A little about me: a kind of resume

Hello! I’m new here, so bear with me while I find my flow. My name is Amber! Or Kodak… Sometimes drunk! It really depends on the day and who is around. If you’ve read my bio, then you already know a few things about me. If you didn’t, then well, I’m not sure how you got here, but welcome!

Let’s go back to the beginning.

I grew up in upstate New York, so of course I was familiar with the mountains, camping, hiking, you know, anything outdoorsy, and it was fun, but it wasn’t anything special. Or so I thought. I thought I knew a lot of things back then. So naturally I thought I’d try something new! I moved to the city of Phoenix, which, to me, was a BIG fancy city. When I moved there, I envisioned a fast-paced, chic urban life, and while I had a great time, it wasn’t exactly that.

I’m not openly sociable. Eye contact makes me nervous, I question myself all the time, and I usually don’t go out of my way to meet new people or «put myself out there.»

(Oh how ironic, that’s exactly what I’m doing here)

So how can a broke, shy, anxious girl thrive alone in a “big city”?

Start walking! And camping!

I started driving to random places, exploring and spending time with nature, and I was hooked! I filled my head with the Instagram granola girl aesthetic and started collecting camping gear at Walmart.

Shortly after I met my now husband, who somehow altered my course from neat and clean walking princess to «no shower? No problem!» and “we can wear the same clothes for 5 days in a row,” or my favorite, “there may be some of yesterday’s ramen left in the pot, but we’ll call that extra nutrients.”

Somehow he also managed to get me back east and, even more surprisingly, managed to get him to enjoy it.

Fast forward about three years or so: we’ve hiked (SOBO) the Northville-Placid Trail, hiked several smaller backpacking routes, and created our own backpacking loops. We’ve hiked back-to-back twenty-mile days (and more), we’ve hiked in beautiful conditions, and we’ve hiked in some pretty terrible ones, too. However, most of the time we have stayed in New York.

So what’s next for us?

Well, since you asked, I’ll be doing my first SOLO hike on the Foothills trail in South Carolina (and a little bit of North Carolina) very soon. While I’m not excited about my husband having to work while I go out and experience what I hear is an absolutely beautiful trail without him, I am excited about growing in confidence while I’m there, but more on that soon.

Not long after my adventure in South Carolina, we are planning to go to Pennsylvania to hike the Laurel Highlands Trail. Before the hiking season is over, we will have hiked the CL50 and NPT again, this time heading north, God willing.

We have an exciting season planned and I’m so excited to share it with people who love hiking and backpacking as much as I do! Temukan opNJS2m di sini. If that’s you, or you just want to support me, or you just like reading the rambling thoughts of someone who sometimes does interesting things, stick around! And always, thank you for your support.

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