I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I have been working my way through a few difficulties. And now its time to tell you about them.

First and most importantly. The trek is on schedule.  No matter what, I will start walking on January 1st. There is no doubt of this.  It is getting down to the wire and show time is just around the corner. The excitement as well as the pressure is building rapidly. Not a hour of my day goes by without me thinking about the journey ahead.  Every night I fall asleep dreaming of walking thousands of miles through landscape I have never seen before. And every morning I wake up to thoughts of all the things I must get done before I even get to the first trail. This will truly be incredible journey of adventure and personal growth that I can hardly wait any longer to begin.

The largest difficulty that I have encountered so far is the complete lack of work hours at my current job. My plan from the start of this project was to work for this company this season for 6 months. It was agreed that I would earn more than enough to cover my budget for the entire trip. The season even started out well with working 18-22 hour days regularly. It sounds crazy but I was actually super pumped about the job. I was swinging sledge hammers, putting in fence, digging holes, planting trees and installing sod. I was quickly working towards my goal on my own which made me happy.

Then the work simply ran out. This left almost the entire work crew at home not working, which included myself. This is only to be blamed on the terrible economy that Michigan currently has. None the less, this threw me for a loop. I had never  been in a situation in construction like this before.  All of a sudden my plan turned around 180 degrees. I went from having the perfect plan to earn my own way to fund the trek to having nothing. So I then turned to the one thing I could do. Carpentry. I pulled out my tools and start doing odd jobs on my own again. It has been almost three months now and I am still doing carpentry jobs on my own. It is going pretty well. I am not earning as much money as the other job simply because I cannot work 22 hours a day on occupied homes.  However, working by myself sure has its perks. It can be very rewarding and creative.

The current plan is to keep working on my own and to continue trek preparation as planned. The job situation is only a speed bump in the road. Even though I want everything to go as I plan them, this is simply not reality and I have to work around the obstacles as the appear.

I have been cutting down my budget to stretch my funds as far as possible. I have eliminated all hotel stays and most restaurant dining. Instead, I will rely on the many friends I have around the country for a warm shower and home cooked meal while I am in towns buying supplies for the trail.

In addition to the  attempt to out maneuver the funding obstacle by working for myself, I have also sold my tv, stereo, surfboards, snowboard, boots, brewing equipment, climbing gear, wetsuits, helmets, goggles, athletic clothing,  even flannel shirts and all backpacking gear such as stoves and backpacks that I am not taking on the trek. The only things I have left besides the gear for the trek are  my truck, tools and mountain bike. Hopefully the bike will the sell this week. I plan to sell the truck after I don’t need it for work any more.  Finally, at almost 25 years old, I have moved back in with my parents to eliminate the costs of groceries and renting an apartment for the next four months.

I believe I am doing everything I can think of to help make this trek happen. I also believe my plan to be completely feasible and I fully intended to make it happen come this January.  But ideas are more than welcome so shoot me an email if you have any!

Now it is time to sleep. I have another patio to build in the morning. More soon.

Good Night.

-Samuel