A Little Each Day

I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, hippie capital of the world, at least that's what we thought.

I studied Marxist theory at "the House", a campus student rental that had three stories and no telling how many residents. We radical high school students would just drop in, hang out, and join reading groups. We had an underground newspaper, too.

At times, we'd discuss how the Chinese would solve problems. Because of problems with farming, drainage, and inadequate insect control, mosquitoes were rampant. Part of the solution was each citizen was to kill ten mosquitoes each day. Doesn't sound like much, but you get a billion Chinese each killing 10 mosquitos, you have some serious insect control in progress.

Really. I remember thinking about that solution. A little each day, and the eventual payoff was problem solved.

That's sort of the way I deal with a long hike. One proverb among hikers is you put enough 10 mile days together and next thing you know, you've got a through hike. If you look at the whole thing at once, its mind boggling. How can anyone carry a pack and hike over 2,178 miles in one season? The logistics, the money, the bad weather?

Just get ready for a week long hike. Then do it, head into town, and re supply. Head out again and just focus on that week. Repeat until you make it all the way. I like the Little Each Day Plan.

If you're downsizing, driving across country, killing off mosquitos, saving for retirement, heading down the trail, stay in the moment.

I read about a woman, Roz Savage, who rowed alone across the Atlantic Ocean in 2006. Then, she rowed alone across the Pacific Ocean. This month she intends to do the Indian Ocean, which is the last one of the Big Three. I'm impressed. Each day, rowing across the water. Read her blog at http://rozsavage.com/ .