I have always been drawn to nature, and especially wilderness. When I began kayaking as a young teen, I felt a direct connection between myself and the water. I enjoyed the power and control that a solo kayak gave me. I spent my summers on Lake Gratiot in the Upper Peninsula, and I found myself choosing the kayak as my main mode of travel. I grew to love the perspective that the water gave me. The sunsets in the mornings and the moon’s reflection at night drew my fingertips deeper into the kayaking world.

I cannot say that I grew up on the Mississippi, or that my family has a uniquely strong connection with the river.  But when I started kayaking, I also started imagining what it would be like to set down in every body of water I came across.  Every time I look at a map or globe, I see two large features that define where I am from: the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. They represent where I am from, and the water that plays such a large role in the lives of most people from the Midwest.

I want to see everything that the river has to show me. I want to travel through the cold clear waters where the Mississippi forms in Lake Itasca Minnesota. I want to see the big towns and cities, the trade and communities, the fellow river travels all following the pull of the river.  I want to watch the country connect North to South from the origins of the Mississippi River to where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

It sounds like a great road trip idea, or a great vacation for a group of friends. I have no doubt that both of those would be enjoyable, but that is not what I want or need. I want the opportunity to set my own pace and to follow my own interests.  I need to retreat from the parts of modern society that slow me down. I want my attention to lie in the present, with the river. I need to feel tired and bored. I want to be quiet and overwhelmed. And the only way I can experience this, is by doing the full length alone…..at least the first time around.