One of the most meaningful aspects of hiking and spending time in nature is the mental space it creates. It’s a beautiful, distraction-free environment that allows time to process ideas you may never have stumbled upon without hours of letting your mind wander. And boy, did hiking from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail give me plenty of time for my mind to wander. Like many people, drinking felt like a normal part of life in my late teens and throughout my 20s - som

I flopped down on an old plastic chair and ripped off my too-small trail runners and socks to reveal dirt-crusted swollen toes. It was time to relax and wait out the heat of the day. It was 11 a.m., and I had just reached the biggest hiking milestone so far - 100 miles into my thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. Until this point, I had been hiking with two Danish girls and a Belgian guy named Vincent. We’d met at the iconic Scout and Frodo’s place in San Diego, started the