Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

This is one of those books that probably resonates very deeply with those who have lost someone close to them; however I‰ЫЄm lucky enough still not to have experienced a death of a parent (or even a grandparent) which made this a really sad read but less powerful I think than for those who have had that experience. However, the story about a journey that is supposed to be something, but you don't know what, to find your way to some other self you didn't think you could be, is still very powerful.

Maybe this is a minor thing, but I identify most with the painful feet experience, for a couple of reasons. First, I‰ЫЄve been wearing cleats to play ultimate frisbee for the last (cough) 12 years and they have always given me some form of trouble; it‰ЫЄs been better the last couple of years with my latest pair but in other years, my god, new blisters with every game, toenails bruised and busted and detached. So I know all about the torture that a seemingly-well-fitted pair of foot coverings can inflict under stressful conditions. Second, when I started reading this book in earnest, I had just returned from a long working weekend, which meant being on my feet all day in shoes that looked nice and were perfectly comfortable at work when I did little besides sit at my desk all day, but were killer when there was a lot of walking and standing and running and dancing to do. My feet were swollen and raw for days afterward, and even now they‰ЫЄre still achy. So the foot-torture (and that torture as a metaphor for something else) is something that I could definitely identify with.

And I also very much identify with the sense of not being able to go any further but going further anyway – pushing at my limits and seeing how far I can take things. I am not into extreme anything and I will probably never in my life go backpacking or even camping if I can help it, but I can identify with the drive to push yourself further than you think you can go, and then going further. It‰ЫЄs kind of one of those crazy things about being human or whatever.