What I'd Really Rather Be Doing
Through-Hiking
So...why "Hank?" It's not my real name, and only one person calls me that in the whole world (although, now a few more do).
See, I have a real life now: wife, kids, house. And all the wonders that come with it: mortgage, diapers, etc. Don't get me wrong, it's a great life.
But there's a whole other part of me that I put away a long time ago. Sometimes it comes out. It's the part that loves the outdoors, and wants to move to Boulder. Or through-hike the Appalachian Trail. It's not because I want to escape my life: I really love my life. But the life I chose, well, it was a choice. I chose this path. In choosing this path, I foreclosed another. You can't hike the Trail when you have three (soon to be four) children. They wouldn't understand why Daddy was gone for four months.
And growing up, a big part of me loved that stuff. Hiking, biking, swimming, running. I was an earthy-crunchy guy in a conservative body. I had a friend, T, who brought that out in me. But at the window of opportunity, she went her way, and I went mine. So instead of the delights of travel and love of outdoors, I chose indoor pursuits. I've done well for myself (if I do say so myself). Sometimes, though—sometimes—I wonder what my life would be like had I gone down another path.
So that's what "Hank" is, that other part of me.
So...why "Hank?" It's not my real name, and only one person calls me that in the whole world (although, now a few more do).
See, I have a real life now: wife, kids, house. And all the wonders that come with it: mortgage, diapers, etc. Don't get me wrong, it's a great life.
But there's a whole other part of me that I put away a long time ago. Sometimes it comes out. It's the part that loves the outdoors, and wants to move to Boulder. Or through-hike the Appalachian Trail. It's not because I want to escape my life: I really love my life. But the life I chose, well, it was a choice. I chose this path. In choosing this path, I foreclosed another. You can't hike the Trail when you have three (soon to be four) children. They wouldn't understand why Daddy was gone for four months.
And growing up, a big part of me loved that stuff. Hiking, biking, swimming, running. I was an earthy-crunchy guy in a conservative body. I had a friend, T, who brought that out in me. But at the window of opportunity, she went her way, and I went mine. So instead of the delights of travel and love of outdoors, I chose indoor pursuits. I've done well for myself (if I do say so myself). Sometimes, though—sometimes—I wonder what my life would be like had I gone down another path.
So that's what "Hank" is, that other part of me.
