Julia aka Rocket

There are many words used to describe me. I'm a woman, a veteran, nurse, thru-hiker, adventure lover, photographer, fur mom, plant addict, new vegetarian, aunt, sister, and daughter.

​

I have a few nicknames too! My niece and nephew call me Aunt JuJu, friends call me hoolia, bean, and shug. MANY people know me simply as Rocket, a name I acquired when I hiked 2200 miles and completed my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. 

​

I have so many things in my life that I want to explore to the fullest and I feel like what better way to share it than here. We will call it a living journal.

​

I spent my adolescence trying to fit in, and then spent my 20's trying to figure out if I even wanted to fit in. When i was 19, after one year at a university, I joined the military. I wanted a challenge and to travel. Boy did I get a challenge. I became a airplane mechanic and got to see places on the planet I never dreamed of!

​

After that I spent 4 years in a tiny town in rural Iowa, where my sister settled down after getting married and starting a family. It was then that i decided that I needed to do something to help others, and went to nursing school.

​

After graduation in fall 2017, I moved home to Pittsburgh Pa and started my life as a nurse. It was not long after that when I realized that something was STILL NOT RIGHT! That is where long distance backpacking found me and drug me into the wonderful and wacky world of thru-hiking. Thru-hiking is the art of backpacking thousands of miles with everything you need in a pack on you back.

​

After completing the Appalachain Trail in the summer of 2019, I came home, and back to work. I'm ready for my next adventure! Let's see what it is!