Going Glamping

For quite some time now I have had it in my head that hiking the Appalachian Trail would be something that I would like to do. And up until recently I had two primary problems. The first being that I don't feel particularly safe heading out into the woods as a single female camper (an entirely separate issue, which I may blog about later) without friends who are willing/able to hike with me. The second problem being that I didn't have the appropriate gear. Well, when my brother dearest said he wanted to hike for a week from Shenandoah up to Harpers Ferry, I decided it was time to start picking out gear and getting ready to go.

Some of you may be wondering what exactly 'Glamping' is. Well, it's a condescending phrase when used by my little bother (no that's not a typo) when we get into discussions on backpacking gear. So, in a way only a sister can, I have made it my mission to be the most obnoxiously comfortable backpacking companion ever, hence the photo of me ready to go out in the woods with red lipstick on. Although our sibling camping trip has been postponed indefinitely at this point - I'm still hoping someday we'll be on the same mountain at the same time and I can take that opportunity to annoy the crap out of him.

This discussion of necessary gear has been an ongoing one, and so now that I have truly gotten into the thick of it – I’m finding the things I really love about my equipment and the things that are perhaps lacking. So to begin with, here are my lessons from my first adult backpacking trip. (As a kid we went hiking, but I most likely didn’t pack or select my own equipment)

1. Remember to bring your bandana.
2. Learn how to tie a whole bunch of useful knots.  Practice these until you are sure you will remember.
3. Familiarize yourself with your gear at home.
4. Don’t overestimate the number of miles you can hike.
5. Bring duct tape. 

My bedroom was in a state of disarray leading up to the trip, and as such I looked and looked and could not find my bandana. It is now tied to the top of my pack, and there it shall stay unless it is in the washing machine. I watched the video several times of how to hang my rain fly, and when it came time to set up camp, I couldn’t remember a single thing I’d learned. Luckily the knots I remembered held well enough in our calm weather. I have since downloaded the video to my desktop to I can review it frequently and load it on my phone just in case I need a refresher in the woods. My roommate and trail partner was ever so grateful that I had the duct tape when the soles of her brand new shoes fell off at mile 9 of our 12 mile first day. After a 23 mile round trip, we were both feeling as though we had exerted every last bit of energy we had – and thus treated ourselves to ice cream.

So – these are all of the things I packed for my first overnight backpacking trip. The total weight was right around 30 lbs, which is a bit heavy for an overnight, however I am also hiking for exercise and so it’s an okay weight.

I’m sleeping in a Warbonnet hammock with whoopie sling suspensions. Tried out the figure 8 shaped Nemo 40 bag, although my toes were cold in the early morning, and so I’ve returned that and next weekend will be headed out with a 32 degree Mountain Hardwear bag. I’m borrowing the MSR miniworks water filter from my very generous uncle. I bought a little Primus gas stove that screws right on to a fuel canister, it works great and for $20 it’s perfect for short trips. Carried some warm clothes and rain clothes that I happen to have laying around. The Helinox chair is lovely, and the salesman at HTO was right when he told me “after a whole day of hiking you won’t want to sit on rocks.” And the last little gem of my packing gear is the ThermaRest pillow I bought, 7oz of heaven at night! You wouldn’t believe how much this pillow fluffs up.

This upcoming Labor Day weekend we’re headed out again, this time I have a stuff sack for the clothes, so they’ll pack a bit smaller. I have a little square pack from REI for my toiletries, which will keep them all in one place and easily grab-able to hang with my bear bag. I have also splurged on trekking poles, which we’ll see whether they’re worth the $$ and lbs. My roommate swears that once you get the swing of them, it’s wonderful. Hopefully there will be something nice to look at along the way!

Happy to hear anyone's suggestions and opinions on gear or tips for being out in the woods. My biggest challenge for this upcoming trip is planning enough calories per day.

Are you there spring? It's me Lindsey...

Dear Spring,

I know you'll be here officially in 15 days - but I'm worried that when you arrive you'll only be here in body and not spirit. These days, though they are short on daylight feel like the longest ones of the year. You won't find me complaining about a seemingly endless summer. I need you Spring. Winter has worn out its welcome.

