Thus, Tommy became a Vietnam War veteran from his military tour without having to join the ongoing fight there.

The last lottery number called later that year by the nation was 195, far past Tommy′s number and he realizes that what he did just might of saved his life. Later, he also learned that most of his high school mates that were drafted died in that war.

Tommy was injured on the base were he had been trained, an injury that later allowed him to receive an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps.

After departing the military, then he, together with his wife, Becky Rose, left southern California and returned to Texas. There, he began work in a new career by using the skills acquired in school as a draftsman.

Tommy and his wife acquire a place to live in Texas not far from family, and then Becky Rose went back to school to learn to be a beautician, something that she had wanted to do for a long time. Then, after passing the state test and becoming a licensed beautician, she found a job and began work in her new trade.

To help him cope with the great loss he is feeling and to search for spiritual solace, he returns to his childhood church, obtains a King James Version Bible and begins reading in it daily.

When Tommy learns of a request for an adult leader for the Scout Troop 1453 which met in the church near his home in Houston, Texas, he feels that this could help him return to the joy he experienced as a youth in the outdoors when he was a Boy Scout.

Upon donning the green uniform once again, he immediately sets up for the Scout troop, a monthly schedule of weekend camping and also makes plans for a week long camp during the upcoming summer.

After numerous monthly weekend camping trips, he takes a contingent of fifteen Scouts from Troop 1453 to Camp Strake's Grand Lake in June of 1977 for their week long summer camp.

Then during July 1977, he goes on a two week, whirl wind tour of the northeast and the National Scout Jamboree, which only instills in him the need to travel much lighter. Nevertheless, with all the camping with the Scouts, he feels he has succeeded in his desire to experiences the joy of camping outdoors once again.

However, even with his refound joy, there is something still missing; he has not found the real life that he so desires. He questions himself about what it is in his life that he is missing and later while reading in the Bible, he comes across the profound words at Isaiah 35:8.

These words help him to see exactly what in his life is causing his feeling of inadequacy. Knowing his life does not meet up to the description in verse eight, he begins earnestly desiring to walk on this much better way.

Returning from the Jamboree in late July 1977, he visits a local backpacking outfitter where there on the book rack, he could not stop looking at and wondering about the title of one particular book, Appalachian Hiker Adventure of a Lifetime. ¹

He pick the book up, flips through the inside pages and asks himself, Could this be the way mentioned in the Bible, the path I must needs travel upon; it is definitely the type of outdoor experience I truly desire and want to experience.

It does not take him long before the book is in a bag sitting on the passenger seat of his car as he drives home. Later, with only half of the book read, he fully espouses for himself the idea of a walking journey upon a long tail.

Too, he begins discerning what it would take to attempt this, how long it would take, how much it would cost, what would he do with his things, the list of thoughts is endless but he can′t stop thinking about this challenge.

As he continues to read the Adventure of a Lifetime he contemplates deeply if this long hike is even possible for him to do. Could he do this, would he do this, he can not keep from thinking about what he is to do about his desire to walk a long trail. Soon, nothing else matters to him as much as this challenge that has been presented to him in the form of a long distance backpacking journey.

He begins to realize that to pull this off, he must needs save money before leaving work. Then he will also have to move out of his apartment, leave behind his family, his friends, even his life as he has come to know it by getting rid of everything he owns.

Finally, to answer this challenge, he says to himself out loud, "I accept!" and he begins the preparation for his journey.

Before summer′s end, he is fully involved in the preparation for his hike of the Appalachian Trail, which he has set to begin early during the following spring.

Shortly before Tommy is ready to leave on this journey, he decides to purchase a smaller, light weight copy of the Bible for the trail and when his mother learns of this, she insists on purchasing it for him as a gift. She obtains a three inch by five inch copy of the King James Version and presented to him before he leaves for his journey. He keeps his Bible in his top pouch and even sews a leather cover for it. ²

To obtain the quest, the first requirement is to do something with all those things that he will not be using during the Journey. For this, he decides that instead of storing all of his belongings, he will dispossess himself of all of his possessions by having a garage sale. Any thing that is left over, he will give away to anyone who wants it. After that, if there is anything remaining, he will toss into the trash.

Besides what he keeps as his travel gear, which he begins to call his Burden, the only exception to his dispossessing of all his things are a few keepsakes that he places into his Boy Scout summer camp chest which he then stores in the attic of his mother′s home.

He is determined to ride himself of all possessions that will not fit into his backpack because he is now focused on becoming one of the wayƒaring men walking upon the Way of Holiness he has learned about from reading his Bible.

To make the success of this endeavor more likely, he compiles a list and begins to work through each of the listed items one at at time by the numbers.

Due to his inability and feeling unworthy to dote what he was thinking about his beloved, and unbeknownst to Becky, he said a heart-rending farewell to her on the shoulder of the four-lane road path, and he continued watching her as she drove away, standing there motionless for a very long time.

Now, he was in more ways than he had desired, footloose to follow in his quest to walk in the footsteps of a wayƒarer. The journey on had begun.

Then, with the realization that she was really gone, he donned his backpack, ...turned, ...faced the east and ...then began walking. As he walked, he thought to himself, "I have done it, I have acquired my quest, that of obtaining Need Level and of beginning upon this new life journey of walking on the Way of Holiness."

To read more of Tommy Michel′s story, and his search for meaning in his life, please download the book The Wayfarers Journal, Journey to Katahdin, now available free only on this website in The Wayfarers Store.