hello 2017

I know I'm a few days late to welcoming in the new year, but I've been spending some time reflecting on the past year and thinking about my goals for this year. 2016 treated me well- it was a year of lots of adventures! Since I was young, I always said I wanted to travel as much as I could when I "grew up". Although I don't feel grown up yet, I'm so grateful for all the traveling I was able to do! I feel like I travelled more this year than ever before, despite being a poor college student! Looking back, I'm amazed at how I managed to do everything I did! I somehow went on a trip, big or small, every month. 

hello again

Since the last time we talked, I have finished my job in Yellowstone, attended my best friend's wedding, roadtripped 2000+ miles back home, reunited with my family and friends, and began my last semester of college. It has been exciting and tumultuous and bittersweet and nostaligic and I've never been more thankful for stillness.

It's nice to settle back into a routine after a summer of constant adventuring. I'm looking forward to getting back on this blog, I've missed crafting and sharing my projects with you guys! I have hundreds of photos from this summer to sift through, but when I do I want to create a travel diary to share the highlights.
 
Thanks for sticking around after this summer's hiatus. I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store, and sharing it all with you.

xoJordan

vegan backpacking food

Spring break is next week and while most people are heading to the beaches, I'm spending the break hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail! In preparation for the trip, I started doing some research on backpacking food for vegans and realized there are not a whole lot of resources out there for people who want to hike on a plant-based diet. So I'm going to show you all what I'm bringing for the trip, to give you some ideas if you too plan to go camping as a vegan!

The standard breakfast for backpackers, vegan or not, is oatmeal. I add some almond butter, chia seeds, and brown sugar for more flavor and nutrients. The unfrosted PopTarts are vegan, and although they aren't the healthiest thing you can eat, the extra calories are needed when you're hiking 10+ miles a day. Something hot to drink on chilly mornings is also nice to have, so I'm bringing tea!


Snacks are essential for a long hike- they give you the energy you need to keep going. I'm bringing an assortment of things because I don't want to get tired of eating the same trail mix every single day. I'm packing green pea crisps (they are lightweight and delicious!), crackers, lots of granola bars, and the classic "gorp".

I'm not including lunch in this post because someone else in our group is packing it for us, and it's so simple: just peanut butter and tortilla.


For dinner, I'm bringing lentils, rice, dried potatoes, dried tofu, packaged vegetables, and spices to give it all some flavor. I found the tofu and veggies at an asian grocery store, which is surprisingly a great place to find backpacking food! The lentils and rice cook in 5 minutes, and the potatoes simply need hot water- so this is a quick and easy meal to put together after a long day of hiking!


The extra things that I don't necessarily need, but like to have, are sour patch kids for a little boost during the day, hot chocolate for sitting around the fire, and chewing gum.

I won't be back on the blog for a week or so, but I will write all about my adventure after the trip is over!
Happy weekend!
xoJordan

weekend backpacking adventure

Saturday morning two friends and I hopped in the car and drove two hours to Bankhead National Forest to begin our mini backpacking excursion. We parked our car at the trailhead, put our packs on our backs, and headed out. Our plan for the first day was to hike an easy 7 miles. After fording a river, climbing past waterfalls, and hiking until the sun began to set, we realized our map very much underestimated our mileage and we actually hiked 10 miles before we reached camp.

We set up camp next to a small spring, started a fire, filtered some water, and began cooking our dinners. We were ravenous after hiking so much. After dinner, we settled down around the campfire and enjoyed being outside under the stars. When the fire went down, we tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags to rest before another day of hiking.

The next morning we woke up early and had some oatmeal before packing up our supplies. After camp was all cleaned up, we headed out for what we thought would be a 4 or 5 mile hike. After walking for at least that many miles, we realized we made a wrong turn and went down the wrong trail. And of course it was at that moment that it began to rain. So then began the real adventure, as we waded across the river searching for our trail, only to spend an hour bushwhacking our way through unkempt forest and wading back across the river when we decided that wasn't going to get us anywhere. We headed back the way we came from, and decided just to backtrack on the trail we took the previous day. By the time we got back to the trailhead, we had hiked 14 miles. We were wet and cold and hurt everywhere and all we could think about was what a huge, delicious meal we were going to consume.

And yet, even with the extra mileage and the rain and fording a river four times, it was such a fun trip. Not only is it a relief to just be out in nature, but hiking so much and pushing yourself to do what you didn't think you could do is so rewarding. And getting lost is not so bad when you're in such a beautiful place.