With much deliberation and angst, Kristin and I have finally decided that we will delay our AT hike for at least a year, and we will stay (mostly) where we are for now. This was not an easy decision, and we - mostly I - flip-flopped a lot through our discussions over the summer.

There are lots of factors going into this decision. Here are just a few:

• Our financial readiness for retirement was borderline at best, and given the recent turn in the economy, continuing to work is certainly sensible.

• Along with the above, Kristin has gotten a public-facing job in downtown Iowa City and has been enjoying getting immersed into that community. The extra money is welcome too!

• I've really been enjoying getting immersed into Green Castle Aero Club activities and meeting people. Not only can I fly, but I have a flying community as well. That's pretty cool and fun!

• We haven't felt we would have enough time to do justice to researching our camper-life options. Waiting gives us more time to do that.

• We still have shorter backpacking trips we want to do - the Superior Hiking Trail, and more of the Ozark Trail and Ice Age Trail. We can do them next year and satisfy a good chunk of our backpacking urges.

• Although we've done a really good job of downsizing, we must do more. We felt some stress about getting that done to the level we want it by next spring.

• We have found the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids area to have a lot of appeal, with big-city services and small-town feel. We like the area, and would like to explore it more before we move on.

With all of this, we are feeling pretty good about this decision. We are also feeling some pangs of regret, and indeed we could change our minds again. But the bottom line is that this change in direction is not inconsistent with our bigger goals. In fact, it is quite well aligned with the sentiment on our calling card: