30 Before 30 Journey in a Year

"I don't understand camping. We're voluntarily living like dogs." Flo from Pitch Perfect 2 had some sage words that I agreed with for most of my life. But did my weekend backpacking trip change those feelings?  To note, my camping experience is very limited. Aside from this weekend, I think I've slept in a tent three other times. And none of those were backpacking experiences, most where when I accompanied friends' families growing up.  From these camping experiences, what has been my experience you ask? Hot, uncomfortable, sleep deprived and ornery about cover it.  But part of this 30 Before 30 journey was revisiting things that I might have prematurely written off in life, giving a second glance and making a firmer and more educated decision. I love to be outdoors, and I love to hike. I just want to come home, take a shower and sleep in my bed at the end of the day.  But living in the great outdoorsy city of Chattanooga and having ...

Living 2.2 miles from my office and around a mile from the beautiful Downtown Chattanooga riverfront, the decision to go car free for a week was a mostly peaceful, hot (why did I wait until June on this?) and gym routine altering adventure. Starting on a Thursday and going through Wednesday, my no car week was a split between biking and walking. When deciding on this item and then planning for the week, I'm so thankful to live where I live and in a city where this is a doable option for me. I didn't take public transit during the week. Mainly because I didn't have to; everything was more quickly accessible via walking or biking based on the location of my office and home to surrounding amenities. However, Downtown Chattanooga does have an awesome free electric shuttle system that I do take often. I walked/biked to work, to meetings, to the movies, to the store, to the pharmacy, to get coffee, to get lunch, to friends' homes, to the gym and many other tasks. I also ch...