The beginning

This blog will be focused on two goals, a relatively short term goal of living debt free and a long term goal (at least a decade away) of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. I discovered the magic of backpacking thanks to my new husband (I just remarried) over a year ago and I'm hooked. We did two nights on the AT last Spring with family and friends and we've done some other trips, just the two of us. I'm hoping to spend at least a week on a trail sometime over the next year to continue testing the edges of my envelope. We were blessed with lots of REI gift cards at our wedding and I have the gear and the will but not the time or money. That's where the short(er) term goal of living debt free comes in.

It may seem strange to imagine how they are related but they are inexorably intertwined. At the moment, we have too much debt. We make good money and are gradually paying it down but we are not focused enough. We both carry weight from our previous marriages and we've added to it since we met. Both of our incomes are variable which makes it tougher to plan but we have to get focused NOW. Because, continuing as we are, treading water only, will keep our long term goal a distant dream forever. Obviously there is planning involved in taking 6 months off from your regular life and disappearing into the woods. There is simply no way we could carry our current debt load from the trail, and if we sit and just see how things play out we will always have a debt load.

So I'm keeping this blog to help me be accountable and to track our progress. I'm ready to unload the creditors, and free my back to carry only what I need. Food,shelter, my relationships with the people who matter. I am reading Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey, we will be starting FPU next month. I think it will take us a few years to get out from under the debt including my student loans and possibly even the house but then we can spend the balance of the next decade saving and planning and will be FREE to hit the trail when our youngest turns 20.

Here's to hiking your own hike, in all things.