Okay first let's set the scene- after being home in South Florida for a few weeks, it was time to go back to Orlando (where I attend school). I get in around 8pm, lazily unpack and finally go to sleep. That was on Sunday night. Monday morning around 9am my friend Kaitlyn texts me "hey what are you doing today" and all that was on my agenda that Monday morning was grocery shopping, so I tell her. She replies "okay comin' over". She lives a few minutes away so by 9:20am I was getting ready and thinking about the food I'll go purchase. By this point Kaitlyn is laying in my bed waiting to go when she explains to me how bored she's been since she's not working or taking classes.
She blurts out laughing "I was so bored I almost drove up to Georgia by myself!" I laugh and say "well if you ever need someone to go with I'm always down!" And she goes "don't kid with me, like I'm serious" I reply "yeah... me too, seriously whenever you want to go I'm ready". She looks at me like a puppy dog with its head tilted "well what are you doing this week?". Kinda taken aback "nothing, wait do you want to go to Georgia this week?" She goes "what's wrong with right now". We both stare at each other kinda smiling and just keep saying "wait are we seriously going to Georgia right now".
Well 9 hours later we pulled up to Cleveland, Georgia still in disbelief that we planned on going grocery shopping that day and ended up among the mountains in a matter of hours.
As someone who is pretty calculated in what I do, it felt so refreshing to let loose and be adventurous. For a trip like this, I would normally need a week or two to think about it, or at least ONE day. But that Monday it didn't take me more than 10 minutes for the spontaneous idea to become a reality. While it wasn't the craziest thing anyone has ever done, for me it was a major step.
We ended up hiking the Appalachian Trail (I may or may not have slipped on a rock and got a gnarly bruise on my knee, but that is besides the point), Duke Creek Falls, and Tallulah Gorge. Hiking up these mountains, seeing these views and breathing the fresh air taught me that life is what you make of it. Yeah, there will be days full of responsibility, days spent waiting at the DMV or at a traffic light for far too long. But ultimately it's about seizing opportunities, visiting places you've never been and taking risks. By stepping outside of your comfort zone you may just find yourself 1,000 ft up on a mountain, feeling like you're on top of the world.
