View this post on Instagram

Meet Allie. Allie is from France, 22 years old, and has been a part of our hiking group since day three. And, well, today, Allie didn't quite make it across a river crossing and fell face first into mud that came halfway up our shins. Allie may not be the most graceful of our group, but without a doubt the toughest. She has this admirable trait that whenever the trail gets difficult, whenever she's in pain, whenever no one would blame her for crying, she instead, bursts out in her incredible laugh. This picture captures such a moment. I like to think that I'm tough, and I've had my fair share of moments over the past year that I've persevered through. But I'm also very well researched, methodical, and always put myself in a position to succeed. But I sometimes take that too far. I get stuck in analysis paralysis. And that can be a weakness of mine. Preparing for a thru hike can be overwhelming. But Allie wanted to do it and started. Wearing street shoes with holes in them, an ill fitting backpack, no stove, no pack cover, no head torch, no walking poles, a summer sleeping bag, and carrying cans of beans as food(!!!). She may have made things more difficult for herself and that gear may be considered essential to experienced hikers, but hey, she's hiked every kilometer of this trail so far. And yes, I agree, she needs to buy a couple things. But she's taught me a valuable lesson. You can do all the research in the world, but at some point you just have to start and figure it out along the way. It's impossible to know everything when you start something new. And sometimes sheer determination and courage go much farther than anything else. As scary as that may sound. #teararoatrail #teararoa2018 #teararoa #testyourlimits #pushyourboundaries #hikingbuddy #hikingbuddies #hikingfriends #hikinggroup #hikingcommunity #thruhike #thruhiking #thruhiker #longdistancehiking #justdo #juststart

A post shared by Kamil (@kamil.skwarek) on Nov 30, 2018 at 1:50am PST