Hiking the length of the Long Trail is a lesson in living without.
For twenty-five days on the long trail, I enjoyed living without cosmetics, without showers, without a change of clothes, without social media, email or the internet. And I didn’t miss them at all.
NO INTERNET, NO EMAIL, NO SOCIAL MEDIA
A simple wardrobe: we wore the same clothes ever day for a week.
Of all these, living without the internet, email and social media was the restful best. Before I left home, I was checking my Facebook and Twitter accounts several times daily when I was supposed to be working. Away form my desk, I’d check my phone like a nervous tic. By the time I left for the hike, I was living in a state of constant distraction. Twenty-five days on the trail was a wonderful cure.
I did carry my phone, which I used as a camera. I kept it on airplane mode to preserve battery life until the end of each day, when I’d text Tim our location – if we had service. Despite programming an auto-response, “On the trail and off-line,”new emails arrived whenever I connected. There were nearly six hundred emails clogging my inbox when I returned. By the time I mustered the courage to go through them, nearly all were obsolete. What a relief.
And a lesson: I now turn off my email program while I’m writing; I shut down my computer at the end of the day. It clarifies the line between work and non-work, and allows me to rest in important, non-computerized ways: reading, exercise, conversation – activities that are good for my overall health.
NO COSMETICS, FEW SHOWERS
Living without cosmetics was another revelation. We ditched our sunscreen and bug dope after the first week. We didn’t really need either: Most of the time, we were hiking in woodland shade, and by late August, few insects bugged us. I cut my hair before we left, and I didn’t even carry a comb.
We bathed with a basin of fresh water and a bandana before changing into our camp clothes at the end of the day. We showered three times: on Days Eight, Fifteen and Nineteen. They were divine! Living without daily hot showers made us appreciate what a luxury they are. The lack of showers also made it easier to live without cosmetics. Not scalding my skin every day cured my dry skin better than any amount of moisturizer. And make up? We didn’t even carry a mirror! Just toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.
LIMITED WARDROBE
We switched out clean clothes once a week, when we were resupplied.
We lived with a very limited wardrobe and never had to think about what to wear. We had only one set of clothes: hiking pants with zip-off legs that converted into shorts and a high-tech t-shirt that wicked away perspiration and held on to smell. We each carried one change of socks and underwear; whenever we could, we rinsed out the spare. After our evening sponge bath, we pulled on our camp clothes: shorts and a t-shirt that doubled as pajamas.
We were able to switch out these clothes for clean replacements every week, when Tim, aka The Mule, met us with clean laundry, another installment of dehydrated food, and a fresh supply of dark chocolate and bourbon.
WHAT WE COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT
There were a few things we couldn’t live without. In addition to bourbon and chocolate, these included:
A Bandana: This essential square of cotton served as a sweatband, handkerchief, potholder, washcloth, tablecloth and napkin, but not all at the same time, and with fairly thorough rinsing in between.
A trail map: Even though the Long Trail is a point-to-point endeavor, there are lots of ways to get lost. The map always helped us stay on the trail, plan our daily goals, and determine our weekly rendezvous with Tim and new supplies.
Fresh water: We drank about four liters daily; we washed and cooked with it. We jumped into rivers and lakes when we could. By the end of the trip, we paid for our unrelenting good weather with shrinking water sources. Our last night, we had to retrace our steps to fetch water, adding two extra miles on tired legs.
Jan climbing down The Chin – and smiling.
Companionship: I couldn’t have done this by myself, and I was so grateful for Jan’s company. We talked and told stories the entire trip; we could have kept talking for another twenty-five days, but our bodies were finished when we reached the border.
THE THREE THINGS I MISSED
Tim and Leo climbed Camel’s Hump with us.
All in all, I missed very few things: fresh fruit, my husband and my dog, Tim brought fruit and the dog every weekend.
Remembering all the things we didn’t need and the few things that were essential is a great way to prepare for the upcoming holiday season. I’m looking forward to doing rather than having things with the people I love.
