Rating: 4/5, good
Full disclosure: This is my cousin’s book and I edited the first four chapters.
The Invisible Hiker is the autobiographical tale of Kira, a woman in her 20s who suffers from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), hiking the John Muir Trail (JMT) with her father, John, and her cousin, Melissa. It’s called The Invisible Hiker because IBS is considered an “invisible disability”—a disability that’s not immediately apparent to the casual observer.
The book focuses mainly on Kira’s physical struggles with her IBS-D and the rigors of the trail, but also dives deep into her psychological struggles with social comparison, body image, mindfulness, healing from an abusive relationship, and choosing whether or not to continue teaching high school.
I’ve known Kira basically since she was born and she always seemed like an outdoorsy, smiley, confident, sporty, outgoing, sweet California girl. She grew up in San Diego where most of my dad’s family lives. Her family goes to the beach and rock-climbing a lot, so she had tanned skin and sun-bleached curly hair growing up.
I remember when I was about ten years old we were staying with my cousins at a rental in Santa Cruz after my cousin’s Bar Mitzvah. The boy cousins brought an N64 with Super Smash Bros but wouldn’t let the girls play, so the girls decided to play a prank on them that night. We didn’t have many materials at our disposal, so we decided to use toothpaste to draw on their faces. While the other girls were giggling and excited about playing the prank, Kira was asking us to desist. We didn’t listen to her and got in huge trouble when the boys rolled over and got the toothpaste on the couches. Since then, I’ve always respected Kira for having an independent mind and not participating in groupthink. The fact that she was the only one who pushed back against the group when it was caught up in mischief-making shows that she possesses a strong moral compass.
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