Enjoy Being

Why I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

In 2014, with little backpacking experience, I hiked the Wonderland Trail with Jon and our friend Mandy. Prior to that trip, I had always been really into climbing and thought that hiking was boring unless it was taking you to a climbing destination. Walking around Mt. Rainier for a week turned out to be a deeply transformative experience. I had no idea the backcountry could be that beautiful; utterly peaceful in its wild existence.

I was hooked.

Starting July 1, 2015, I hiked Sections J and K of the Washington portion of the PCT. At the time I planned to walk all the way to the Sierras. I had just left a stressful career in account management and was planning on going to go back to school when I got back in September. When I got off the trail to resupply, I received a bittersweet email. I had been given a generous scholarship to attend school to be a software engineer.

So, looking at my dwindling bank account and ballooning student loan debt, I decided to get off trail and change careers. At that moment, I needed a more rewarding career and more income potential than I needed a hike.

Over the next 5 years, I packed in as much backpacking into my life as possible. Jon and I embarked on a weekend warrior tour d’force of the PNW backcountry. Vacations comprised of longer hikes here and in the Sierras. We ticked off some truly epic hikes.

• 2016 – Section L of the PCT (85 mi)
• 2017- hiked across the Olympic Peninsula and up the wilderness coastline (~120 mi)
• 2018 – Big SEKI Loop in the High Sierras (140 mi)
• 2020 – Big North Cascades Loop (150 mi)

At work – my career was taking off as software developer. It was busy and frenetic, but also rewarding. I dove into the subject matter. I really love to learn new things, and so the world of application development and maintaining a codebase provided no shortage of things to study. For the first time, I really fit into my job. I have the kind of brain that just chews on problems until I know how to solve them; this is the perfect job if you like to problem solve.

Then came 2020. Living in Jon’s childhood home on Whidbey Island with our 2 dogs. Life was…surreal. Isolated. Monotonous. Scary. During this time, I mostly kept my head down. Work was demanding, so I just did that. I worked. Weekends we ran the trails on the island. Zoom calls with friends and family. My mom sent us hand sanitizer when there was none. I reminded myself how lucky we were.

Enjoy Being…what exactly?

Enjoy being. I saw this on a bumper sticker and it really spoke to me. But what does it mean – to enjoy being? I think it’s a call to action. A reminder that you are not a passive bystander in your life. You make the calls. Enjoy being you, because there is no one else like you in the universe.

I don’t presume to know what gives other people the joy of being. I wonder if they even know. I’d wager that it’s a lifelong pursuit that some are better at than others. For me, I have a pretty good idea what brings me joy: freedom.

My mom once said “Rachel, you require a lot of freedom to be happy”. I think she was a little exasperated with me when she came upon this revelation, but that’s another story. (Just love me, Mom!)

She’s right.

A big part of my pursuit of freedom is financial freedom. Being frugal has shaped my worldview and given me the control to choose what I want, instead of my past decisions determining my future ones. It’s why I’ve driven “The Bubble” for the past 10 years. A cheap, reliable car. Why we prioritize paying down our only debt (student loans) aggressively over the past 4 years. Why we don’t spend money unless it is really justified.

But freedom is also moving on when things are over. When a workplace no longer serves me, I move on. When my career in account management no longer felt sustainable, I retooled in a new career. I’ve learned to not wallow in untenable situations. Obviously, some circumstances are out of our control – but not as much as you think.

Finally, freedom is being comfortable with the fact that I am not interested in meeting societal definitions of what a woman in her 30’s should be doing. My life will not follow the well-tread path, and that’s okay. Since we are all stuck with ourselves, let’s enjoy being whatever version of ourselves feels the most true.

I’m hiking the Pacific Crest Trail because hiking is what makes me happy. Because I can. Because walking for 5 months sounds like the adventure of a lifetime.

Back in 2015, I did not have the freedom to do it – and that stung. I had to learn how to set my actions towards the pursuit of freedom. 6 years later, the path is at last laid before me, and I’m ready to walk it.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Read More About Our PCT Adventure:

• So, We’re Hiking the PCT?
• How to Pack for 5 Months Worth of Hiking
• Follow Along on Our PCT Journey