Advice for the Trail

What does it mean to find yourself? People do lots of things to find themselves. They travel the world or go for a degree. For me it’s the later. I’m currently in school trying to figure out just who I am.


I think I’ve made some headway on the road to finding the true Josh. I only have a year left before it’s back to the workforce, so I better hurry up. Over the past couple years I’ve come to learn a few things that everyone should know in order to successfully “find themselves.”

1. It’s not what you know it’s who you know.
2. Be proactive instead of reactive.
3. Play the long game.

Relationships are the most important thing in life. Your daily goal should be building strong ties with the people around you. Kind of like what we’re doing with the BEYOND LIMITS: Appalachian Trail Adventure. It’s true that being knowledgeable is a great asset, but it doesn’t do you any good if the right people don’t see your talents.

Lower your defenses and try to be cool, everything will be OK. When things don’t go your way look back at those relationships and try to come up with a solution to the problem. Maybe someone you know can help you?

You can’t think short term so plan ahead. If you heed the first two points of my advice then this one should come naturally. Focus on the long-term effects of your choices. There have been plenty of opportunities where I’ve chosen instant gratification for it only to come back and bite me a short while later. Playing the long game means having a good concept of time. Just because things are tough right now doesn’t mean they’re going to be every day for the rest of your life. If you develop good relationships and are proactive when problems arise, then things will fall into place.

Everything I’ve mentioned ties back into our hike. We’re looking to build new and long-lasting relationships. If BEYOND LIMITS is about anything it’s about people and the human spirit. People are going to be what makes the ATA possible.

So if you know of someone out there looking to find themselves then perhaps spending seven months with us along the AT is exactly what they’re looking for.

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