In a time of economic strife, with a recession looming, jobs seem to be evermore elusive. I recently was given an ultimatum at my job; bump up your hours to 72 a week (for no extra pay, mind you) or quit now…

You can live with a lot less than you think.
I lived for six months with nothing more than what I could carry on my back, and it’s changed the way I live my life. I’ve streamlined my possessions and forgotten that the Joneses even exist. In return I gained the freedom that most people only dream of, freedom to travel and go on more adventures, freedom to work less and enjoy life more. Once you strip life to the essentials — food, water, shelter — you learn what you really need. The rest is just clutter.

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Is Lady Gaga a good hiking partner?

“I needed Lady Gaga during those first two months,” she said while recalling her 2010 thru-hike. “She pumped me up, gave me something to think about, and, I mean, it’s Gaga. What’s not to love?”

Mental Toughness By Eric Azriel
The Appalachian Trail is no bed of roses. (Wouldn’t it be weird if it was? Tea ingredients underfoot! And those thorns would be a pain for 2000 miles.) The trail is hard work and it repeats day after day. The mental aspect of the hike is probably more trying than the physical aspect. After a while, the beautiful vistas and wonderful experience of being outside recede into the background, sometimes replaced by a longing to finish and finish quickly…

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Rev. Arthur Yates knew it was going to be bad.

He could tell by the rattling woods.

“We talked for a few minutes and then I heard it,” said the A.T. hiking vet. “It was a rattle noise on all sides of us in the grass and leaves. I listened for a minute, then it hit me, we were in for a blizzard.”