Behold! The power of project management!
I’m going to give you a little quiz. Take out your pencils please. Now think carefully:
1. How many meals will you eat in the next six months?
2. How many snacks will you eat?
3. How many miles do you plan to walk each day?
And the 64 million dollar question is:
4. Where should you drop your resupply – and exactly how much should you include?
The significant majority of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers buy their resupply at the small trail towns along the way. Every 5 days or so, hikers can find a Dollar General, small grocery, or a hostel that sells plenty of ramen noodles, macaroni & cheese, instant potatoes, and Snickers bars. While these meals can be quite tasty, they are also full of ingredients that I can’t pronounce. And my career is in biopharmaceutical development – that says something!
While my body was able to clear out toxins much easier when I was younger – I’ve been forced to accept my position in life: MENOPAUSE. I’m not going to lie – she’s a bitch.
I can eat processed foods every once in a while. If I eat them a few days in a row, however, my body morphs into a blimp, my brain melts into a thick fog, and I’m one step above comatose.
As such, I’ve made a conscious decision to self-supply food and products that are non-GMO, organic, non-toxic - and plenty of protein. It’s a lot more up-front work. At the same time, this investment will significantly increase my chances of reaching Katahdin strong, healthy and happy.
My favorite organic, non-GMO food suppliers are Wild Zora (bone broth, grain-free hot cereal, grass-fed savory protein bars, dehydrated paleo meals with lots of veggies); Harmony House (dehydrated, vegan, veggies and legumes galore); Next Mile Meals (high protein paleo - then I add more veggies from Harmony House); Seapoint Farms dry roasted edamame (high in protein and fiber); UCan energy bars; Epic grass-fed savory protein bars; Bobo’s almond butter oat pars; and Rx nut butter packets.
The economy has remained stable, thanks to all the purchases I've made for this adventure. You're welcome. =)
My kitchen and living room have turned into a dehydrated food manufacturing line and warehouse!
My main meals include a rotation of twenty different healthy options. And my snack rotation is about twice that. It’s all about variety to absorb different micronutrients.
I’m kind of proud of my dehydrated meal concoction - a black bean, chorizo, bulgar wheat, broccoli, onion, garlic, tomato powder & turmeric mix that can be eaten as a heart-warming soup, a hot casserole, or a summer salad. I also keep reaching for my freeze-dried blueberry, freeze-dried blackberry, pistachio, walnut & brazil nut snack mix - even though I’m not hiking yet. It’s just so satisfying!!
Life also has forced me to accept that my skin is – well – needy. I’m a melanoma survivor. And I do at least TRY to preserve the last of my youth. Top quality products, then, are the choice I make. To negotiate with the ultra-lite backpacking lifestyle, Janguk and I repackaged my sunscreen, face creams, and other toiletries into little 0.5 oz containers. They’re kinda cute, right?
Pulling out every single project management trick in the book, I architected the grandaddy of all spreadsheets that maps out my target-vs-actual mileage, resupply intersection points, and anticipated resupply needs.
Here are a few high-level snapshots. Don’t try to read the text, lest you go cross-eyed. Instead, simply admire the millions of different data points all working together to weave the perfect project plan.
Several other friends and neighbors joined the party to pre-box the 28 shipments. What a milestone to ship out resupply for the first six weeks!
Then, for the balance of the shipments - my neighbors and I have worked out a communication plan for any inventory changes and updated shipment locations.
It’s a sophisticated operation, I tell you!
My friends and neighbors literally are my life-line for this resupply project. Number one gal-pal Debbie has been and always will be there through thick and thin. Junguk has reached Buddhist saint-hood in my book, if that even can be a thing. Anne Marie, Alessandra, Silvio, Luca, & Declan have embraced me like no other family ever has - I get teary-eyed reflecting on how much love they have to give.
In most people’s world, something of this magnitude and complexity would have taken months to pull off. But we did all this in just 2.5 weeks. Isn’t that incredible?
Now onto something much more simple: Walk. In a straight line. How hard can it be compared to all of this prep work, right??
Dream big. Go boldly. This is life!
Cris
