Parental Concerns...

[0311]

Suggest to your mother some other options you are considering. 1) travelling in China for 6 months 2) spending the summer in Europe 3) enlisting in the Marines..everything is relative, your choice to to the AT is not something to worry about.

[DavidNH]

You should plan to save at least 5 grand for the trip (better a little extra than not enough. While I understand that you want to go whether Mom likes it or not.. it would be a lot more fun I would think if Mom, step dad, friends etc. can be participants in your journey. They can help by sending items via mail and be important moral support via the phone calls you inevitably make home. Don't let your job keep you from doing the hike. There are other jobs when you are done. But try not to burn any bridges with family in making the hike happen. They can be a terrific source of support.. something you are going to want to have.

[Traveler]

If I was 18 to 21 again I'd hit the trail no matter what. Bet it could be done for less than $100. Health Insurance and other such matters are not something an 18 y/o should worry about.

To dispel misinformation, food costs alone would be far more than $100 dollars, even begging from others along the way. Other costs like gear replacement, zero days in a dry hotel room, laundry, phone calls, etc will total more than $100 each.

To the insurance issue, anyone thinking about this seriously has a lot to consider. What does one do with a car for up to 6 months? If they have a credit card they will live off of, how will the bills going to a home address be paid? Who takes care of a pet if there is one? And, how will one pay for emergency medical services if they are needed during the journey? These are all issues that impact family or society overall, which should be considered and solved prior to going if one is being responsible.

There are myriad different lessons long distance hiking can teach, reliance upon oneself and responsibility for oneself being two of them very high on the acquired totem of wisdom.

[Coffee]

$100 per month is going to be woefully inadequate for almost anyone. After a month on the Colorado Trail, I'm personally comfortable with a $1,000/month figure for actual on-the-trail expenses including a number of luxury items. My spending broke down as follows, approximately:

Groceries (in maildrops): $100
Groceries (on trail): $200
Restaurants: $375
Lodging: $200 (hostels)
Transportation/Misc: $125 (not including ground transport/flights to/from Colorado)

Obviously the biggest discretionary items here are the restaurant meals and staying at hostels.

The cheapest hiker willing to forego almost all luxury items might get by on half my budget by only consuming groceries, never staying in hostels, and never eating in restaurants. But there are very, very few hikers who are going to be willing to do that IMO.

I'm planning on $1,000/month for my future hikes.

[Coffee]

The other really important point to keep in mind regarding grocery costs is that small town groceries are often very expensive. I'm talking $2-3 per Clif Bar, $2+ for a box of Mac & Cheese or mashed potatos, $7 for a package of Fig Newtons, etc etc. Easily 2x the cost of Wal-Mart or worse. Anyone with a really constrained food budget would probably save significant money stocking up periodically at a Wal-Mart and using USPS Priority Mail Regional Rate B boxes to send food to post offices rather than relying on small town stores. Or in a pinch, a safeway can be pretty cheap using a club card and shopping strategically for deals.

USPS Regional Rate B boxes are larger than medium flat rate and slightly smaller than large flat rate but cost less than $8 to ship down the trail.

[Fredt4]

"Transportation/Misc: $125 (not including ground transport/flights to/from Colorado)"Hitchhiking always worked for me. The only time I paid was for a train ride back to the trail after a side trip to N.Y. City.

[Coffee]

"Transportation/Misc: $125 (not including ground transport/flights to/from Colorado)"Hitchhiking always worked for me. The only time I paid was for a train ride back to the trail after a side trip to N.Y. City.

I've found that it is usually easier to hitch from a trailhead to town than the other way around, plus I often like to start pretty early in the day. So my habit on that hike was to hitch into town but usually get a shuttle back to the trail. I was able to split the cost of the shuttle with other hikers on two of the three times I paid for shuttles on the trip, so that helped.

[mdbamabrad]

Those who don't understand will often disprove.

[Mags]

PS. If you were my kid then your stuff would be in boxes upon your return.

When I returned from the AT, my stuff was indeed all in boxes and put there by my parents.

Of course they were also going through a divorce, had sold the family home that was going to be vacated in two weeks after I finished the AT, and the elderly family dog was put to sleep.

Found this all out the day after I finished the AT.

Made for an interesting return to "The real world"

[Cedar1974]

Well, if your mom are worried about your well being, I'd suggest getting a SPOT GPS tracker. that way you can send her reports on your location, you can send them a preset message lie telling them where you are camping for the night, and the thing that will give them the most peace of mind is the SOS button that will notify Search and Rescue and tell them right where you are.

I''m about twice your age, and I plan on getting one of these to help my own family's peace os mind.

[Traveler]

Well, if your mom are worried about your well being, I'd suggest getting a SPOT GPS tracker. that way you can send her reports on your location, you can send them a preset message lie telling them where you are camping for the night, and the thing that will give them the most peace of mind is the SOS button that will notify Search and Rescue and tell them right where you are.

I''m about twice your age, and I plan on getting one of these to help my own family's peace os mind.

