Life on the trail is fairly simple. Food, water, shelter, and safety become your top priorities. You no longer live by the clock, but rather, the sun. After so many years of working night shift, rising with the sun has been a challenge and a pleasure. It feels natural to rise with the sun and likewise to go to bed with its setting. Fun fact: hiker midnight is 8 pm, or whenever the sun happens to go down--that's practically when my 12 hour shift was just beginning.
Going to bed early is awesome except that my body doesn't know how to handle that much sleep; after a couple of hours I just wake up hoping for the sun to rise. It's nice, though, not having to worry about an alarm clock or a deadline. My life now revolves around hiking, eating, sleeping, and the weather. And of course, if it gets dark, I have a headlamp.
Now I know that trail life does not appeal to everyone. To some, I'm reverting back to cave-man days--not electricity, no sink, no civilized bathroom, no TV, limited to nonexistent cell phone reception/internet service i.e. no Facebook, no Pinterest. So basically, I'm being voluntarily forcerd/given the chance to live life with fewer distractions. I actually have time to think, to grow closer to God, to talk to my husband, and to notice the first flowers of spring, just to name a few. I can actually smile and say hi and ask every person I meet how their day is going because I'm not driving past them at 65 mph. It is truly a wonderful feeling; I feel as if I am finally living rather than just existing. In Chris' words, when you first wake up, crawl out of your nice, cozy sleeping bag, and step into the cold, morning air, "it's refreshing; it makes you feel alive".
Cassandra
"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."
Confucius
Glad to hear you are finally learning to relax!
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