In the aftermath, I embarked alone on a LASH (Long Ass Section Hike) of the Appalachian Trail. Along the way, I learned the true meaning of resilience and bravery – of choosing myself, even when it makes no sense on paper.
This is the raw, honest telling of my journey. Not just on Trail, but away from a life I told myself was “good enough,” towards my long-suppressed knowing, and finally, to a place truly Home.
This is not another epic tale of a full 2,190 mile Appalachian Trail thru-hike. There are already plenty of those.
I did not trek from Georgia to Maine. I did not face bears or blizzards or even that many thunderstorms…(well, there were a few).
Instead, I hiked 900 miles from West Virginia to just over Maine’s southern border. And on my meandering journey through marsh and mountain, I discovered what it meant to live.
If you’re questioning societal norms, full of bewilderment that the life you were promised no longer feels like enough, this story is for you. If you’re a disenchanted 20-something, a death worker, or simply another discouraged human awash in a sea of “stuck-ness,” this story is for you.
With my unique perspective as a death doula and aspiring hospice chaplain, I integrate studies of death, dying, and the great outdoors as a way to lean hard into the present moment.
The result? A book that is a living, breathing invitation to a truer life, one where you can chase your ambitions while simultaneously holding profound presence and gratitude for where you are.
Join me as I write about the many mishaps and lessons the Trail taught me, including perhaps the greatest takeaway: how to be where you are while you’re becoming what’s next.
This is the story of how death became my teacher, saving my life in the process. And this is the story of learning to love being alive in the mountains.
I'm writing this book for a younger, wandering, adrift version of me, and hopefully, for you too.
Death – and my own grief – taught me how to live, to not exist on autopilot.
The mountains showed me it was possible to balance future goals without living only for tomorrow. Because that tomorrow we’re living for, rushing towards, “waiting to be happy when..”? It may never come. I know because I learned the hard way.
Part adventure memoir, part travelogue, this book is the answer to the question that haunted me for years: Is this all there is? No, it isn’t.
This story is a love letter to death work, to life work, to backpacking through the mountains. It is a tribute to the Trail that profoundly and permanently altered the trajectory of my life – in more ways than one.
Most of all, this book is my deepest wrestling with the questions we ask about being human which really boil down into just one: “how do we make the most of our numbered days?”