Welcome to the Normal to Nomad podcast, where we share stories, thoughts, ideas, and conversations on our journey to find balance with nature in a technologically advanced world.

My name is Barron.

And I'm Elsa.

We live together in a 13-foot scamp trailer with our dog camp in the American wilderness.

Welcome back. Today we were talking to Elsa about her five-week or five-day track on the Appalachian Trail and all the things she learned and what that experience was like. First time... Backpacking. Yeah, first time doing a long backpacking trip i've

never backpacked so not ever overnight i mean i've camped overnight but i'm not like

hiked in i have i don't know no not like a dedicated backpacking trip i hadn't't either. And I mean, we are very experienced campers.

Mm-hmm.

Hikers.

We wear backpacks all the time.

And we can cook out in the backcountry and stuff, but putting it all together is something

that we've never done.

I'd never done.

Yeah.

And hiking has never really been something that I strived to do.

Like it was always kind of a means to get places like to climb or whatever.

We didn't have any experience in Kansas City doing anything like it.

So I never really developed an interest for it until we got out to Colorado and there were cool things to hike in and around.

Yeah. So what made you want to do the AT?

I think it was like 2015 when I first watched Wild that movie, you know, with Reese Witherspoon. Did you see it?

I read the book to... Actually, I don't know. It's been a long time. It's like a whole story. that movie, you know, with Reese Witherspoon? Did you see it? Mm-hmm.

I read the book, too.

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