Flexibility is required

In early March I was planning a backpacking trip with a friend. I needed this trip. I was dealing with some gnarly anxiety and couldn't wait to get into the woods. The outdoors have always been an escape for me. When I go camping I feel like I'm hitting reset on everything.

Then... as I packing my bags we had to cancel. It became clear the weather was going to be truly miserable, and my hiking partner called it off. ⛈❄️🙅‍♂️

We rescheduled for a couple weeks later, and everything seemed like it was falling into place. We were going to hike the same trail, and two friends were going to join us. The weather was supposed to be cold, but clear. Perfect for a strenuous hike and a roaring fire. 🏕🏔

Then, as I was making printing maps and making last minute preparations Friday afternoon we ran into a hiccup. Half of the trail was closed. The ranger told me there could be a landslide any day, it wouldn’t be safe to hike.

No matter, we picked another trail. A little further away, but a beautiful hike that I had done before.

We piled our friends in the car Saturday morning and took off. I was a little apprehensive because the group had never met, but there was no reason to be - we clicked right away.

Three hours into our drive, less than 5 miles from the trail we hit another roadblock. Literally. The road to the trailhead was closed, there was no way in. With no other options, we turned around and started weighing our options. I was crushed. We could go back to the original trail, and hike the shorter section that was still safe. But we would lose half the day driving.

We swung into an old restaurant along the side of the road to see if the locals knew of a way around the roadblock. There was no way around but they pointed us to a visitors center, and so we stopped to see if they might know of another trail nearby.

Not only did they know of a trail, they had a map! 🗺 We could park less than 15 minutes away and hike in to our original campsite.

The trip was incredible. We got to hike a new trail I had never been on before and camp in the campsite we had already booked. We had a roaring fire right alongside a beautiful creek, and talked late into the night. It turned out to be a great adventure.

Stay flexible. You will run into unexpected obstacles as you build your company. Be open to new opportunities and be ready to change your plans.

Ask for help. You can do a lot on your own, but there are often people around who know the lay of the land better than you.

Surround yourself with good people who are up for adventure.