Why did I shave my head for my hike?

Everyone says you have to do your own hike. You have to make the decisions that make sense to you and do it the way you want it done. For me…not having hair was how I wanted to do it. The idea came to me several years ago and after asking several questions to friends who were braver than me (i.e., who had taken the haircut step) and assessing how bothered I was with my long hair during my practice hikes, I knew this was a big part of what the path would be like for me to do my own hike and make Frank Sinatra proud by doing it #MyWay.

1. The obvious reason

My head would be much cooler during the summer. Further! I wouldn’t have to worry about my hair getting greasy or feeling tight and sore from a dirty ponytail (long-haired hikers know no peace). One less problem to worry about!

2. Awkward stages of hair growth

Have you ever cut your hair so badly (like “It’s French!” from Fleabag) that you wanted to hide from society? BINGO. Everyone says that the worst part of growth is during the first 4-6 months. Oh! Are you referring to the exact duration of a typical walk? Who cares what I look like in the woods? It’s literally the perfect place to go through those really relentless hair growth stages. I probably wouldn’t be brave enough to go through that WITHOUT living in the woods.

3. Check the controls

I would say I have a pretty healthy and rational fear of getting Lyme disease down the road. I’ve been on some hikes where you have to be very vigilant about tick checks and hair always seems like the biggest risk. My shaved head and short hair will make these checks much easier and less stressful.

4. Ultralight

Hahaha, these reasons are getting a bit exaggerated. Although it is true that now I won’t have to carry shampoo! Or hair bands! Cut that base weight. And this is a legit way to lose weight, but it’s just a fun reason because I’m not exactly an ultralight hiker.

5. I can’t quit smoking now

Thinking about it in my head makes me feel like I can’t really turn back or give up. Like I said, I’m not brave enough to grow this hair in civilization. If I quit, what was this for? I like to have tangible reasons why I have to keep going on the bad days. Although the fact that I quit both of my jobs and rented my house are what many people would call more legitimate reasons why I can’t quit, the buzzing head is actually the best for me.

5. Security?

It wouldn’t be worse if I seemed a little more masculine or ambiguous during my walk. Will this really help? Probably not, but we love lists!

6. Changing fears

The time before starting the hike you have planned and dreamed of for so long is intimidating. Deciding to shave my head and waiting until just before I left to shave it actually helped me put my fears into my hair instead of the hike itself. It’s certainly not the biggest risk, but mentally it seemed more out of the ordinary than backpacking. This helped me not worry too much about the task at hand (walking the East Coast!) and focus on the styling step. It sounds silly but it was a big help. Once I shaved it, I felt like I got a rush of endorphins from being brave and ready.

7. YOLO

Why not? I was always curious what I would look like or if my head was in good shape and there is only one way to know. But this wasn’t the only look he had been curious about. I love my natural color (+I’m lazy about hair maintenance), so I’ve never dyed my hair. But I also wanted to know what I would look like blonde! And red! But I was too nervous to dye my hair and ruin it. However, once I decided to shave my head… who cares?! So, in the months leading up to it, I asked my friend to bleach my hair and then I dyed it red. Fun! Change it! Who cares! Look how it looks! PS: It didn’t even ruin the texture of my hair, yeah!

8. Go out strong!

I decided I was going to make a big deal out of this. The more I tell people about this, the more I have to do it. So not only did I tell people, I had a whole party about it. For my birthday/going away party, the main attraction was my best friend ringing my head outside for everyone to see. The night before the big commotion, some of my cousins, my sister BIL, and I shaved a cut and a full head for my BIL (“in solidarity,” he says). This helped me confirm that I wanted to send it in full the next night and was a sweet memory with my family. It generated a lot of commotion. The next night for the big show, it was on!! It was a BLAST and I highly recommend hosting a head shaving party if you’re thinking about doing this.

I can’t wait to cover myself in sunscreen and be hitting Emma Stone in Bugonia on the road.

Any reason I missed it?

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