A Series of "Calendar-Worthy" Events

By Tyler Socash

IG: @tylerhikes

When I turned seventeen I asked for one thing on my birthday, and whether you have been following the blog or not you know it couldn't have been a "2015 tangerine Subaru CrossTrek..."  Instead, it was a rather simple request.  I asked for a calendar. 

This blog is housed under the overarching title of "A Calendar Year."  Some people have pointed out that the term typically refers to events happening during the January to December window.  My yearlong journey is lasting from June 2015 - June 2016, which may be confusing so I want to clarify my wordplay...

Overlooking Spectacle Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Over the past 12 years I have been writing down my daily highlights in the squares of a calendar.  (Read: The secret is out!  Tyler keeps a diary!)  Unlike a diary, calendaring doesn't take long as calendar squares lack the room for complete sentences.  I simply take 3 or 4 minutes to reflect on the day that has happened, and I quickly record my favorite memories.  I have never missed a day, and I'm even cataloging life events while on trail.  I'll transfer all of my digital notes to my physical calendar when I return from my journey. 

Think about how much you actually remember about yesterday...  What about a week ago?  How much can you recall about the happenings of your life one month ago?  A year?  Many beautiful details are forgotten.  That's one reason why I "calendar."  

The other reason for my calendaring obsession involves The Awesome Principle.  My friend Zach King and I have been challenging each other to accomplish unique feats and to make every moment count since high school.  Essentially The Awesome Principle boils down to this: when given two options, you are forced to always choose the more awesome option.  

The Awesome Principle in full effect on the Kendall Katwalk. 

It's very easy to have an ordinary day.  I enjoy the challenge of mixing it up!  Friends and family are used to my incessant pleas to play more board games, to play one more round of water volleyball (we call it "walleyball") even when it's cold outside, why I tried to write my own stand-up comedy routine (huge failure - sorry again guys), why I organize miniature golf tournaments, why I create my own Adirondack-themed game nights at our annual New Years Eve Party (and why one year I want this to take place between Panther and Santanoni Peak at a place called "Times Square"), and why I have ever done anything that made you say, "What is Tyler doing?!?"

The Awesome Principle is to blame!  But at least these outbursts of energy have led to interesting calendar submissions.  I actually force myself to do something noteworthy every day — that way I always have something fun to write down in my calendar.  At the very least I'll try to play a Dashboard Confessional song (Read: very cool song) on guitar before going to bed. 

Pacific Crest Trail friends (Wildfire and Half Jesus) and me moving between Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass in Washington. 

Jumping into the Deception Lakes... Because it was more awesome than not jumping in!

I have the tendency to message / email / call someone when I reach the 10-year anniversary of a fun experience that we had together (Yes, 2005 was that long ago).  Some of you may have received a direct message from me regarding an event from our past, or perhaps you've seen my reminiscent posts on the Facebook.  The resurrection of an old story elicits the best responses!  Oftentimes other details from that moment that I forgot to write down will emerge and make the memory more vivid for all parties involved. 

Half-way through Washington State on the Pacific Crest Trail!

I hiked all the way to I-90!  This could have been the road home, or a road to where Marshawn Lynch goes Beastmode, but instead I'll continue south through the woods until Mexico.  Hiking from Canada to Mexico has been awesome!

Even Bridget and Jamie, who hiked to the border monument with me during the first part of the journey, hiked up into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to join the southbound trek for another day!

While this post revealed my calendaring endeavor and showcased the 78-mile stretch between Stevens Pass and Snoqualmie Pass, I really wanted to share why I'm hiking the PCT.  

In November I was exhausted.  I was working full-time, in graduate school part-time, attending two evening classes, writing papers, going to a two-days-per-week internship, and I traveled for work non-stop during an 8-week stretch without ever having a day off.  I was literally doing laundry and typing papers at 10pm, driving to Boston for work until 4am, sleeping on the side of I-90, waking up at 6am, splashing water on my face in that rest stop McDonalds before you hit the hellish Boston traffic, putting on my dress pants and tie in the rest stop parking lot, working all day, driving back to Rochester for work/internship/class, and repeating this while staying awake.

When it came time to decide if I wanted that 2015 tangerine Subaru CrossTrek a week later, I was basically at this impasse: do I want to buy-in to the standard lifestyle of school-work-family-buy boat-retire-die?  Or, do I want to chase my actual hopes and dreams?...

I dared to be different.  I jumped into something that I truly believed was awesome.  Now I'm stringing my calendar days into A Calendar Year.  (Oh man I just said it!)  Instead of driving back and forth on I-90, I walked under it in hiking boots.  I feel like I've lived more in the past month than I have for an entire year. 

To be clear, I loved my job and I loved my internship.  I feel incredibly privileged to have had the opportunities to work and study at a world-class institution.  I really miss the people and the work that I quickly left behind.  I miss them a lot.  When my feet were blistered and both Wildfire and Half Jesus slowed down for me so that I could hobble on my wounded feet for those last miles into camp, I remembered that I had it pretty good back home... But at the same time I am reminded of a quote that my sister Nikki sent me.  One quote that really pushes me onward to see awesome things every day, blisters and all...

"If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn’t cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn’t tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you’d seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you’d feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.

But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to be meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won’t make a life meaningful either." - Don Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

Instead of the 2015 Subaru, I've got a backpack, blisters, and million stories to tell.  Yes, I left a great career / family / friends behind, but I had to listen to adventure's calling.  While there is a lot that I miss about home, I'd like to think that this whole walk to Mexico was all started by something as simple as a calendar.  It feels like it was supposed to happen.  And even if it was propelled by a series of random coincidences... that's OK too because I'm having a blast out here! :)