What's the #1 thing stopping you

[Venchka]

Southern Utah has some amazing scenery.

Understatement of this and the previous century.

As for what's stopping me? Time. That constraint will be removed soon.

Wayne

[Sarcasm the elf]

For me it's that I recently found a great day-hiking partner

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[Coffee]

Hiking itself doesn't cost much money compared to most other forms of travel and recreation of similar duration but it does cost money to take time off. I think that's really what people are saying when citing money as an obstacle. That totally makes sense and explains why a very large percentage of thru hikers are either in their 20s or 50s and older. In the younger group, there are many people who have few fixed responsibilities (I've met a number who don't even have fixed addresses during long hikes) and limited immediate income prospects, so they are neither giving up much lost income or having to deal with many off-trail expenses. In the older group, you have a mix of retirees on comfortable incomes and some people who retired early not entirely by choice but have downsized and made hiking a priority. If healthy, there's no reason not to be hiking into your 60s and beyond but how many people in their 50s can do a thru hike compared to people in their 20s, assuming limited conditioning prior to the hike? I am 42 and have the flexibility to go on multi-week to 1-2 month hikes but have difficulty with allocating the 4-5 months for a long trail thru hike and probably will continue to have difficulty for a decade or more. It is time rather than money but the reality is the same... I wish I had done much more hiking in my early 20s. The interest was there , but I also was in too much of a rush to get ahead professionally. In retrospect, taking a half year off for a thru hike wouldn't have changed much if anything.

[Marta]

Time. Money. Family and home obligations. Also a surfeit of past travels, people, and places that make me less than desperate to seek out more just for its own sake.

If I spend two minutes conjuring up travel wants, I can think of fifty entrancing scenarios for places to go and things to do. This is the season that cruise catalogs arrive in the mail--I'm not sure why I'm on the mailing lists of cruise companies, since I've never been on a cruise and don't plan ever to take one. For only $12,000 I could spend a luxurious week sailing to Alaska, or wherever. Even something as ridiculous as that can tempt me momentarily, just because I've never done it. Could the experience possibly be worth $12,000? No. If I felt the need to rid myself of $12,000, I would donate it to charity.

On the other hand, in spite of being able to dream up wants, I am very happy where I am and doing what I do. And I certainly would not divorce myself from husband and family--they give me much more than they take away.

When I pack up to leave on a trip, I feel regret that I won't be here to see the beauty of whatever season unfold. But for 10-12 weeks this year I've gone anyway.

For the past half hour I've been watching the most glorious winter sunrise unfold, with Glacier National Park to the left and the Great Bear Wilderness to the right. The cabin is snug and warm. I'm about to pack lunch made partly with my home-grown salad greens and herbs. I'll probably spend about 7 hours at work today. It's still the shoulder season, so the pace isn't too frantic. Some of my work is dull, but some is quite interesting to me. The ski season will start shortly--I'll meet a number of congenial people who come here to ski. Most of my co-workers are fun to be around.

I realized a long time ago that wherever I go, I never leave myself behind. So I make a habit of enjoying myself wherever I am. I have also traced a long arc of putting myself in places I want to be...like NW Montana on the edge of Glacier National Park.