Why I won’t be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this year…

It’s a Sunday evening and I finally opened up my laptop again after a while. Life has changed quite a bit over the past couple of months and today was a perfect Lazy Sunday. I visited my mom for Mother’s Day this morning and other than that, I haven’t done anything. I love it. The peace and quiet I am currently experiencing is totally new in my life, I have not felt like this for a long time. My agenda used to be packed with things I wanted/needed to do but right now, it’s more than OK for me to have little plans and just see what the day will bring me. The idea that I will be going on a trip with a one-way ticket soon is slowly finding its way into my life and as is the idea that within a short matter of time I can basically just do and go where I want to. So bizarre!
 
After telling you about my decision to give up my job and travel, I almost forgot that I still have a trip to America planned. The most logical thing to do would have been to cancel the trip to save money but then again, I already have a plane ticket and so does my friend Melissa who is coming to visit me in Portland. And so I decided to just go ahead and make the trip, but just not as planned. I’ve known for a while that I won’t be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this year, I just didn’t feel like sharing it yet. However, I recently received the PNW Lonely Planet guidebook in the mail and time is flying. My wanderlust came back and I am actually starting to get extremely excited about my upcoming trip. So here’s my renewed plan.
 
I already figured that my plan on hiking a section of the PCT was a bit of a challenge, given my limited amount of time and experience in solo hiking. When I realized that getting to/from the trail was also a bit of a hassle, I got a little anxious. A little later I realized that it would be a bit of a waste to fly all the way to the USA and then only see a tiny bit of the states I’ve wanted to see for ages. I mean, there’s only so much distance you can cover in 10 days, right? So one morning I woke up and thought ‘Fuck it! I’m just not going to do it!’
 
And so I got the plan to just make a roadtrip and visit all those places I really want to see, such as Crater Lake, Mount Hood, Olympic National Park and the North Cascades. The roadtrip through the USA that Martijn and I made back in 2013 is still one of my favorite trips ever, especially because it’s super easy to travel through the USA and nature is simply stunning. I’ve also made various solo roadtrips through Alaska for work and always loved doing those, even though I was by myself at times. So I will definitely enjoy myself when roadtripping in the Pacific Northwest, just hiking, camping, driving and enjoying nature. Making a fire, grilling sausages and hopefully avoiding bears when out.
 
In addition, I’m meeting my friend Melissa in Portland, which is a city I’ve always wanted to visit. She will fly to Portland for the day from LA so we can catch up, which is pretty cool imho. We know each other from penpalling and I’ve met her in Las Vegas and twice in London before and she’s a super cool person. So I will not be entirely alone those weeks and I’m in fact quite sure I’ll meet some people to hang out with along the way. Plus I don’t mind being by myself really.
 
In short: no PCT for me this year. Maybe I will still hit the trail for a couple of days but that’s about it. Which feels like a great decision. In case anyone of you has any must-see suggestions for Oregon or Washington, please drop them in the comments!
 
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday
 
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– The highs and lows of three years as a travel blogger
– The most embarrassing moments when solo-traveling through South America
– How Instagram ruined travel for me
 
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Thanks for sharing!