Just an update

35 days until I'm hitting the trail. I've been on the go pretty much constantly-getting things ready, taking care of all the things I need to take care of. It's prime time for my Extra Life work, only 3 weeks until the big event. There have been a number of things happening in the mean time.

Last night, Rob and I had the pleasure of interviewing our hospital reps from The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital, on our Twitch stream. Meaghan and Kate talked about what Extra Life means to BBCH, and how it impacts local families. They are definitely two of the biggest proponents that we have and a big part of what drives us to do more. If you missed the live stream you can watch the replay here.

Today, Rob and I are on our way to Bangor Toy and Comic Convention, where we'll have an Extra Life table set up. We'll be talking about Extra Life, selling raffle tickets and giving game demos. Neither of us have been there before, it's a new convention, and a little outside our area, but we're looking forward to spreading the Extra Life gospel!

Thursday night from 5-8pm we're at Five Guys in South Portland once again selling raffle tickets and talking Extra Life. Five Guys is donating 10% of their sales while we're there to Extra Life- so come have a burger with us!

All right, on to the gear talk. I pretty much rounded out the last parts of my gear- at least preliminarily. Most thru-hikers do what are called shakedown hikes before they head out. A shakedown means you pretty much strap all your gear on and go for a hike. It lets you gets accustomed to your gear weight and how everything feels. I'll be doing that over the next month and will probably end up changing gear as necessary. I posted my gear list on Appalachian Trials here - http://appalachiantrials.com/gear-lists/jamison-mclean/

Please take a look and tell me what you think! More on my upcoming adventure soon I promise. I may have some really exciting news to share soon- but I don't want to jinx it. 

Remember-it's about the journey. 

Extra Life!

First of all, Happy Easter to you. Even if the holiday isn't religiously significant to you, I hope that it was at least an opportunity for you to get together with family or friends and enjoy a good meal. I had a good day - a great meal with some of my favorite people. Inevitably, when I am around people that I haven't seen in a while, the subject of my hike comes up.

When it does, I answer the questions dutifully, and I try to turn the subject to a major part of my journey, and that is to raise money for Extra Life. Extra Life is a major driving force in my life now. Helping my local Children's Miracle Network hospital, The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland is as rewarding an experience as I have ever known. Extra Life United did so much to inspire me that I already can't wait for the next one. I met a group of people that all shared the same passion that I do, and I'm proud to call them all my friends.

Here's how this relates to my hike - I need donations - I'm taking pledges for every mile I walk of the Appalachian Trail. I'm taking these through a website called HikeFor and the link to my site is here. All the money will be collected when I finish up, which should be some time in the fall. Extra Life is an amazing charity that does a lot for sick children and their families. I'll be carrying an Extra Life flag with me on the trail, and posting pics and videos of me holding it along the way. I want to share my experiences with everyone, so I hope you can follow me on my journey. Most of all, I hope you can spare a few dollars to make a difference in the life of a child and their family that is dealing with one of the worst times of their lives.

Remember - it's about the journey! And this journey is For The Kids!

Sleep? What?

I am now just over seven weeks until I hit the trail. Work has been overwhelming lately - it feels like everything is conspiring against me maintaining my sanity until I'm done. Yesterday I put in a 19 hour day door to door, and I'm exhausted and drained. But here I am. I keep telling myself that it's almost over but each day is a slog through until the time I lay down to sleep - which has been particularly elusive lately.

I feel like I'm on the cusp of the biggest change of my life so far and it haunts me. I'm anxious all the time - as much as people tell me "Relax, it will be here before you know it" -  it's not in my nature. I put forth the face of calmness, I do my best not to display anything but calm, but below the surface, I'm kind of a mess! I'm not a very positive person, my mind always turns to the worst possible outcome. I try to take positives from others but I don't seem to be able to alter my view of the world to go to them first.

I'm an emotional person- tempering my responses takes a lot of effort on my part, which I struggle to keep up with. Rationality is after the fact for me. I ride the emotions until they're done and then reflect afterwards.

This is an odd post, and for that I apologize. It's giving you a glimpse inside my head, which can be a scary thing! Blame it on lack of sleep.

Gear talk.

My last post was talking about all the things that I still needed to get taken care of before I leave. One of the most important, and believe me there are tons of posts, articles and videos on the subject - is my gear. This is stuff that I'll be carrying with me every day for 4-6 months. Shoddy gear, heavy gear - they can be the kiss of death to a long distance hiker. I've done a ton of research and bought the best that I can afford. There are still a few things that I need to get though.

Rain gear is a tricky question. There are many schools of thought. Rain jacket vs. poncho. Expensive vs. cheap. Pack cover vs. trash bag. The bottom line for me is that I'm going to get wet no matter what. My main concern will be protecting the things that I can't get wet and minimizing how miserable I will be. I'm leaning towards the poncho route, as it will double as a cover for my pack. I'll be lining my pack with a heavy duty plastic bag. The outside is going to get wet no matter what I do, so having the internals protected seems a lot easier.

