Off the trail - Homemade Wanderlust

Hello dear friends,

 Time gets away from you. The weather gets colder. It's dark by the time you get home from work. Your weekends are filled with visits and errands. So many excuses! I do feel bad that we haven't been able to get out much over the last couple of months. This is, I think, typical for this time of year, here. 

 I figured it would be a good time to start a new series on my blog. I would like to share with you all some outdoor related blogs, vlogs, magazines, books, etc. that I enjoy and figured you might be interested in as well. 

 For the first instalment, I wanted to talk about a young lady by the name of Jessica "Dixie" Mills. It was actually my husband that found her online, actually on YouTube, while looking up information about hiking shoes! He then shared his discovery with me and I have to admit, I'm hooked. I even went back to her older videos in order to absorb as much of her positivity and experience as I could. 

 In 2015 she set out to hike the Appalachian Trail (the AT) and accomplished it. She decided that filming her hike would be a good way to create something to hold her memories and show what it was like for her to hike this over 2000-mile long trail. She then set her mind on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (the PCT) in 2017 and completed it on October 6, 2017. In between these two hikes, she created a ton of videos regarding the AT, including gear reviews and how life was while out on the trail. Now that she has completed the PCT, she is starting to post similar videos for the PCT. This, of course, means that she has accomplished two out of three trails that make up the Triple Crown. Next spring, she heads out to complete the last trail, the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). I am very much looking forward to those videos as well. Her editor is fantastic and her footage is wonderful.

 I feel that in order to really get to know her, you need to go and see her videos and blog posts for yourself. She earned her trail name, Dixie, when she was on the AT and it suits her well. She is honest, positive and just has this wonderful joy for life. She also always points out that any gear that she uses and reviews is 100% based on her own experience and from what she hears from others on the trail, but as always, you need to try things out for yourself to see what really works for you. 

 I just noticed while looking for links that she just posted a new video... so I'm off to enjoy it! And I hope that you will take the time to go and discover her blog, vlogs, etc. She has an amazing positive attitude and it will make you want to get up and out there. 

 If you are interested, I could post more about the three trails that make up the Triple Crown. Or if you have any other topics you would like me to cover, feel free to leave a comment. 

 Thanks again and we shall see where we roam next.

Rachel

 PS: As always, I have tried to include links for everything that I mention throughout my post. If any link is not working or is incorrect, please let me know so that I can fix it!

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