The Hobby

“You need a hobby” she said. I was staring out the window, watching the snow fall. 

 I did most of my work in the summertime, when it was busy. As fall arrived, I would start to slow down.

I’m not the kind of person who may sit idle.  I needed something during the downtime to keep me busy. What would it be?

I preferred something that would take me outdoors. Browsing the web one day in the spring, I happened upon Meetup, and was struck by the idea of joining a local hiking group. I thought there’s something I would enjoy. I’m in pretty good shape!  Being a frugal person and a minimalist, I told myself it wouldn’t be a major investment and I could walk away without any financial pain if it wasn’t to my liking.

 Little did I know at that moment that this decision would change my life.

What started as some local hikes in my home state would become a passion that would carry me to places I’d never dreamed of and challenge me physically and mentally.

In the beginning I wore just a pair of running shoes, and into those later fall months a cheap pair of boots. Hiking doesn’t have to be expensive if you’re going to be a weekend warrior locally but I soon found you do need to invest in some quality footwear for longer hikes. I did buy myself a new pair of hiking shoes. Now long gone, they were a necessary purchase, and would be a gateway to what I value the most from those early hiking days. 

Those short hikes in Rhode Island were a treasure trove of information that I collected from the people that I hiked with.  I soaked up whatever the hike leaders had to say about clothing, shoes, packs and especially places. I asked questions of everyone. We hiked on warm late summer evenings, with headlamps, and at dawn when the air was still, cool and the woods were silent.

I also realized what terrible shape I was in.  I was frequently winded in the early hikes and had a hard time keeping up.  As time went on I became stronger,  with more endurance.  I joined longer and faster hikes.  I carried more weight in my pack.  I was looking forward to every hike and the summer passed into fall. I came to understand that this “hobby” would present itself with a completely different set of rules  and require me to develop more skills and knowledge for each passing season. My journey had just begun.