It can be a treacherous hike in bad weather! You can arrange for bus pickup because it’s a through hike, but if the weather is so bad, they’ll email you and tell you the bus is canceled. Absolutely worth hiking if you’re ever in NZ!

Those are good questions! I’ve never thought of that. I’d just pick up anything like a damn caveman.

It’s not that I have the skills yet. Outside of painting a wall, it’s all new territory 🤣

I just patched some drywall. The paper was tearing and stuff. Now I’ve gotta sand, primer, and paint the room. Then, replace a seal for a toilet and hopefully that Just Works™️ then I can reinstall the floor I had to rip up. Then replace the trim 😵‍💫 this is too much

I understand this will sound crazy. I started running, a lot. A few half marathons per year. It’s a juxtaposition of enjoying the benefits and hating the activity.

The biggest benefit is being able to handle more stress, and deal with the stress better, in general. I tell myself during the first mile (as it’s the most difficult to start), “I am expanding my capacity to endurance stress and suffering” it’s shifted the way I look at problems.

A recent example: I paid a contractor to build a wall to split a room, and to install new flooring on the floor. It looked nice. A year later, I encountered a problem in the bathroom that exposed a leak that’s probably existed since the work was done. The bathroom is being torn apart and completely redone by me. I’m not thrilled, and was absolutely pissed at first, but it’s subsided much faster than it used to. I can’t afford to hire someone again, but I do have another bathroom to use during this process, so it can wait. It’s shifted my perspective, and I’m seeing this now as “expanding a set of skills that can be useful again” instead of completely dreading it. Of course I prefer this didn’t happen 😊 but wishing reality is different doesn’t help anything.

Absolutely yes. I’m very fortunate.