Veteran Thru-hikers & the economic crisis

[Many Walks]

A section hike generally means leaving your current environment for a while and returning to it, hopefully more refreshed. It's just a vacation and the basic lifestyle isn't likely to change, especially if a spouse stays home. When I section or day hike, I'm not as concerned about weight, because I know I'm not carrying it forever. I think a thru hike has a bit more of a mental impact knowing you'll be packing the distance. We knew our thru hike would change our outlook on the world and took the opportunity to plan in advance to simplify. We sold our 30 year accumulation of properties and major possessions, and gave away the rest. LOT'S of like new "stuff" was suddenly no longer our responsibility. After the hike we settled in the mountains of Northern CA and don't want more than we really need. This time of year when all that stuff is on sale, it all just looks too heavy to own, and we have NO desire to buy it. Sheryl Crow sang it best, "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you have." A thru hike tends to put it all in perspective, at least it did for us. We don't need a lot of money, because we aren't spending much, yet we do what we want, when we want. We only have one life, so we decided we'd rather live the rest of it living the way we want rather than continuing to spend most of our time on some dreaded job chasing the dollar just to maintain a high cost lifestyle full of stuff. I think a simple life is a life well lived and that really is the essence of a thru hike. If the economy goes belly up, we're in a much better position now than we were before our hike. Wish you the best.

[Rockhound]

"If you own a rug, you own too much." Kerouak

[Lone Wolf]

kerouak didn't own any writing skills

[weary]

kerouak didn't own any writing skills

Yup. That's probably why we still read him and talk about him years after his death and decades after his only significant books.

[Tilly]

"If you own a rug, you own too much." Kerouak

He didn't have to own a rug. He lived with his mom. She owned the rugs.

[Lone Wolf]

who's "we"?

[Mother's Finest]

try this author on for size....

Nassim Taleb The Black Swan


peace
mf

[Deerleg]

I work for a company that went thru a merger last year and during our “redeployment” phase in April saw some of my long time friends lose their jobs. I kind of joked with the wife that I was disappointed I made the cut. Not that I mind a paycheck, but like some have mentioned living simply, circumvents some of the money traps people fall into and a layoff isn’t the end of the world, it’s a chance to hike more!

It is a lifestyle for some of us section hikers, I just paged through my log book and counted 17 trips to the AT in the last 9 years and before that there were countless other hikes in the Allegheny's in western PA. The lessons I’ve learned have been invaluable…what used to be important now seems trivial. Time to think without distraction, realizing how little we really need to be happy are just a couple of the fringe benefits of the trail.

[weary]

who's "we"?

Well, I pick up my copy from time to time as Kerouac gets mention in the press. He gets mentioned from time to time on this web site, though I know we don't rank very high in the intellectual capital of our nation.

I think Kerouac has survived better than all but a few of his writing generation.

Will he last? Who knows? But he has survived his first hurdles far better than I would have suspected when I first read his books in the 50s and 60s. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

Weary

[weary]

I work for a company that went thru a merger last year and during our “redeployment” phase in April saw some of my long time friends lose their jobs. I kind of joked with the wife that I was disappointed I made the cut. Not that I mind a paycheck, but like some have mentioned living simply, circumvents some of the money traps people fall into and a layoff isn’t the end of the world, it’s a chance to hike more!

It is a lifestyle for some of us section hikers, I just paged through my log book and counted 17 trips to the AT in the last 9 years and before that there were countless other hikes in the Allegheny's in western PA. The lessons I’ve learned have been invaluable…what used to be important now seems trivial. Time to think without distraction, realizing how little we really need to be happy are just a couple of the fringe benefits of the trail.

Among some of the more interesting people I met on my walk in 1993 were a father and son team of construction workers. The Dad said he welcomed the occasional layoff his job entailed. "I always head right for the trail and do a few more miles," he said.

Weary

[rafe]

kerouak didn't own any writing skills

Ya really, what are folks reading down Damascus way? Pynchon? David Foster Wallace? Richard Dawkins?

[weary]

"Whee. Sal, we gotta go and never stop going till we get there." "Where we going, man?" "I don't know but we gotta go."

—Jack Kerouac

[Bearpaw]

Ya really, what are folks reading down Damascus way? Pynchon? David Foster Wallace? Richard Dawkins?

If you want some inspiration and good advice for real life, stick with Calvin and Hobbes.

[Lone Wolf]

"Whee. Sal, we gotta go and never stop going till we get there." "Where we going, man?" "I don't know but we gotta go."

—Jack Kerouac

wow. awesome. gonna rush out to books-a-million and buy up all things jack

[mudhead]

Ya really, what are folks reading down Damascus way? Pynchon? David Foster Wallace? Richard Dawkins?

Diet for a Small Planet.

[mudhead]

Teneciosly.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

No, but pithy is.

That's how they pronounce pissy on Broadway