A little background - My youngest son turned 30 last September. He celebrated on the Appalachian Trail, about halfway through an often miserable but always joyful southbound through hike that started on the first of June and ended the week of Thanksgiving. He wasn't with biological family for that milestone day but was with trail family, friends he'd made during the journey.
He's always been something of a free spirit, wanting to travel and spend time with Mother Nature. He's been a welder, a retail worker, a hardware store worker, a driver for the intoxicated but always a helper of people. His heart is with writing, though. And he's darn good at it.
He'd given up his apartment and job to go on the trail so when the hike was over he stayed with me for recuperation. During those couple of months he continued teaching himself programming, something he'd started awhile back, and learned so very much. He also spent a lot of his days writing. After he felt rested, he moved to the western part of the state to help his father, who isn't in the best health, with his business. He's been writing and hiking, using his skills and loving being outside. For several reasons the move might not have been the best thing. His dad doesn't really "get" him and although they love one another there's a bit too much conflict. Also, the business is slow right now and my son isn't earning money. He started to lose the sense of accomplishment the hike had given him and that made me so very sad for him.
The situation finally got to him and he applied for and got a job in Utah at a therapeutic wilderness camp for teens. He'll have several duties but a primary one will be responsibility for said teens during outdoor exploration. Wow, just wow. My son is moving to Utah to work with belligerent and troubled teenagers! He'll work several days then have several days off, giving him time to continue learning programming and to write the book that's been burning its way through his soul. He'll also have time to hike. And hike. And hike. And hopefully he'll be a good influence on some of those young people and help them find their way. To top it off, he'll get paid a pretty good wage to do something he seems to be cut out to do.
It won't be easy, I'm sure. Again he'll be far from home and family and he'll be smack dab in the middle of teens who don't want to be where they are. I don't envy him that. But what an opportunity for him!
For those of you who pray, please send out a few for Jon.
He tried to keep a blog while on the trail but the internet service was iffy at best most of the time and it was very difficult but if you'd like to read about his journey on the trail, you can do so here:
http://jonathanboyd.net/
The last entry was in December but if you go backwards you can read about some of the amazing adventures he had. Lions, and witches, and bears. Oh my!
Click on "images" to see some beautiful photos.
And to make this somewhat PF related, I helped finance the hike. It cost a lot more than I thought it would but I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.
Not directly related to my budget but I'm so proud of my son
April 4th, 2015 at 02:54 pm
April 4th, 2015 at 03:40 pm 1428162022
I was thinking I had a friend on the trail at the same time, but I forget what year it is. !!! That was 2013...
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April 5th, 2015 at 10:47 am 1428230854
MM, lol on forgetting the year. How neat to have a friend who's been on the AT. I can't hear enough of Jon's stories about it.
LivingAlmostLarge, thank you so much!
Joan.of.the.Arch, my son says that, also. Knowing you can survive for almost 6 months, walking over 2000 miles, does much for the self esteem. He knows now that he can do ANYTHING he sets out to do. What a feeling of accomplishment!
Patientsaver, I was that way also but ended up getting married young and quickly having four children so I didn't get to explore and see the things I wanted to. Perhaps that's why I'm so supportive of Jon. He's unattached and might as well enjoy all he can!
CB, awww thanks! That's very sweet but I'm not sure how true it is. When my kids were growing up we had books, notebooks, journals, writing paper, and pens all over the place. I homeschooled them for some years and their father and I encouraged independent thinking, self expression, and writing. It's bitten me in the hiney a few times (especially when they were teens and really expressing the independent thinking lol) but I don't regret it at all. :-) Jon is very talented and I'm his biggest fan.
Julie, thank you!
Frugalredhead, thanks so much. He is pretty amazing. He's so interesting and creative and I can't help but encourage and support his adventurous ways. How fortunate you are to have grown up near the AT! The photos I've seen are just stunning.
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