Where art thou? Thy trail is waiting!

Been a while. And am growing restless day by day.

For once, am missing that one companion, one person in my life; whom I could drag into my craziness happily. I just need that one friend who shares my interest in hiking - badly need a hiking partner. I have been sketching so many plans in my head, scrounging blogs by through hikers around the world. It’s not a one day or one week hike. I have been itching to do a through hike - GHT, PCT, AT, GPT, CDT, Tokai, Wales coast path, Sentiero Italia etc.. etc.. Thousands of miles that will take months on trail in wilderness. There are folks hiking for years at a stretch - (check out Bethany Hughes and Lauren Reed at Her-Odyssey covering America to America 20000 miles in 5 years, starting 2015 - still going strong) - I badly want to do something like that. But I can’t think of doing any of those alone. At times I feel I will make friends along the way, will meet people as I hike, so I should be fine. But I enjoy company of people as much as I love solitude.

Khopra Ridge Trek - Nepal (Dhaulagiri range in view)

And these hikes that run for months, I want to have that one constant hiking partner, who isn’t chatty but is easy to talk to even when you are dead tired, who is strong but at the same time considerate when it’s called for, who can get sad or be in pain but is not whiny or pessimistic, who smiles often and can be trusted with one’s life. It can be a guy or a gal or a gay; doesn’t matter as long as it’s a human, a person who will be as happy with me as I will be with him/her on trail.

I have tried meetup, regular gyms, camps but with little luck; I have found good company for general travel and smaller day hikes - no doubt; amazing friends with whom my frequency matches. But none of them are into through hiking. And I am left dangling again. I wish there was some sort of website; where you could put up your interests and find matches! Like the swipe right/ swipe left kinda thing. I have searched google like crazy; nothing that could help me.

I don't pray for anything; last I remember asking something from the superpower, was when I had heard of my parents accident; which was in 2013 - 6 years now. Since then, I don’t recall praying for anything, not even when I was hospitalized for weeks last year. But these days, I just silently wish I found someone who would share my interest of hiking the world.

Well, someday maybe I will find someone or maybe I will find the will to do it alone. Either, or, I will figure it out.

I think for now I must just keep the restless heart of mine busy with what’s around. And that's a night sky of Toronto full of lightning; as I sit in my patio writing down my thoughts. Nature is everywhere, we just need to feel it.

(*GHT - Great Himalayan Trail, PCT - Pacific Crest Trail, CDT - Continental Divide Trail, AT - Appalachian Trail, GPT - Great Patagonian Trail)

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