Winter is hard for me to deal with. Winter is my childhood friend who I remember differently in my mind. One of us has changed over the years, but we still spend these cold months together pretending it's the same as it always was. I don't want to give up on this, but I can't honestly say that this relationship is good for me. All of the darkness and death of the season reminds me that I haven't done the things I feel I ought to be doing, it reminds me that just as the leaves have fallen from the trees - that my leaves have fallen, and my metaphoric tree hasn't bloomed again. As the season of growth and growing is upon us the suspense of meeting my expectations builds and I have a pit in my stomach... "what if I don't bloom this season". Perhaps it is simply the bulb sitting in my stomach, waiting to be nourished with sunlight and warmth, or maybe the darkness of winter will simply consume everything. Only time will tell.

This is my plea to you Spring, come swiftly and surely - let the worms come back to our balcony where they can produce nutritious soil for our plants, let our plants sprout from their seed prisons and unfurl through the top soil to produce fruit, let the sun warm the animals and remind them that life is good, and the season of bounty is here. Perhaps we can have another young praying mantis friend this year, you'd like that wouldn't you?

I anxiously await your arrival dear friend... 

Yours,
Lindsey

From Russia with love

If you know me, than you probably know that I was an exchange student.I've had diverse experiences in both developed and less than developed nations, and it makes me wonder what the big fuss over the Sochi Olympics is? I've seen the twitter feeds of the reporters complaining about not being able to drink the water from the tap, or not being able to flush their toilet papaer - have our reporters never traveled? What have they seen if they've never been somewhere where you'd be better off brushing your teeth with bottled water? If you've never been anywhere that you can't flush your toilet paper, much less somewhere where there isn't a toilet to flush? I mean honestly folks, if these are the people you are entrusting to provide you with a view of the world and this is shocking or newsworthy to them, you're getting your news from someone with a silver spoon in their mouth. 

The second question that comes to mind which may actually be more important than my first is why all the hate on Russia? I don't remember there being nearly as much noise about the Beijing, Vancouver, or London Olympics? And these all occurred during the age of Twitter, Facebook and Social Media as legitimate outlets for our news reporters. Maybe we just think it's funnier to slam Russia because we have memes generated from '90's comedians? Obviously it is going to be a challenge for a largely unheard of Russian city to prepare for the Olympics. Hosting the Olympics anywhere is a unique challenge I'm sure, but what is all the fuss about? I'm sure the reporters aren't being put up in the nicest hotels - I'm sure they could find something to complain about in the 1 & 2 star hotels of any Olympic city - so what's the big deal? 

Anyway, this is turning into more of a rant than I initially intended, but my points would be thus: 1. Go see the world. Don't judge it based on what you know as that is the most foolish way to judge something and the surest way to miss the beauty in a new setting. 2. Quit picking on Russia for stupid things. If you want to write an expose about human rights violations, the environmental impact of Olympic games on a whole, anything with content feel free. But save the snarky comments about how you've never had to use anything less than a western toilet connected to toilet paper safe plumbing for your Facebook page, and I'll continue not following you. 

Lastly - the Sochi mascots are so adorable! *cough* London had the ugliest mascots *cough*

The best things in life are free...

But you can give them to the birds and the bees - I want money! 

(Yes, that link takes you to the very strange music video of that very silly song... and that is what is running through my head this morning) 

So in July 2012 I wrote a blog about my dedication to, and my 4-step plan for becoming a fiscally responsible individual. When I had these grand ideas of getting switched entirely to cash based finances I worked at a company where I was making a reasonable entry level salary with good benefits. My employer matched a small percentage of my retirement savings and I made enough to cover all of my bills with a little extra left over. It was the perfect time to put my plan into action. And then two months later I was fired... and we all know how that went. Unemployment compensation is not a lot of money, even less if you happen to live in a metro area where the cost of living far exceeds the national average. Luckily my unemployment coincided with taking on a third roommate in my two bedroom apartment and I didn't have to move home to Michigan hanging my head. My common sense of paying for consumables with cash or debit rather than credit quickly flew out the window as my pride led me to last as long as I could without asking for financial help from my family. Granted, I wasn't so pigheaded as to reject help when offered, but I wanted to make it in at least the smallest of ways when I felt like everything else was failing. 

