Walked 15 miles from the hotel we stopped at on day 16 to the northern Haikou shore. First province, over 200 miles, is completed ✅👊🏻💪🏻🙌🏻💁🏻🙇🏻😝 Don’t worry, we know we still have a long way to go (3,300 mi/4,700km)!!

Here are some things we learned:

—— Next time- we are bringing benedryl. The way my skin reacts to daily walking life, this is a must. Also, Tylenol PM. Some nights, no matter how extremely exhausted we felt, our bodies wouldn‘t let us sleep. We decided we could get away with smaller packs (see China walking below). The @Asolospa boots Abe walked in are 5 years old and are definitely ready to be retired. I walked in my year old @Dannerboots which I realized are a bit too narrow and heavy for so many continuous miles.

—— China walking- even in the middle of nowhere, you can find bottled water. Chinese themselves don’t drink water from the tap, so they need is just as much as we do. I had two big empty bottles in my pack that we never used. Also, food is very accessible. Every village town has at least one shop that sells instant noodles if they don‘t have a resturant. We only ate the oatmeal we brought twice and by the time we reached Haikou we still had all the snacks we had bought in Sanya. This is a great discovery because it means we won’t need to carry a stove, bowls, cups or extra bottles, which in turn means smaller packs and less weight.

—— Ugly- looking completely ridiculous is ok. Sun protection to the point of being unrecognizable is ok. Having the right gear no matter how stupid you look or feel is SO worth it. All this to say I am so glad I bought the ugliest hat on the planet (snap on neck cover and all).

—— Heat- we pray we will not have to hike in these high temps again. 🙏🏻 high 90s with a heat index most days over or around 115 while wearing the necessary sun proof gear (wool socks, pants, sleeves, hat with curtain and bandana over face like a bandit) tested us daily and made us long for NE Ohio winter like never before.

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