Te Araroa: Thanksgiving

The Blissful Hiker is back on New Zealand's Te Araroa thru-hike, "slackpacking" through Auckland then celebrating Thanksgiving with her Kiwi hosts, discovering she has a lot to be grateful for. 

In this episode: 

1. "Slackpacking" means hiking on a thru-hike with only what's needed for the day, leaving overnight gear at a friend's where the hiker sleeps. 
2. Blissful hikes in rain and sunshine through parks, up blown out volcanoes, into museums and along busy roads. 
3. She learns about another hiker dying on the trail and considers how easy it is to make a dumb decision, wondering if risking everything to come on this hike was a good one.
4. And at a Thanksgiving meal she realizes she feels gratitude for her decision, dumb or not. 

MUSIC: Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
available on iTunes