So what is it?

So what is it?...

For those of you who have stumbled across this, or are just having a quick browse through curiosity; what is the Appalachian Trail? Well, it's a footpath. In North America. Going from Springer Mountain in Georgia, north to Mount Katahdin in Maine, covering a distance of somewhere between 2000 and 2180 miles depending on which source you read. The 30% of aspirational thru-hikers that complete it take 4-6 months, cross 14 states, take 5 million steps, and I've heard somewhere that they climb the equivalent of 16 Everest's. Ok, enough about the manliness of the feat at hand; its basically going to be a cracking walk through some beautiful environments and (I hope) one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences in my life.

For those of you who're interested I'm going to keep this page updated as I plan, prepare, and eventually hike the trail. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Visas...

Just paid for my visa and booked my interview at the US Embassy in London. Scary times indeed! I'm pretty confident I'll have no problems getting it granted; its just making the whole thing seem rather real! The interview is at the end of the month so by mid September I could potentially have flights booked.


For fellow non-American hikers...

The actual process of applying for the visa isn't quite as bad as it seems. You first fill out a DS-160 form which asks you for all your personal details, passport info, family info, what your purpose of visit is, security questions, e.t.c. You then select visa type (a B2 for me), upload a photo of yourself, submit the form, and print a copy. Next you create an account with your local embassy and pay the $130 fee plus £30 courier charge to get your passport back later on. At this point you can also book an interview date, for which I've only had to wait two weeks.

On the interview day you take along you passport, DS-160 page, and a couple of other bits that they tell you. You rock up to the embassy, have an in-person interview, and they say Yay or Nay. If all goes well you get your passport back a couple of weeks later with a shiny visa in it. Fingers crossed!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the visa info! Doing mine soon so this was helpful. Good luck!

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    1. No worries! Glad it was helpful. Best of luck with yours too!

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