High School

One of the nuisances about being home in the MIDDLE of an AT Hike is explaining it to people. Most of my family and close friends have been following my journal, and so they knew to expect me back, and actually welcomed me. But last night I went to visit my old highschool to see their winter play. There were three levels of response. Friends would mock me, "Oh, did poor little Joshy get cold and decide to come home?". They were just joking, and hey, that's what friends are for. Then there were the people who knew I was supposed to be hiking, but didn't know I'd come home. They would look at me, say "hi", then a second later do a double take, look back at me and say "what are you doing here?" I'd have to explain the whole thing. I probably explained it about 20 times last night. Of course, the final level was the people who barely knew me and would ask questions such as "Which college are you at?" Answering all of the questions of people back here is akward, and while I don't mind what they think or care much about their opinions (it's my hike), it does get annoying at times. I really can't wait to go back to the trail! March 2nd can't come quickly enough! The good news is, I'm managing to work and make some money, to make up for all those nights in hotels and hostels in Georgia.