Vermont Rediscovered

I am a city person and I thrive in a metropolitan city. I am used to 24 hour everything, convenience and impatience. If you drive in the left lane doing 100mph, people will honk for driving slow. Michiganders are stressed out, anxious and obese.

I've been living in Vermont for 4 years now and had to make many adjustments here. First, my college had more students on campus than the population of Burlington, VT. Secondly, the pace of life here is slooow. Vermonters are happy to drive 5 miles under the speed limit and they are happy if they finish 1 errand a day. Vermonters also live for life outside of work. They often close their stores 10 minutes before closing time. As you can imagine, I've been pulling my hair out the last 4 years. I don't think this is entirely bad, but just different from what I am used to.

I couldn't figure out why people loved Vermont so much. The winters are long, it gets dark here early and everyplace takes at least 30 minutes to drive to. However, this past year, I have rediscovered Vermont and it makes sense to me now. The secret was to not spend 60 hours at the office or holed up at home and get outside! Everywhere you look you see people running, biking, skiing and hiking. Vermonters are active and love being outdoors. This past spring, I ran the Vermont City Marathon. The marathon was an incredible experience and I can't wait to run it again year after year.

Now my next challenge is to hike the entire Long Trail in a year. This is not a huge feat, but trying to juggle a job and family will require some planning. I won't hike the whole trail at once, but on the weekends. I will post a blog and pictures for each trail I hike.

I enjoy hiking with friends and making new ones. If you want to join me for any of the hikes, send me an e-mail. After the hike, I will invite you to be a guest blogger and share your experience. See you on the Long Trail!