At my roommate’s wedding shower a few weeks ago, I got to talking with one of our friends about the Appalachian trail. He had hiked the trail a few years back, and couldn’t stop talking about how great of an experience it was for him. I asked him what it was like hiking for several months by yourself, and he started talking about the types of people you meet on the trail. “You meet the most interesting people out there on the trail,” he went on saying, “but the craziest thing about it is that I’m closer with these people than I am with people I’ve known all my life.”
It’s hard to believe this is actually possible. That you can form such strong relationships with people you’ve only known for such a short period of time. But it is when you’re stripped away from the outside world, and put in an environment together that this sort of thing happens. You share a common experience that only those who go through it can truly understand.
I haven’t hiked the app trail, nor do I ever plan to, but I have experienced something that has bonded me with certain people that I’m sure I will be friends with forever.
It’s hard to explain really, but that’s what makes it so special.
shannon / marklin 