Hogansville, GA: Sick and Tired

Miles since last blog: 21.3

Route

Well, I am still enjoying myself walking, I did shake off that bear. Part of what built that wall for me though was the nagging sense that I have been fighting off something, and this time it isn't feral dogs in Virginia.

When I came into Georgia I started sneezing, when I got to Athens I was coughing, by the time I hit Atlanta my normal walking day proved to be too long and difficult for me and I wasn't recovering like I had been.

It was the wall, it was not enough food or too many drinks, anything but being a bit sick. I'm not that sick, if I had a normal job I wouldn't even notice, but when you want to walk 30 miles and you are exhausted by 20 what do you do? If you make 30 miles you can sleep inside, or you can get rest and sleep in a cold tent. How do you balance in this situation? It's not as if I have a place to stay, rest and get better. And not having health insurance, while a calculated risk I stand by, still doesn't make the dilemma any easier. So I'll try to go the same distance but with more breaks, camp tomorrow and couchsurf the next, after that . . . ?

If I can make it to when Free leaves I was planning on taking a bit of time in one place then. Maybe hop around New Orleans from couch to couch for a bit, resting, writing and recuperating. Even earlier today I hadn't admitted the sickness, but just after I quit for the day I coughed, no big deal I had been coughing, this time though was different. As a child I was sick a lot and after that cough I recalled the sickly sweet taste/smell combination that hinted a real sickness might be in the works.

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day.