cannot answer. So I start researching. I learn about rattlesnakes, bears, a thing called thru-hiking, lightweight gear and that it needs a permit and a visa. I am a sporty person but did not have extensive hiking experience apart from occasional day hikes in the Alps.

But the adventurer inside of me was intrigued. 

I apply for a permit and visa and to my surprise, I hold both in my hands a couple of months later. Well, guess it’s time to quit my job now. It is becoming real. Point of no return.

On May 1, 2016 a journey of a lifetime begins. I experience moments of immense joy and gratitude as well as pain and fear. I meet awesome people on and off trail. I experience unexpected human kindness from complete strangers.

And I learn what I am capable of.

Upon reaching Canada - despite that awesome life-changing experience - I swear to myself that I would not do that ever again. But then …. oops … I do it again … and again … and again …