Outside the Box

 So I have passed six months since I created this blog and started my journey to chase my dreams. The only way I can accomplish those dreams is to get in the best physical shape I have ever been in. That is not an easy feat when in your mid-sixties. It is a slow process... baby steps. I am seeing progress, but I still have so far to go. I know I complained about the weather over the summer and how difficult it made it to get outside and be active. The weather has changed and it is pleasant most weekends now so I am getting out and will be challenging myself to longer and harder hikes over the next five to six months. I also know that I will need to join the gym when summer returns to keep progressing. I am thinking about just getting a punch card pass to use over the winter whenever the weather is too inclement to hike. The punch card option is good since I don't need a full time membership. 

While my goal is to travel to Nepal, do some volunteer work and then trek the EBC, I have to be realistic that maybe I am stepping too far outside the box. I do have other dreams and goals of things I wish to see and do that are more realistic and closer to home. These are things I mostly want to do after completing the trip to Nepal, but if I find I just can't do the EBC, then I will chase the dream of traveling throughout the western half of the USA and trying to see as many National Parks as I can and hiking the hikes I can physically handle. The National Parks in the US are pretty amazing. They are varied in their scenery, activities, location and climate. They are crowded. So many of the ones in the Northwestern States are only open for three to five months due to winter weather conditions. Snow on the ground some years until mid- June and winter snowfalls that start in September. The short season makes it difficult to avoid the crowds. I hate crowds. But I am not going to think about that yet. I will focus on what awaits outside the box.