Last summer my family went backpacking in Colorado. It was just an overnight trip, and within 24 hours we had returned to civilization and were eating the biggest hamburgers we’d ever seen in our lives. It was just a sweet little trip, but because it was the final check on my post-cancer to-do list, it was a pretty big deal.
My friend Tori backpacks with her family. Like seriously backpacks. She goes on monster trips – 7+ days with no potty and no shower kind of trips. My max so far is two nights, and I don’t know if I’ll ever work up to a week, but maybe someday.
I try to emulate Tori in a lot of ways. We periodically get together for coffee, and I soak up all the wisdom I can in those few moments. I love the way she parents her children. I love the way she adores her husband. And I love the way she loves Jesus. I want to be the mom who does the challenging adventurous things with my hubby and kids for the sake of family time and memory making like she does.
There are things I really don’t like about backpacking like mosquitos, sore feet and waking up every hour during the night to switch positions because the hard ground and my hips don’t like each other very much. But I tell myself, if Tori can survive the wilderness with her man and her children, well then I can too.
She took one of those monster trips last summer (a 3 week trip on the Superior Hiking Trail), and she recently blessed the world by writing about it.
Grab a coffee or a tea, find a comfy chair and take the time to read Tori’s story at Conversations at the Clothesline. It’s a total of 13 posts, and worth every minute you spend reading. You will love how real and funny and humble she is. I don’t know if her story will make you want to go backpacking, but it will probably make you want to ask her to be your friend. 🙂
