My guest today on What Cathy Read Next is Amanda K. Jaros whose memoir, In My Boots, is published today by Black Rose Writing. In My Boots is available to purchase as an ebook or paperback from Amazon and other online retailers. Read on as I chat with Amanda about the book and the incredible journey it describes. I’m grateful to Amanda for sharing some photographs taken during her trek that you won’t find in the book.
About the Book
When Amanda K. Jaros learns about the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail after college, she walks away from a sheltered life dominated by an angry and volatile father and does something spends six months backpacking. Alone. She expects to pass the time in the solitary and peaceful wilderness, reflecting on her life’s direction. Instead, she finds herself part of a community ripe with stinky socks, buckets of ice cream, and trail magic. What matters on the trail is not a hiker’s past or parents, her fears or failures, but rather, what matters is the connections we make with each other.
In My Boots recounts a challenging physical journey following the trail over the windy balds of the South, through snowstorms in the Smoky Mountain National Park, and above the tree line to the alpine zones of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The journey is also emotionally transformative as this twenty-three-year-old leaves behind the compliant and scared girl she once was. With each step away from her damaged childhood, each new friend, each stop in another rural trail town, she comes to understand that to succeed on the trail, and in life, it turns out, the path she walks must be her own.
Find In My Boots on Goodreads
Q & A with Amanda K. Jaros, author of In My Boots
What prompted you to embark on this challenge and why the Appalachian Trail?
When I was just out of college, I got a summer job as a naturalist intern working at Baxter State Park in Maine. There I learned about the Appalachian Trail when I met hikers arriving in the late summer to summit Katahdin, the northern terminus of the AT, within Baxter Park. I’d had a pretty sheltered childhood that was dominated by an angry and volatile father, and I lacked both confidence and direction after graduating college. I knew a 2,160-mile trek from Georgia to Maine would be difficult, but I also knew it was time for me to step out of my shell. The more I learned, the more I felt called to walk the trail.
How did you prepare for the journey?
I knew nothing about backpacking when I decided to hike the trail. I started planning in October for a March start in Georgia. This was back in 1998, when the Internet was just emerging, so I began with books; Jean Deeds’s There are Mountains to Climb was my first inspiration. I then visited a fledgling website called Trailplace, where hikers gathered to talk about the AT. Folks on that site, as well as at the local Eastern Mountain Sports store where I got a part-time job, were instrumental in teaching me outdoors basics. I also invested in a full set of trail maps from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and a mileage data book so I could plan town stops and mail drops along the route. It was a lot to figure out, but luckily, I love research.
What were the most challenging things you encountered?
Walking up and down the mountains, day after day, in all kinds of weather, for several months, is a huge physical challenge, and there are a heck of a lot of uphill climbs. But eventually, your body adjusts and you get stronger. For me, the mental challenge was even harder. I knew I wanted to be hiking, but it takes a lot of resolve to get up every day and actually do it. There were many, many times I wanted to quit and go home, but the friends I met along the way, the beauty of the natural world I was walking in, and my goal to be a 2000-miler kept me going.
What made you decide to write a book about your experiences?
I thought about writing a book for many years, but life, family, and work responsibilities took precedence for a long time. It wasn’t until I was older and realized what the story was actually about that I decided to write the book. While a long-distance hike is an amazing thing, a memoir needs to tell a deeper story. The story of my hike was based on my childhood foundation with a verbally abusive father, a childhood that stunted me and precluded confidence and self-worth. Setting out on the Appalachian Trail, and succeeding in that endeavour, gave me strength and power I didn’t know I had. At the time, I’m not sure I could have written that story. I needed to grow up more and understand the greater impact the AT had on me before I could really explore it in writing.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about taking on a similar challenge?
Whether you are wanting to hike a long-distance trail or write a book, I would suggest taking some time to look at why you want to do such an activity. Both are big and amazing undertakings, and you’ll need perseverance to do either of them. After you know the why, do your research. Get to know other hikers or writers. Read books and articles. Get outside for some shake-down hikes or start a daily writing practice. Follow your heart, but be prepared.
What message would you like readers to take away from the book?
I hope that readers enjoy the story of a long hike and the magic of the people I met and the experiences I had along the way. But I also hope that the book inspires folks to reach for their own goals, to work to overcome whatever bad circumstances they may be facing and find ways to empower themselves. Not everyone wants to or is able to do something as enormous as hiking the Appalachian Trail, but everyone deserves to follow the path to their dreams and find success and self-love along the way. My wish is that readers close the back cover of the book, smile, and maybe feel a little more hopeful.
About the Author
Amanda K. Jaros is the editor of Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology and author of 100 Things to Do in Ithaca Before You Die. Her essays on nature and family have appeared in Flyway, Appalachia, Terrain.org, Stone Canoe, and elsewhere. When not writing, she can be found on a trail somewhere, and has hiked the Inca Trail in Peru, several trails in Australia, and is currently working toward completing hikes of the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks. She lives in Ithaca, New York, with her husband and son, where she recently took up kayaking and serves her community as a county legislator.
Connect with Amanda
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