I am in the backcountry a lot myself and have a SPOT device. I have yet to need it for an emergency but its nice to have should something go wrong. My wife appreciates that bit of technology and is less worried when I am out by myself.

[Malto]

Well, if your mom are worried about your well being, I'd suggest getting a SPOT GPS tracker. that way you can send her reports on your location, you can send them a preset message lie telling them where you are camping for the night, and the thing that will give them the most peace of mind is the SOS button that will notify Search and Rescue and tell them right where you are.

I''m about twice your age, and I plan on getting one of these to help my own family's peace os mind.

Did is you read the original post? The concern were not about his physical safety while hiking. here is a quote from the original post.

"I am 19, and will be 20 when I (Hopefully) hit the trail. I live with my mom and step-dad, and recently told her about my potential plans to do the AT. She seemed very disapproving of the journey... Thinking it irresponsible to leave my job, and everything else behind. While I understand her concerns, I still would like for her to be more accepting to the decision. By no means will her approval determine whether or not I will be doing the journey, nor am I seeking her approval, I just think it would make it easier on both of us to be on semi-level terms. So far our conversations lead to frustration on my end, and mostly un-needed advice from her... i.e. "you're gonna have to pay your bills" "how do you think you can do this when you have only been backpacking for a week a couple of times" etc."

not sure a spot will help address these concerns.

[rafe]

Don't worry too much about what others think of this journey you're considering. It is a weird thing to devote a half year of your life to. Weird but wonderful, and not everybody "gets it." Some folks, perhaps with an overdeveloped work ethic, may think of it as running away from responsibility. I don't really know how to deal with that, maybe there is no way.

Quite possibly their attitude will improve after your journey begins and they see signs of your progress and your reports from the trail. I've seen that happen.

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

When I returned from the AT, my stuff was indeed all in boxes and put there by my parents.

Of course they were also going through a divorce, had sold the family home that was going to be vacated in two weeks after I finished the AT, and the elderly family dog was put to sleep.

Found this all out the day after I finished the AT.

Made for an interesting return to "The real world"

Wow Mags, what a harsh adjustment back to reality. It must have really stole from the "afterglow", especially if it came as a complete shock. Sorry to hear about it. Family breakups are never easy even when it is the right thing to happen.

[Cedar1974]

Did is you read the original post? The concern were not about his physical safety while hiking. here is a quote from the original post.

"I am 19, and will be 20 when I (Hopefully) hit the trail. I live with my mom and step-dad, and recently told her about my potential plans to do the AT. She seemed very disapproving of the journey... Thinking it irresponsible to leave my job, and everything else behind. While I understand her concerns, I still would like for her to be more accepting to the decision. By no means will her approval determine whether or not I will be doing the journey, nor am I seeking her approval, I just think it would make it easier on both of us to be on semi-level terms. So far our conversations lead to frustration on my end, and mostly un-needed advice from her... i.e. "you're gonna have to pay your bills" "how do you think you can do this when you have only been backpacking for a week a couple of times" etc."

not sure a spot will help address these concerns.

Yes, I did read this, and you want to know something, my mother used the same excuses to try and talk me out of things when she was simply worried about my physical safety. Mother's are strange like that. They don't want you to know they are worried for your safety so they use these other methods to discourage you.

[Traveler]

Don't worry too much about what others think of this journey you're considering. It is a weird thing to devote a half year of your life to. Weird but wonderful, and not everybody "gets it." Some folks, perhaps with an overdeveloped work ethic, may think of it as running away from responsibility. I don't really know how to deal with that, maybe there is no way.

Quite possibly their attitude will improve after your journey begins and they see signs of your progress and your reports from the trail. I've seen that happen.

Probably the only real way to deal with the issue the OP had with parental push back is to have answers to their concerns. While leaving a job is not all a big deal at 19, there was an ambiguous mention of "everything else" the teen would leave behind. This ambiguous term can include a lot of things. A pet or pets that will need caring for, a car that may require others to move around for parking issues, bills that will need to be paid during the journey or debt that is being chased and the family phone is the contact number.

The being safe on the trial issue is perhaps the underlying issue of magnitude, which may get larger as the other objections are answered. A tough position for him to be in, but once any other issues are dealt with will likely make everyone feel better about the decision. I agree that once he starts, attitudes will likely change along the way if he has things squared away at home.

[Mags]

Wow Mags, what a harsh adjustment back to reality. It must have really stole from the "afterglow", especially if it came as a complete shock. Sorry to hear about it. Family breakups are never easy even when it is the right thing to happen.

It was 15 yrs ago so it is more amusing now than anything. We are a sarcastic bunch in my family. My youngest brother told me "Hey..you have a tent and like to camp. You'll be OK!"

OTOH, if the family unit had stayed intact, I doubt I would have been spurred to move and start a new life in Colorado. I'd probably have gone back to my job at the hospital I had worked at since I was 16. Good chance there is an alternate universe Paul Mags working in IT at a hospital in Rhode Island. And never shutting about the At hike he did when he was in his 20s. (Now I don't shut up about the things I've done in my 20s, 30s and now 40s But at least it is in Colorado. )