TAOGOI

The idea for Taogoi (The Art of Getting Over it), began with the grandmother of Allie Donaldson telling her she should have "gotten over it by now" when trying to talk about the sexual assault and abuse she endured at a young age. Writing poetry was a way for Allie to process all the trauma and find healing. When her grandmother passed, she decided that life was too short not to go after what you want, so she began her journey on the Pacific Crest Trail in February 2019. 

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Allie became Taogoi after another hiker gave her the trail name on mile 127 on the PCT, at Mike's Place. Strange Bird, the caretaker of Mike's for the time, gave her the name officially. How can you argue with a dude with a tail and paws with a name like "Strange Bird"? From then on, Taogoi was no longer only a penname for the internet, but transformed into a way of life; a new form of confidence like she had never experienced before!

 

While Taogoi didn't complete a thru hike, she did hike 1100 miles, all while having no prior experience backpacking. It was challenging physically and mentally, from coming to terms with what she's been through while hiking through blizzards and avoiding fires. With the help of illustrator Abbigail Folsom, 1100 Miles is a poetry book with the goal to help other people who are on their own healing journeys. After all, reading can reduce stress levels by 67% and trail depression is a major problem that isn't talked about nearly has much as the high of hiking. We want to be able to help those going through hard times and let them know that, there is an art to getting over it.

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