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Happily, John Illig has written an engaging narrative about hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, an adventure that, given a 4 or 5 month sabbatical, might strike most of us as a demanding yet accessible accomplishment. Indeed, Illig's conversational writing style suggests to the reader "Hey-- I did this and I'm just like any other vegan college athletics coach. Why don't you saddle up and try it yourself?"
It's this inclusive attitude that makes one wonder, nestled on the couch before the fire, if one's boss might actually consider granting an unpaid leave for the summer. Illig's little homilies on topics like long-distance relationships, vegetarianism, being a coach, and talking on the phone with one's parents occur organically, as thoughts and revelations do during periods of solitude. His obsession with a piece of abdominal execise equipment, which he holds on to way beyond his realization that he'll never use it, reveals an amused self-deprecation less contrived than what one usually encounters in travel books.
Most importantly, Illig shows us what it's like to do something alone. Sure, his parents have packages waiting for him at post offices along the way and for long stretches he hikes in the company of others. But in Trail Ways, Path Wise, Illig suggests we might all be well advised to spend some time-- any time-- out in the world by ourselves.
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