Mail drops

Here I am, four days away from the start of my journey. It's been a crazy year of ups and downs and it's finally almost here. I had a nice surprise yesterday, a kind of impromptu surprise going away party from a whole bunch of my friends. It was a lot of fun but also made me a little sad. There's a lot of people that I'm going to miss over the next three or four months.

I head out this Friday, driving down to Harper's Ferry. Spending the night there, to hit the trail on Saturday morning. We'll probably start out slow, get our feel for things. It's about 6-7 miles to the first shelter, the Ed Garvey Shelter. Also starting on that day, you'll be able to follow along with where I'm at. My GPS unit will update my location every few hours. There will be a link posted on my Facebook page and also here. You can send me messages, and I'll do my best to reply in a timely manner.

One of the most common question/requests I've gotten is how people can send me stuff, and what kind of stuff should they send? As for what to send- it's tough to know right now, but here's what most likely will be on the list-

baked goodies like cookies, brownies, etc.
candy (snickers, peanut M&M's, Almond Joys are all good)
freeze-dried meals
beef jerky, dried fruit, dehydrated veggies
personal letters or notes (give me a little taste of what's going on at home)

I'll be posting a week or so ahead of time where to send things to based on where I think I'll be. When you do send something here's the way to do it -

If it's a Post Office-
Send via Priority Mail (they will forward for free if I happen to miss the package) to the following-

Jamison McLean
C/O General Delivery
Trail Town, VA 12345
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA May 16, 2015

If it's to a Hostel -
Priority Mail still

Jamison McLean
C/O Hiker Hostel
1234 Appalachian Way
Trail Town, VA 12345
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA May 16, 2015

I'll be spending the last few days here getting stuff ready to go. Cutting off my hair, and shaving the beard. The plan is to take a selfie every day and then do a time lapse when I get back. I'll definitely put up a final before I go post, most likely on Thursday or Friday. 

Remember- It's about the journey.