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Everything is awful, I really want to not have to have a job (medicaid for all, where are you, if I didn't have to pay for health insurance I could go part-time and actually breathe), and somebody needs to talk me out of using up a bunch of my leave and going on a solo backpacking trip this spring.
(Current nebulous plan: Get someone to drop me around the 100-mile marker on the C&O Canal Towpath Trail; hike downhill. 40 miles in there's a train station where I can take the train home; 60 miles in there's another train station where I can take the train home; 100 miles in is the last train home.
Which means I don't have to commit to walking a hundred miles or call home in shame, I can just make a decision at each train station. And the terrain's good, so it's hard for me to imagine not being able to do at least forty miles in a week, even if all the worst happens.
It's not a wilderness trail, so I wouldn't be out of civilization for any very long stretches, which means I could go very light on things like food, and do a few hotel/restaurant stops if I wanted. And there's supposed to be potable water every five miles or so, so I shouldn't need to worry too much about carrying/filtering water.
The only tricky bit is that there's nowhere to sleep in the last 20 miles, and the very last stretch is through the city, so when I got to that last train station I'd have to be very sure I could do 20 miles in a day, and still not miss the last train. But I could stop before then if I didn't think that was doable.
I'd need to make sure my camping hammock was functional enough, and decide if I want to try to stick with a vintage Sterno stove or finally get the backpacking stove I've been lusting over, and figure out my cell phone charging strategy, but other than that I could probably just mark up some maps, pack a bag, and then go.
I've wanted to do this specific trip since high school, so, why not now?
And then once I've done a 100-mile solo trip it'll be a lot easier to convince myself I can do more ambitious ones.)
(Also convince me that if I do it, I shouldn't try to do it in period-appropriate cosplay.)
(Current nebulous plan: Get someone to drop me around the 100-mile marker on the C&O Canal Towpath Trail; hike downhill. 40 miles in there's a train station where I can take the train home; 60 miles in there's another train station where I can take the train home; 100 miles in is the last train home.
Which means I don't have to commit to walking a hundred miles or call home in shame, I can just make a decision at each train station. And the terrain's good, so it's hard for me to imagine not being able to do at least forty miles in a week, even if all the worst happens.
It's not a wilderness trail, so I wouldn't be out of civilization for any very long stretches, which means I could go very light on things like food, and do a few hotel/restaurant stops if I wanted. And there's supposed to be potable water every five miles or so, so I shouldn't need to worry too much about carrying/filtering water.
The only tricky bit is that there's nowhere to sleep in the last 20 miles, and the very last stretch is through the city, so when I got to that last train station I'd have to be very sure I could do 20 miles in a day, and still not miss the last train. But I could stop before then if I didn't think that was doable.
I'd need to make sure my camping hammock was functional enough, and decide if I want to try to stick with a vintage Sterno stove or finally get the backpacking stove I've been lusting over, and figure out my cell phone charging strategy, but other than that I could probably just mark up some maps, pack a bag, and then go.
I've wanted to do this specific trip since high school, so, why not now?
And then once I've done a 100-mile solo trip it'll be a lot easier to convince myself I can do more ambitious ones.)
(Also convince me that if I do it, I shouldn't try to do it in period-appropriate cosplay.)
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Even without camping I only had to stay in a hotel once, because for some reason there wasn't any hostel in Swansea and the budget hotel was cheaper than most Bed&Breakfasts (I don't do Airbnb or such on principle because I think they worsen rental prices and find the whole principle anxiety inducing besides).
And while hostels aren't as cheap as they used to be (otoh not as bare bones either), that's definitely cheaper than hotels and often more fun too. (In case you haven't stayed in hostels often, at least in the ones I've stayed here in Europe you usually get a good mix of ages and demographics, though a few cater exclusively to young adults, but normally it's a mix from students to retirees.) Anyway, I can highly recommend that option for anyone who is not super fussy. (I mean, most hostels I've stayed have been clean, safe and fellow guests are usually considerate, but you do share facilities and have to deal with others, so it's not for people who get grossed out as soon as they see a stray hair in a sink and wake up at the slightest noise.)