Although being unemployed and living off such a shoestring budget sucked big time, it really taught me a lot about what I can manage with and without. So what if lobster tails are only $5 at Safeway? I can get enough pasta and sauce to eat for a week with that money. I learned how to stretch my dollars, how to shop sale items and how to say no to the boozing and shopping and a number of other temptations to run things up on credit. I learned how easy it can be to just quit buying shoes and clothes (particularly when I have so many already). I found a variety of unconventional ways to make money and ways to save money, and some of them I've continued doing, no reason not to be thrifty simply because I have a job.

Fast forward to January 2014... I am working at a job making a significant amount less than my previous job, and I don't have employer contributions to my retirement savings plan, but I finally completely paid off my highest limit/highest interest rate line of credit. I can tell you - it feels amazing! The next step is paying off the other credit cards and starting back in on my retirement savings. And while sure if I stuck to a very strict budget I could reach these goals much more quickly than I otherwise likely will, but I'm not presently in a place where I need to eat ramen noodles every night for dinner. Another year chipping away and I'll be in a much better position than I was before, and on track for some of the more exciting life changes that I will want to prepare some funding for (hint: grad school). 

 Anyway, here's to being older and wiser and debt free before I'm 30! 

Thoughts on a cold rainy night

It sure has been a while since I published anything here - to be honest, I got busy, I got happy - and I notice that I blog more when I'm not so happy in my offline life. 

From May through October I had an amazing time riding out a whirlwind summer romance - we spent every free moment together taking trips, exploring the vast culinary offerings in the DMV and thoroughly enjoying one another's company. It was a summer I wished would never end, and truthfully am still separately trying to hold on to. I realize it's not healthy to try and hold on to this relationship that has ended, and I know it's not right, but part of me felt so strongly about him that I still can't bear the thought of his complete absence from my life. That's all I will say about that for now, but I will continue to hope that the happiness I experienced this summer was only a glimpse of the happiness I will continue to experience in the weeks and months to come. 

I guess at this point I should let you all know that I didn't come to my computer with a specific thing I wanted to write about, so I'll apologize if my thoughts are scattered. I sat down feeling nostalgic and wanting to put something down. 

I'm looking forward to 2014. There will inevitably be boring days, many of them I'm sure, but I feel more and more now that I have the power to take control of where my life is headed - and more importantly I'm feeling the motivation and drive to make moves. 

One move in particular I'm looking to make in the coming year is beginning an advanced degree. While I didn't read the entirety of my father's thesis (I doubt I would fully understand it anyway, as the topic was mechanical engineering) I did read the dedication. He dedicated his work to his children with the hope that they would do one better. I think part of the reason I've felt less than satisfied in my life as of late is that I know I'm not living up to my potential, and there is a deep seated disappointment that I'm letting myself down. To that end I've been researching graduate programs that I could complete, and I've started the application process for two entirely different graduate programs - one would be a Masters of International Political Economy to be completed in Singapore, the other a Sustainable MBA through an online program with a liberal arts college in Vermont. 

I'm strongly tempted by the desire to leave DC and spend some more time in South East Asia. I like the region, I have a few friends in the area - including two living in Singapore. I would be lying however if the thought of making a change that big doesn't make me nervous - a little voice in my head says that making a move like this would stunt the progression of my personal life. I'm so often reminded by photos and posts on Facebook that all of my friends are getting married, buying houses and having children. However, I can't deny that moving to Singapore would be awesome, and I think a degree like that would put me in a position to do amazing things when and if I decide to return. 