Another piece to my gear puzzle is clothing. I've got a number of tops already, and should be set on that front. What I'm still debating is my leg wear. Ticks and Lyme disease are a major concern on the trail, so keeping your legs covered is definitely preferable. It's an added layer of protection- but there's a catch. I'm going to be hiking during the height of the summer, meaning hot days. Pants could be a killer, leading to overheating, chafing, etc. I still haven't decided on this one, but I'm leaning towards pants, maybe with zip off legs. Oh yeah, did I mention that I'll most likely be wearing them every single day? The more changes of clothes you have, the heavier your load. I'll have a pair of shorts to wear around camp, but that's about it.

Cold weather gear. Another quandary that I haven't figured out. I'm hiking during the warmest part of the year, but that doesn't alleviate the possibility of cold weather, especially in the mountains. The White Mountains in NH in particular are known for this. I have a sweatshirt, but I'll most likely need some sort of jacket and possibly long underwear. More weight and cost.

These are what I spend my time thinking about. Well, when I'm thinking straight of course.

Remember- It's about the journey!

10 days?!?

Wow. When I checked Facebook today, there was an accusing message telling me that I hadn't posted anything to my page in 10 days. I've had a ton going on that needed resolution, and just hadn't made the time to write anything. So here it is.

The clock is ticking and ticking and ticking. I can't believe that in 2 months, I'll be setting off on my journey. I've been so tied up in other things, that I have let my preparations kind of slide for while. I need to get back on the ball, otherwise I'm not going to be ready come May 13th when I'll be heading down to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, to meet Jeff and head north.

I've still got gear to buy, and plans to make. A number of people have asked me about mail drops, which I will need to coordinate. Other people are want to meet us on the trail, and I need to coordinate that as well. Prepping your life to walk away from it for 3-6 months is no easy task. I keep thinking of things that will need to be dealt with while I'm away. Lots of stress there!

But all the stress will be worth it. There will be no experience in my life so far that will match it, I'm sure. Stay tuned as things progress, I'll try to be more diligent about my posts.

Remember-it's about the journey.

What a whirlwind

Life has been a blur since my return from Extra Life United. I've already shared my experiences and how incredible it was. Since Rob and I have been back, there's been a ton going on for us. You should realize how big a part of my life is gaming. I listen to a lot of gaming podcasts, and I love to talk about gaming. Rob feels much the same as I do, and we've been kicking the idea around of starting our own podcast or streaming channel.

With the friends we made at ELU, especially the amazing Stephanie Straw, we have the chance to do that. We were on a Twitch show called Nerd Nighters last night, talking about Extra Life and gaming in general, and it was awesome. It made us both want more. Tonight, I've been invited on another podcast about role-playing games called NPC Cast. Tomorrow morning, we're recording interviews for two local radio stations here in Portland. The week has been a blur of opportunities that I can't even believe.

So we're going to take the ball and run with it. We're crafting a plan to start broadcasting soon. I'm not sure how this will impact my trip, but I feel like it's an opportunity that I can't pass up.

Our event is rapidly approaching, and that is going incredibly well. We have such a huge prize pool this year for the raffle and we're going to have some special guests this year.

There are other things going- things in my personal life that are changing, in a very positive way. But more on that some other day. Suffice to say, I'm happier than I have been in a long time.

Remember - It's about the journey.

ELU Wrap-up

Sitting here in the sun at Disney's Coronado Springs resort, I can't help but feeling a little sad. One of the other people I met here said it was like leaving summer camp. 

Extra Life United was amazing success. I ended up making the finals and ultimately winning the Settlers of Catan event. This also let me win the Tabletop track completely. My winnings were $4,375 before I went to the finals. 

The finals were tough, it was a surprise game- I faced a PC gamer in something called Duck Game. It was fun but not really in my wheelhouse. Ultimately I lost but even so I won another $1,000 for The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. 

Even more important to me was getting to meet with some truly amazing people. Jeromy "Doc" Adams, the founder of Extra Life and the Enmon's whose daughter inspired Extra Life to BE created. Sean and Trish Rooney, who lost their wonderful little boy Dominic just 6 months ago and were here leading the charge for Extra Life. Sean and Trish astounded me with the amount of love and warmth. The Tabletop group as whole were all wonderful people and I clicked with them immediately.  And most of all-the children-the Children's Miracle Network Champions. The reason behind it all, I spent much of my time here overwhelmed with the emotions and joy of seeing these amazing little people that have been through more pain and suffering that most of us will ever know. 

I return to Maine with my heart filled with warmth. I return with so many new friends. I return with ideas and opportunities and possibilities. Extra Life United was one of the best experiences of my entire life. I'll be back next year. 

#ExtraLifeUnited #DominicStrong #ExtraLife4Kids #CMN