In 2013, my wife and I hiked from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Katahdin, Maine. Walking isn't exactly the best word to describe what we were doing. What we experienced is commonly referred to as a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. This is a very difficult hike; 2,186 miles across 14 states along the Appalachian spine, which took us 6 months and 10 days to complete the trip. Part of the journey was adjusting to what we call “trail life,” learning to cope with the stress of hiking all day and living on very little. By very few, I mean very few comforts and amenities. The thrill of adventure overwhelms this adaptation period and beginners are usually very enthusiastic about hiking despite the cold. After six months of alternative living, including the widely accepted adoption of pseudonyms known as "trail names", almost total isolation from mainstream society and a particular focus on daily walking and enjoying simple things, like being dry, the journey was over. We now had the task of readjusting to “normal” life. Six months later, I sat down to reflect on our trail experience and our new revelations about life. Here are some of the lessons we learned from the walk. Simplicity of choice In today's society, we have a multitude of choices and decisions. Our choices are so vast in variety and substance that the choices themselves are choices; I choose to be someone who chooses these things. I'm a Mac, I'm a PC. This abundance of choice has led to an extreme increase in trivial distress in people's lives. Is this the car I really wanted? Is this the best school for my child? Is this the career path I really want? We're guessing ourselves... middle of paper ...... once Chet is an overall happy man. On our worst days, we humbly thought back to Chet and his story and remembered how grateful we are to be walking and to be alive. At the beginning of our hike, we referred to our pre-trail reality as “real life” and our current state as “real life.” “life on the trails”. The further we went, the more life on the trail became real life and our old real life became an empty set of norms. There is more to life than all the pretenses made by humans. We are not designed to align ourselves with others, buy our dreams, drift into a passive existence, invite brainwashing, or ignore those around us. Life is about living, being happy, loving others and discovering this world with those you love. Everything else is secondary. If we choose to set our priorities on what is truly important, we will all be better off..