Extra Life United

Just a quick post about my time here at Extra Life United...

I am blown away. I knew this event would be an incredible experience. Being around my fellow Extra Lifers is energizing and incredible but I can't begin to tell how much more powerful it has been than my already high expectations. I have met so many great people here- fellow gamers, CMN champions and their families and the staff that makes Extra Life possible. Every single person here has made Extra Life and the Children's Miracle Network a big part of their lives. Every moment I spend with them, makes all the hard work worth it. 

The tournament has been kind to me so far. I managed to make the finals in all three tournaments yesterday. I placed 4th in Blokus, 3rd in Love Letter and a 1st place win at Liar's Dice. That's over $2,500 of prize money for The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital and I'm pretty sure that I locked a place in the finals. 

Being up on the stage for all 3 finals was surreal. Twitch streamed the whole day, so if you go to twitch.tv/extralife4kids you can watch. I was literally shaking before each game, I was so nervous. That's a lot of pressure, I really wanted to win some money for BBCH. I can't imagine how I'll feel before the finals!

Off to prep for the day. Excited and terrified, but overwhelmingly happy. 

Remember...it's about the journey. 

Finally Friday

Friday. It has been a long short week (we had Monday off for President's Day. I know, weird, right?). I woke up yesterday, convinced that it was Friday. I spent the first half hour of my day thinking that. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Thursday. Shit. Don't you hate that?

Things have been good lately though - Ever day is a bit closer to my departure and that is exciting. Things are rolling along for the Chits and Bits Game Marathon at the end of April. If you're not familiar, that's the 24 hour board game marathon that I started 2 years ago. We get together on International Tabletop Day and play games for 24 hours. Participants raise money for The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital through Extra Life. There's a raffle and door prizes and tournaments and all kinds of good stuff! The raffle this year is going to be huge, so there's been a ton of work being done (mostly by fellow Bearded Boardsmen Rob, thanks buddy!) to gather donations, and we've had some huge successes. Check out the Marathon on Facebook if you want more info.

Rob and I fly down to Disney World on Tuesday to compete in the Extra Life United national event. Gamers from all over the country are going to be at Disney playing in a game tournament to win prize money for their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital. I couldn't more excited to go down there and meet some of the families that Extra Life helps. It's a huge honor for Rob and I to represent BBCH. Plus leaving dreary 35 degree weather for 4 days in sunny Florida is nothing to complain about. Getting involved with Extra Life and support BBCH is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. I can't wait to take my journey and spread the word for Extra Life.

Remember...it's about the journey!

Whoops

Whoops, it's been a while. I'm slacking off, but I have excuses. No good ones, just the same old recycled crap. I was sick on the couch since Friday, I came to work today despite STILL feeling crummy. I had to have blood drawn for a physical, and I had fasted for 12 hours, so I figured I might as well come in and be miserable afterwards.

Here's the latest- For all of you that voted for me for the Badger Sponsorship, thank you so very much. I didn't make top 7, but I still got a bunch of great stuff out of it. It ended up being about $300 worth of stuff, which is great, considering I hadn't even thought I'd make top 12. So thank you again for your support.

I got a bunch of stuff in the mail today, a couple of merino wool t-shirts (which I'll end up wearing nearly every day for 6 months), a merino sweatshirt (yes, Mom, I know-a SWEATSHIRT), 2 water bottles that roll up to take less room, and 3 rechargeable tiny flashlights. Massdrop is a wonderful site, if you've never used it. I saved about $100 on all that stuff.

Snowing like crazy here. I hope that all the hikers that are on the trail already are safe and warm. I can't imagine attempting a through-hike in weather like this, but they're out there already.

Remember- it's about the journey.

The Badger Sponsorship

In case any of you don't do the Facebook thing, I had some big news on Sunday. I was selected as one of the finalist for the Badger Sponsorship, which is a contest created by Zach Davis, the author of Appalachian Trials. The sponsorship has a ton of great prizes which would really help me succeed on my hike. There were 76 video entries, and my video was selected in the top 12 by a panel of experts. Pretty awesome, right?

So the next phase is the voting - And that's where I need your help. 50% of the final standings are dependent on the popular vote on Appalachian Trials, and the other half is voting by an expert panel. If you have the time, go to Appalachian Trials and watch my video. Then click on my name to vote for me, and make sure you confirm the email to make it count.

This is an excellent opportunity for me to get my name out there, and to promote Extra Life! Tell your friends and neighbors, I would certainly appreciate it.

Remember- it's about the journey.

How much I won't miss this.

I'm writing this sitting in the passenger seat of a rental car, returning home from a 3-day work trip. We're idle in traffic outside Boston trying to get home. Looking at the other occupants of the cars surrounding us, it makes me reflect on how different my life will soon be. 

Most of them are alone, sitting in their cars, talking on or playing with their phones. This is a daily occurrence for them, just part of their lives. 

I will wake nearly every morning in a new place. Packing up my meager possessions, I'll put them on my back and walk to the next stop of my journey. There will be no traffic jams, or car pool lanes, or drive-thrus. I'll see the world around me at the pace that I set. My experiences will be the views of the natural wonders that most of us never get a chance to take in. 

I look forward to it. 

It's about the journey. 

What to write?

I was told by a friend of mine that I need a catch phrase to end my posts. Something like "See you on the trail" or "Keep on gaming". I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with something that captures the essence of my blog. I'll see what I come up with at the end of this post. If you hate it, speak up. If you don't, speak up.

I spent Sunday working on the video entry for the Badger Sponsorship, that I talked about my last post. Josh has a rough cut already and he's doing some editing to polish it up some, but already I'm impressed. He really did a great job helping me get to the root of what should be in the video. I had so many scattered ideas, that it probably would have been a hot mess if it had been left up to me. I'm grateful that I have friends that can help me with things like this. I'll post the final project when it goes up.

Spending most of the day talking about my trip really re-invigorated me. I hadn't really talked about the specifics with anyone in a while, so it brought all those details back to the surface. I'm so excited to go, I really look forward to the adventure of it all. I know its not going to be as simple as going for a walk, but part of what excites me is the challenge of it. I can't even imagine the sense of accomplishment I will have upon finishing.

Remember- it's about the journey.

P.S. If you haven't listened to the Thrilling Adventure Hour podcast, drop what you're doing and do it now. It's brilliant. 

Slacker.

I woke up this morning, and thought about it for a moment, and realized I hadn't posted anything since my post just before New Year's. Not that I've been sitting around and doing nothing, quite the opposite. Work has been busy, my personal life has been busy and that has been tying me up quite a bit.

Here's what I've been up to - mostly dealing with some final issues with my father's estate. My brother and I are selling the land he left to us, so I've been researching and prepping. I finally got it listed. I had to make a trip up there to go through some of the storage buildings to make sure there wasn't anything valuable in there. It's astounding how much just random stuff he had accumulated.

Another project I've started on is an entry to the Badger Sponsorship, a great program made by the founder of the site I write for Appalachian Trials. I have to create a 90 second video about why I'm hiking the AT and why I should win the sponsorship. It's tough to condense why I'm going to do down to 90 seconds or less and make it meaningful. Luckily, I have a friend that went to school for video production and is willing to help.

Finally, the action is heating up for the Chits and Bits Game Marathon! Donations are coming in all over the place and we're going to have a TON of great prizes to give away and we're just getting started. Many game companies are really stepping up to the plate. Tons of hard work on the part of my friend Rob has really paid off big time. I wish I could share the list with you all, but we want to wait and make a big announcement when things are closer.

So I'm still here, I hear the clock ticking away to my departure date. I can't wait to get started. The journey will be epic!