I've done quite a bit of solo traveling. It started off as meeting friends in different cities, and having a day or so alone. Those days always turn out to be some of the most memorable days of my life. It's because generally traveling with friends, you make less effort to know the people around you and are contempt with just doing things with your friends.

I always like to do "observe and report" posts after trips so I can always look back on them and remember that time and trip in my life. Having done the hike alone, I found myself having quite a bit of free time. I spent most of that downtime writing and reading. Here are some of the little notes I wrote. In no particular order:

Humans are pack animals without really knowing it. More times than not, I found myself joining other trekkers almost accidentally. You kind of happen to matching your speed and pace with others. Some of the times, you talk along the way. But sometimes, I found myself walking with others without saying a word. I walked with two others for a few hours without saying more than 20 words to each other. When they stopped at a tea house and I kept walking, we hugged each other goodbye. We all found each other on similar paths, and for a brief time in life, we enjoyed each other's company without really needing anything in return.

Don't be a bad trekker. Don't block the path to ever take pics or anything else. This isn't a day hike. The people you meet on the trail might have been walking for a day, week, or even month. Just because you started at this point doesn't mean the person behind you did as well. You get into this kind of zone, and you never want to deter a trekker from the zone they are in. If you want to take a pic, get off the path and do it. Don't ask people to wait just because you found the perfect pose for you and yours. Don't do anything to ruin the trek for anyone else.

If you do choose to do a multi day trek with others, choose wisely. Everyone chooses a different pace. There is no need to rush or slow others. Some also want to walk in silence or with music. And some want to talk along the entire way. Some mix it up. What I learned is that most find themselves in this zone which is quite remarkable. You lose sense of time and reality for moments. Most people enjoy talking after lunch, because you have so much built up renewed energy and the rest of lunch refreshes you.

Trekking is one of the best times in your life to embrace your passion. You walk for 8 hours, eat for 2, have 6-8 hours of downtime and sleep for 6. Your mind and body is so rejuvenated that embracing your passion is almost a must. Write, read, paint, do poetry, draw, write music, play music, or do whatever else that makes you, you. Don't download movies or shows to watch. They will be there when you get back. Your mind won't be free as it is like this, take this time to get to know who you really and who you really want to be.

Your mind goes to really weird places when walking and trekking for so long. Your mind is almost completely free and it might be the only time it's ever felt this way. We choose to fill our days with so many distractions and addictions. Addicted to work, to media, to stress, to other things. While walking, you are completely detached from all of this. As a result, your body and mind will take you some really weird places. You will find yourself evaluating not only every part of your life, but life in general. It's rare for your mind to find such freedom in this busy world, that it will finally find time to talk back to you. You will never be closer to your subconscious than on the trail.

Everyone is searching for something or doing the trek for a reason. No one is on the trail just because they had some free time to kill. These kind of treks bring people who either have a void to fill, are looking to expand on themselves or challenge themselves, or are generally just not ok with regular life. Everyone is searching. Do what you can to help their search, make their trek better, or at the very least, not take them away from what they are doing.

Your dreams will also be quite insane. If you haven't lucid dream before or had sleep paralysis, read up on it and be ready. Your body and mind isn't used to what you are doing and as a result, most things will be different. Your dreams will be as real as they have ever been. You might find yourself waking up and unable to determine what is reality and what was a dream for a few minutes every morning.

Bring your own sanitary. If you aren't ready to do your business In a hole, probably don't bother. A few places have toilets, a few places don't. You won't have the luxury or waiting for a toilet as most tea house are hours apart.

Use music as your watch. Never look at actual time. It does nothing to help you. You don't want to be walking through the worst part of your day, look down at your watch and realize only two hours have passed. I used albums as time measurements. An album or two means it's time for lunch. Another album or two means it's time for a break. One more and it's time to call it a day. Music will bring you much needed sanity without making your day feel long.

Don't ever be a hero. Walking downhill when your legs feel like jello is awful. I could tell you how many stories I heard of people finally finding a downhill, relaxing, and having their legs buckle. Actually I can, I heard three stories of such. Don't walk after dark. Your flashlight won't help you locate the loose step, or rock, and there is so many of them. Don't rush. Take as many breaks as you want. Stop whenever you want. This journey is for you, not anyone else.

I hate to sound like a self help book, but these multi day treks change the basic foundation of who your are. They change your chemistry and entire make up, you think deeper than you ever do otherwise. I found myself having deep conversation with complete strangers and thinking after, "damn I usually don't share that much." It's a complete natural high unlike any other. Embrace it all.

All in all, if you choose to pursuit a quest like this, do it for the happiness of the pursuit. There shouldn't be an end goal that brings you happiness. The happiness lies within the journey. You might not find what you thought you were looking for, but you will find something.

As always, thanks for reading.