As I’m starting to write this entry, it’s 1:30 AM on June 16th. My flight to Medford, OR leaves at 11:30AM this upcoming morning. Over the past week, I’ve come to the logical and rational decision that I would be better off postponing the trip until work is less busy. On Monday, I called Allegiant Airlines with the intention of canceling my reservation and either receiving a refund or credit toward a future flight. This phone call resulted in me spending 45 minutes on hold, and hanging up in frustration before being able to speak to a customer service representative. I just didn’t think it was worthwhile to spend so much time on hold, when there is such a small likelihood that Allegiant Airlines would even cooperate with my request to cancel the flight. On Tuesday, I decided to send Allegiant Airlines an email explaining the situation and my frustration with being on hold for 45 minutes, wanting an exchange/refund, etc. Although, the website promised a response within 24-28 hours, I still haven’t heard back with a response to my inquiry.
Until about 7PM tonight, I had accepted that I would be wasting the $125 flight booking and completing the trip sometime in the future, whether a month from now, six months from now, or some distant future date. At 7PM, I just decided that it would be worthwhile to complete the trip. As long as I have my laptop with me and can respond professionally to emails, I might be able to hike on the two weekends (approximately June 18th-20th and June 25th-27th), and use the weekdays in between to relax in Southern Oregon/Northern California, while remaining accessible by phone and email.
In the past couple of hours, I sprayed my clothing, tent, and backpack with Sawyer bug spray and conducted some last-minute research for the trip. There is a lot of uncertainty for the logistics/lodging of this trip because I’m not sure how much time it will take to hike each of the backpacking trails, I’m relying on public transportation/hitchhiking for logistics, and I still haven’t reserved any hotels/models/lodging/campsites for the 10 day trip. This is sure to be one of my most adventurous experiences and I’m excited/anxious for my comfort zone to be expanded so that I can gain some insights, challenge myself, and open myself up to increasingly adventurous experiences in the future. After completing this trip, the JMT will be a reasonable next adventure to consider.
