I need to update my list of 20 or so pairs of shoes I’ve worn since I started walking in service to others. It’s February, 2024, and I need bigger shoes! There’s a pun there, I know! Something about “those are some big shoes to fill”. Hmm. Maybe my own purpose is getting bigger, so I need bigger shoes?? Anyway, since that time walking on the Continental Divide Trail in 2013 when my shoes felt just too small and I bought a pair of used Reeboks with pink trim in a second-hand store in a trail town, my shoe size has increased again!
Shoe Choice?!
September 22, 2023
My shoes feel too small! My beloved Oboz are worn on the soles after a year of wear. Mind you, they’re not worn from hiking, just everyday wear. I haven’t been walking much for the past two months because I’ve had a strange foot issue!
An unknown bite! I woke up one morning with an irritation on the top of my foot. Long story short, 8 weeks later, it’s finally not swollen and painful and I can walk easily again.
And now, my shoes feel tight. I walked to Walmart – closest store – and noticed the $20 comfy-looking Avias. Hmm. Tried them on and they feel good. One-half size larger and wide width. What could go wrong? They surely could make it for my upcoming 12 mile walk.
Lightening the Load
My friend shared her gear list for a 22-mile backpack journey and asked for suggestions on how to lighten her load. Here is her list, with my suggestions for her to consider. Items to eliminate are crossed out, with suggestions to consider in parentheses. My suggestions are bold and in red. These are simply my suggestions for her to consider. In the end, the key is to LOVE YOUR GEAR! One inspiring moniker I heard as a beginning backpacker is “if you don’t have it, you don’t need it!” I think about that every time I go out.
Creating a New Memory
It’s June 1st, 2023 and I’m staying in a hotel in Virginia, halfway between my brother’s house in Charleston, SC and my new homebase in Dayton, OH. It dawned on me, while basking in the cleansing sounds of a singing bowl meditation, that I’ve been dwelling on the memory of a traumatic and unhappy moment that occurred to me on March 3rd. Whenever I replay the moment when my supervisor fired me, I feel awful. My body feels all the tightness and wrongness of the moment.
This morning, though, I asked, “What if that truly was a misperception? What if what I heard was that I was wrong, I was rejected, I needed to be humbled? What if Ray was actually thanking me, regretfully sending me off to a better situation, acknowledging me for taking a stand for excellence and humbly freeing me to receive a new and better-suited environment for my skills?”
Imaging a Reset
It’s January 20, 2022 and my first blogpost in a while. I’m taking a week’s vacation from my park job in the warm, sunny desert of Southern California to create time with my family. I flew, literally from sea to sea, to downeast Maine where the temperature is just above zero degrees! Brrrrr! And, to top off the challenge, my family is living without their furnace because they don’t want to keep fixing it, but wait til Spring to install a new system. I’m getting to let the warmth of my heart overpower the cold air! Hat, gloves, sweaters, and tea help too!
Walking into Your Dream!
You wonder how.
You wonder if you can do it.
You know there’s a lot to prepare, but don’t know where to start.
Everyone you know says that’s a crazy thing to do!
You want someone who’s done it to help you navigate the journey.
Hi. I’m Regina Reiter and I know exactly what you’re thinking! I was in your shoes before completing my thru hike in January, 2008. I’m a long distance hiker, Nature interpreter, Radical Forgiveness Coach, and entrepreneur with a passion for helping women over 50 walk the Appalachian Trail as a pilgrimage.
Here’s my story! Looking back, It’s 2007, and I’m in Wind Gap, PA, at mile 910 on my southbound trek of the Appalachian Trail. I’ve just walked into a convenience store and I meet a woman who says, “Are you hiking the Appalachian Trail? I’ve always wanted to do that but my boyfriend doesn’t want me to.”
At that moment, my vision of helping women move aside all their excuses
and accomplish their own walks – the walks of their dreams – lights a fire in my heart. I want to snatch her up and take her along. “You’ve got to do this walk! It’s phenomenal. It’s beautiful. It’s challenging. It’s rewarding!”
