Day 1: Liftoff! 04.05.2010
Song of the Day: Jimmy Eat World: Blister
Early morning, im woken up from the sound of a 1980's alarm clock which quickly gets set to snooze. My girlfriend's alarm clock goes off again promptly ten minutes later, reminding us that we are going to say goodbye today. Its been like a time bomb with this trip and it went off today. Its so incredibly hard for me to leave her. I didn't realize how much I would care. I thought I was going to do the guy thing and shrug it off, pretend like it doesn't bother me.
I walked with my pack and walking stick to 1117 south 2nd St. Philadelphia, where my starting location was set. Max and Dorsche grew up in this house that has the years on it to say it's housed a fair amount of generations, so it seemed fitting to start from here.
After a few shots were taken for a local paper, I started walking, saying goodbye to friends on the way: Oscar, my video game companion, Crasian, a fine Asian friend I've known since college, chris(mouth), who walked a few blocks with me, a final goodbye to Steph, with tears, and out of Philly I walked. I stopped by SJU one last time and my friend Cara's house to say goodbye to Eryck, a friend who has been on many trips with me but will miss this one.
My first day was too stimulating to really accept this reality that I am starting this trip. I still haven't completely internalized it. I just know that I'm in the woods, alone, and trying to figure out why. I'm a little scared. I'm a lot of excited. I'm hungry, I need some peanut butter sandwiches! Take care guys, and thanks so much for everyone who started following me on Twitter today and thought it would be cool to see what I'm up to! Your support is not only appreciated, but needed right now! Thanks again!
mike