[pct-l] Radio on the trail

[Bighummel@aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

A radio on the trail, sheeeezzzzz!!!!!!

I wouldn't bring a radio, an MP3, a CD, a DVD, a 240Z or my BVDs!!!!

On the trail, in the first few days, you find out quickly which things you 
miss the most: pizza, cheeseburgers, peaches and ice cream and even music, 
mostly music.  

After being out about 2+ weeks the cravings start to go away, the sounds of 
nature start to ring louder, the little things start to get noticed that you 
didn't notice before.

Your mind, initially bored, in shock and starving from the absence of 
distractions that you were accustomed to being bombarded with, starts to 
focus.  At first the focus concentrates on the answers to the little things:
- WHY am I really doing this?
- WHAT do I really want to get out of this?
- WHAT will I feel if I face the loss of my life out here?

Then the big things start to invade your thoughts and you find yourself 
spending days and days on just one finite subject, like:
- Why are we here?
- What do I want to do for the rest of my life?
- What are my priorities?
- Do I want to get married, have children, work in the city, country, 
outdoors, go play basketball in Europe, become a trail bum, etc.
- Why do I fear death?

When was the last time that you had the extreme pleasure of absence of 
distractions to just focus your thoughts on one subject for more than one 
day, one hour, or ten minutes?

IMHO, leave the distractions at home, with the TV, the newspapers, the 
traffic jams, the cheese burgers, the pizza, the beer, Jethro Tull, Jimmy 
Buffet and standing in line to go anywhere to do anything.  I even leave my 
watch at home.  It's a distraction too!  I can keep track of the day of the 
week with a little pencil and paper and why do I care what time it is?  You 
30 mile-per-day'ers have an answer to this, I don't.

Greg "Strider" Hummel