Several months later, I had fulfilled my own dream of walking the entire Appalachian Trail. It’s fourteen years later, and I’ve been moving aside my own resistances, obstacles, and challenges to bring this vision into reality. Business creation has been my own wilderness, but I’m taking it on with the same step-by-step fashion as I took on the Trail. The
fact that you’ve found this website indicates that I’ve transformed my own shyness
and self-doubts as the 4th child of ten who would always tell myself, “What I have to say makes no difference in the world because I don’t matter.”
My current endeavor with Forgiveness Walks is to help at least 22 women walk the Appalachian Trail by 2022. That’s my next project in a line of jobs and careers that have had one purpose in common – to entice others to come outside and rediscover their radiant fulfillment as spiritual beings having a human experience. We are beings of energy moving between Earth and Heaven. I’ve been a Girl Scout Leader, a Biology
student, an outdoor education program director, a canoe camp counselor, park interpretive specialist, the
mother of three sons, a summer camp Naturalist, Native Plant Garden Assistant, Homeschool Biology and Science Teacher, long-distance hiker, and Park Interpretive Specialist. Oh yes, there was a short season as a classroom teacher in a Waldorf school, but that only lasted 6 months. Outdoors is where my heart, my skills, and my creativity thrive.
Getting out there professionally has taken me on a journey of Radical Forgiveness
and working with Colin Tipping, creator of the Institute for Radical Forgiveness to
become a certified Radical Forgiveness Coach. Blending that easy, quick, and
practical approach to personal transformation with walking in Nature makes my
heart sing and gave me my success as a long-distance hiker.
And believe me, I’ve had plenty of Radical Forgiveness to do in my family, my
Waldorf Community, my marriage, and in my relationship with people in general!
Most of the time, I’d rather be hiking with my favorite hiking partner on a long
trail, but I love making a difference for others as well. Balancing the two is my
life’s work!
Are you yearning to fulfill your own dream of walking with a purpose? Contact me today, and let’s get started!
email: regina@forgivenesswalks.com
OR read my free report presenting the Five Essentials for creating a radiantly fulfilling walk – of any length!
Click this link: Five Essentials for Creating a Radiantly Fulfilling Walk
Love Your Gear: Shoes
My current walking shoes are Oboz Sawtooth low. I’m on my third pair, with about 1,000 miles on each pair. I like their sturdy foot base and ease of breaking in – there’s practically no break-in!
If the shoe fits , supports, and feels good, wear it. For the first few days, wear them at home, not outside. That way, they’re returnable.
Walk on!
Full Moon Watching
My fun job at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park provides opportunities to see and share amazing phenomena. Here’s one: full moon rising over the Badlands. I did livestream videos for the Park’s Facebook page on February 26 and 27. Enjoy my videos!
How Can I Stumble?
Today, I read this comment about myself offered by a friend in a women’s group. The game was to give a compliment about a mutual friend. I was deeply touched by this written by another woman entrepreneur whom I have known for over 10 years. Although we have spent little time together we have supported each other in poignant times!
How can a stumble along on my path learning that someone says these words about me??
Regina Reitershows the courage that comes from the deep understanding of the precious and fleeting nature of life. The way she blazes new trails of beauty and understanding for herself and for others is beyond admirable
Bear Bag Hanging
What I found for myself is that a rope over about 40 feet is more than I need on the AT and the extra just gets tangled up!! Nothing worse than a tangled bear rope.
Reflective is a good idea.
One thing I discovered that is very helpful is “tying” it in a daisy chain for storage. Otherwise, it just gets tangled!
Not only that, I also learned to not tie a rock to the end of the rope when tossing over a branch. Why? Because eventually, the tied rock is going to spin around the branch and be impossible to get down. I have seen many partial ropes dangling from trees. Just wrap the rope around the rock a few times. Yes, it falls off sometimes, so I gather two or three rocks. Maybe there’s a better way, but this works for me.
I hang my bear bag rope first thing when I get to my sleeping spot. In the daylight.
I HAVE had issues just a couple of times with my bag getting stuck. Check out this blogpost for this and a video on my favorite hanging method.