With perhaps six to seven weeks left hiking the Appalachian Trail – about 800 miles – our thoughts turn towards the West. What and where is home? How do we return?

Of course we wonder about the banal complications like work, money, rent… the typical trappings of living which we’ve eschewed for the past few months. We start remembering routines, places, people – things we’ve missed and things we intend never to return to.

But, truly… most importantly… how and where will we spend our time, and with whom? This adventure has made these questions very evident, though the answers are less so…

Living a life unencumbered by former expectations about career and life paths, we are momentarily consumed by a sense of freedom and personal responsibility. We are forced to live for the day each day we decide to continue on this trail. This state of being is made possible by a strong ethical and moral code that allows us to care for each other, our trail community, and our world. What we do for money does not define us – rather, we expect and seek a holisitic life, where we can share time, space, food and dreams. This is now and a future more important than any currency.

The simple answer to the question is YES.

Yes to what is next, yes to now, yes to this moment. We choose to answer yes to living and yes to the people with us, and yes to the communitiy that surrounds us. Through this simple affirmation, we seek to realign ourselves with a life that enables us to express these higher ideals through our everyday action – through mindfulness and attention – and through saying yes at every moment to those things we believe in.