Trek Dirty to Me: 53 days until I start scootin' up the trail, and I want your (audible) book recommendations!

So 175-180 days on the trail is a lot of walking. Growing up, I had a complicated relationship with the hiking part of camping and backpacking. It seems a bit ridiculous as I plan on thru-hiking 2,200 miles up the Appalachian Trail. I think the combination of my easily-angered feet and my very overactive mind made the long stretches in between setting up camp a little unbearable at times. This changed in my late twenties when I began hiking again. What was responsible for the change? An iPod.

I remember my first hike that had a soundtrack and it was life-changing. I found life in my steps. I found myself literally dancing up the trail. I was no longer the last to reach a destination, but the first. I was not immune to the sounds of nature (Apple earbuds were not noise-cancelling at the time) and I had an added sensory cue of a playlist to pair with the moments and vistas that unfolded before me.

Hiking with music was rad. A seven-day summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro both renewed and solidified my love of hiking and backpacking and the music accompanying me throughout that experience was a huge part of that shift.

Rocking some earbuds on Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2007.

These days, I still enjoy my music and will absolutely listen to it when I feel the urge, but I realized technology could deliver amazing spoken word opportunities that could carry me through the miles. I have made a significant dent in This American Life and more recently the Backpacker Radio Podcast. I also (finally) formalized my Audible subscription to dive into the world of “books on tape.”

I have fond memories of books on tape as a youth (and books in general). Adulthood has provided many distractions that have taken precedence over my early love of reading. The list of books to read has continued to grow. I plan to “read” as many as I can on the trail as I take everything in, and I would love any and all recommendations that you might have.

Bonus: I will be doing a “(Bad) Haiku Book Review” of each book that I complete over the course of this and future trails.

-AJ

Help me. Help you!

-AJ

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