On the other hand, there's an off chance that I can work with my employer to fund part of my online MBA as long as I stay in DC working for him. Which wouldn't be a bad thing. The office is expanding, we may be moving into a new downtown office as soon as the first quarter of 2014 and my job responsibilities may expand to include more office manager duties, which would be good. I would also be able to stay in DC at a time when I've finally begun to get my life together and make some real connections to the city through rugby and the Chive community. Even though I will be first to tell you I want to get out of the city, there's something about DC that speaks to me - especially now. 

I guess I won't have to make the decision until I complete and application and get accepted. Of course I'll keep you all updated. For now, goodnight. 

What does alcohol and tobacco have to do with firearms anyway?

Typically at work I'm busy all day, but today I actually got to enjoy my lunch break and I decided to go outside and sit in front of the Frozen Yo. It struck me that there were no customers in the popular yogurt shop and then I looked across the street to the zoo and read the sign: All Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are closed today due to the government shutdown. (Yes, my vision is SO good that I can read a sign all the way across the street) And so I enjoyed sitting at an empty table, which is usually a rare commodity on a beautiful day as today was. As I was reading my library book I heard a commotion, so I looked up and some young guy was putting up a DC flag with the words "No Taxation Without Representation" over the ZOO sculpture.

I was very tempted to go up and ask this young fellow what exactly he thought the government shut down had to do with the lack of congressional representation for the district. I racked my brain to find a connection and when I came up blank I thought I should also let this young man know that inconsistencies and unrelated arguments like this simply make him look foolish and uneducated. I did neither, he took some photos, wrapped up his flag and went on his way.

So what does alcohol and tobacco have to do with firearms? Nothing probably. It's a family famous question posed by my grandfather as my parents had finally finished packing the kids up in the car and were walking out the door. I am reminded of that today as the Internet is inundated with everyone giving their opinion on Obamacare, Congress, and the government shutdown. You would think I would know better by now to avoid the masses on social media since the loudest ones are often the ones with the most uneducated opinions. Inevitably though I find these people infuriate me, and I cannot help my compulsion to point out that everything they've just said is moronic for reasons a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, AND k.

I guess in this particular debate I find it hard to swallow people trashing the ACA. Personally for me I will be so relieved when I know my brother who is affected by bipolar disorder will finally be able to enroll in a health insurance plan. I am relieved that contraception is readily available and free to women with a prescription. I am happy that individuals who are under the age of 26 can be covered under their parents' insurance plan. Forcing insurance companies into a market place will only promote competition which I predict will be good for consumers. And further with higher percentages of Americans covered by insurance plans hopefully this will lower overall medical costs. One of the reasons health care is so expensive in the US is the huge number of people who simply aren't able to pay for their care and so they are admitted into the emergency room for any ailment.

Since I do like to lighten the mood after I delve into a politically fueled rant, check out Jimmy Kimmel's video here.

I've got "the bug"...

Are you familiar with the bug? It's that nagging in the back of your mind that goes against any form of setting roots. It's that whisper on the wind that says, "come where I'm going". It's the desire in your feet to walk down paths yet undiscovered - at least to you. It's the empty pages of your passport begging for stamps. I sometimes look at my life and wonder just how easily I could get away, and how long I could stay gone.


Particularly in my days of unemployment I entertained many a thought about getting out of the United States. I could go teach English in an under developed country, I could join the Peace Corps, I could do any number of things over seas - if only I got up and left. A dear friend of mine relocated to Singapore years ago to pursue a Master's degree and she has been beckoning me back to SE Asia for years whether she is actively promoting the school or just posting her amazing photographs online which tease me.

A friend of mine posted this article "Why Young Americans Should Work Overseas" and obviously I'm interested to read about why published authors think one ought to travel, and though I found nothing new and exciting in the article it does make the wheels start turning in my head. Since I have fully recovered from the funk of 2012, I am seriously considering a big move. There's a strong possibility that I may say goodbye to North America for a while.

Funny that just as my dad and little brother will be returning stateside I'm thinking of going away. Though one might say, based on our recent geographic spread, the country isn't big enough for the five of us, family is one of the major things holding me here. The deepest and biggest root I have set in the ground is my family, it's hard to think of being so far away for a prolonged period of time, but is that harder than the thought of staying here and missing out on the rest of the world?