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Deborah, I have followed you blog for the past two years and as I have began my travels as a full-time RV’er. I’m currently camped in Tucson AZ practicing hiking in the surrounding Saguaro Mountains National Park as I plan is to hike the John Muir Traiil in Yosimite National Park, in the spring of 2017.
Your blog posting is inspiring, thanks again. 🙂
This comment came through twice, and it’s so nice, I’m approving them both! Thanks again.
Deborah, I have followed you blog for the past two years and as I have began my travels as a full-time RV’er. I’m currently camped in Tucson AZ practicing hiking in the surrounding Saguaro Mountains National Park as I plan is to hike the John Muir Traiil in Yosimite National Park, in the spring of 2017.
Your blog posting is inspiring, thanks again. 🙂
Marty, Thank you for your kind words. It’s wonderful to know that my posts don’t just go out into cyberspace, but that they land on readers’ devices and give meaning. That means a lot! And the John Muir Trail – wow! It’s one of the few other long-distance trails I’d consider. I’m thinking about a rim-to-rim hike across the Grand Canyon next. Will you blog about your adventures? If so, please post your url. Good luck! Deborah.
Thank you Deborah! Love this. Please rest assured that your posts are read on my computer too – sometimes days after they are written but they don’t get deleted unread. I don’t/can’t spend tons of time on line but it is worth it for me to see what you write.
I’m choosy about my time and energy. To help save the beautiful wilderness you and Marty hike, etc., I just signed the AVAAZ petition (AVAAZ.org) about locking in the Paris climate agreement NOW while we can. Please have a look at it. Please, Joanna
Thanks for your readership and activism! Going to the petition site now!
What a great experience you two had.
About 40 year ago, my husband and I, while we were building our first home, lived in a very primitive and rustic, small one room log cabin for six months. Our bathroom was an outhouse with lots of spiders! Our running water was, that I had to run a half mile to get it every day. Our cooking stove was a little propane gas camping stove. It was a memorable time. I treasured the simplicity of life and realized how little we needed in possessions to get by with.
It was right on the edge of a marsh, so every morning we were greeted by the Canada geese and their babies, and were serenaded by the peepers in the evenings.
By the time it was getting frosty and cold we moved into the basement of our new house while we finished the upstairs.
There are also great perks to a comfy warm home, with running water, a cook stove with an oven, and a real bathroom. 😉
This sounds like such a wonderful experience – living primitively while building a house, and gradually moving in. Tim and I once had this dream, but we also had three children under four, two businesses, little money and less time, so we “made do” in a snug antique cape for ten years, then moved into our current palace, which we’ve improved over the years. When we first moved in, it was spare (aka “unfurnished”); over twenty years later, it’s stuffed. After my life-changing hike, I’m not just eager, but also more capable of letting go of so much. So liberating!
But I’m not giving up the comfort of warmth, running, water, a great kitchen or indoor flushers. I am making sure I spend a certain amount of time outdoors every day, where I can enjoy the natural world. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
Thanks for being such a dedicated reader of this blog!
Deb, I read all your Long Trail posts for both the memories it brings of our trip and time together but also for the reminder of the lessons learned. I love waking up each Wednesday morning and seeing a new post in my inbox.
Since returning, I’ve been slowly chipping away at the possessions and clutter, and it feels great. And I’m now completely powering down the computer each night – not as early as you are, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Thanks for this affirmation, Jan. Every full moon, I’m reminded of tenting at Griffith Lake. Instead of the trip receding, the moon brings it back. I carry it with me. I’m changed because of it. And of course, I write about it all the time!
Last Tuesday, I wrote about how Telling Stories powered us up mountains and down ravines for the New Hampshire Writers’ Network.
And on Monday, November 28th, I’ll be giving a talk on Lessons From the Long Trail at the Brown Bag Lunch series at the River Garden on Main Street in Brattleboro.
As for powering down before you at night: I also get up earlier – and not just because I’m on Eastern Standard Time! It’s remarkable how compatible we were on the trail given that I’m an early bird and you’re a night owl. xxD.