Thank you for your service. I hope you find what you seek on the Trail.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
As a famous shelterbuilder once said, many hands make the work light.Originally Posted by Hooch
Are you talkin' about trail maintenance? 'Cause that's Weary's job.
You do seem to be having a hard time settling on an avatar lately.A funny thing happened not on the way to the SoRuck......
I remember a story about another guy that got home from the service and decided to walk the entire AT. People told him he couldn't do it too. Some things never change..........
"It was on the first of May, in the year 1769, that I resigned my domestic happiness for a time, and left my family and peaceable habitation on the Yadkin River, in North Carolina, to wander through the wilderness of America." - Daniel Boone
Forrest Gump?
So what is a calling then? I thought what I felt was a calling. I guess not a profitable calling. I know I hated waiting for 3-4 months to hike the AT, KINDA like how I feel NOW w/ the PCT this year.
The trail isn't going to change much in your life. Everything will be right where you left it at home. If you're lucky, you'll be a little bit different on the inside. Your bad qualities will still be there. Boy will they be! But you might find out you have some good qualities you didn't know about. The trick will be finding a way to hang on to what you learned.
Most people find the best way to do that is to do another hike.
But then there are the real crazies who go back to the office the very next day like nothing ever happened. I really don't understand that!
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
If your family is upset, maybe you can persuade them it was common to take a Summer off before career. It used to be "a trip to Europe".
I hope your immediate family will understand, if not immediately, then will soon understand you are not going off the rails.
It is important to pursue a dream, if not now, at some point in your lifetime.
If you do not achieve it right now, I wouldn't get too concerned about it. Lighten up.
Look at the age of people hiking. Read here a little. Read here a lot.
There are people young and old, professionals, and all kinds of people here. I don't think anyone here will try to talk you out of it.
People here will try to help you achieve a thru-hike.
It is a hard thing to not have the approval, or understanding, of your family.
See if they will understand, explaining it is a terrible thing to deny one's dream: If not now, maybe later on. Tell them you do not want to wait until you have retirement from career. Many men take a "sabbatical" at "mid-life crisis".
Tell them, it will help you get more "settled" and more yourself, more who you are.
I am a Viet Nam Era United States Army veteran. If it is "culture shock" tell them you need to "decompress" and a natural environment out in nature is just plain healthy.
At any rate, saying these things may help them get a little perspective.
Don't be so hard on yourself and don't be so dramatic with them. Ask them to understand. If they cannot understand, ask them to reserve judgement.
It is a hard thing to go against your family. If they do not share your values, it is a hard thing to have them speak harshly against you.
You might tell them it is a "rite of passage" or "emergence of manhood" or "self-discovery" of "following your Bliss" although I personally would not recommend saying that one, if they are conservative. Maybe just proving to yourself you can do it?
I saw a thread here once about what do you tell your co-workers, your boss, and other naysayers. I forget the name of that thread.
Maybe others here can make suggestions?
My brothers don't know me at all. What can I say?
So many speculations it's rather funny to read through them all. First off I promise you this has nothing to do with me leaving the military. The way I'm feeling right now is the way I've felt most of my life. The feelings ebbs just as the tides, but sometimes it's too strong to ignore. In fact it was a time just like this one that I joined the service. I had a great time and enjoyed it, but unfortunately I only got to spend 2 years in. I met a lot of great people, but in a way I'm glad I got out as there's a lot of people I'd like to never meet again.
My family is a bit of a tricky situation. Everyone in my family does whatever they find easiest to please everyone. Well on my dad's side anyways. Odd thing is, my dad is just the type that would have done what I'm about to in his younger days. My mother, well she's about 5 feet away from me in a tin, because I have yet to decide how to spread her ashes. January 24, 2009 she died of an overdose. Emotionally I'm still dealing with this, and I can't honestly say I'm dealing very well with this. Especially as this Sunday is the 1 year anniversary of her death. I found out about her death through MySpace of all the ways to find out.
Maybe I'm being "melodramatic" about all this. I don't know what I'm being, but when I got it set in my mind that I was going to thru hike this year it seemed about the only thing I could focus on. I dream about it day and night, everywhere I go I'm walking instead of driving. If it's pitch black outside and pouring down rain, I'm walking down my dirt roads just to do it. It's about the only way I can find peace any more. Maybe I'm insane, maybe I'm depressed, bipolar, hell I don't know. I'll tell you one thing though, I know the way I feel isn't normal.
Anyways maybe I'll see some of you on the trail and you can meet me in person and give me your "opinion" of my situation and reasons. This is my hike though and I plan to hike my own hike as you all put it. Maybe I'll find what I'm looking for maybe I won't, maybe this will be just another failed attempt, but it's the only thing I know to do. Besides see a psychiatrist, and I've tried that one before, we never see eye to eye on things.
I think in general people are simply making comments on the language used in your original post, and I know I certainly was poking fun at some of the language, hence quoting "Zoolander" with my crazy pills comment. Obviously there is much more going on for you as your post evolved and like always, context is everything.
I haven't lost my mother or been in the military, but in the experiences of others I know I can't honestly say either experience is a particularly good one to have, especially at 21. I will say however, the trail is a very good experience for most hikers, and many of us keep coming back again and again to the trail, for whatever reasons we have.
But the thing to remember is that the trail provides nothing, it's just rocks, roots, mud, trees, creeks and ridges, and no matter where you go...there you are, and you are going to have to deal with whatever is going on in your head - life does not stop on the trail, you cannot escape your thoughts. In reality, it's much the same but it's going to rain on you and you will have blisters...
I think this experience will be a very good one for you, and at 21 you will need that. Life doesn't really start until your early 20's in my view, I know you think you have lived, I know I did at your age, but the next decade will be a hell of alot more interesting than your life until now. So make it the best it can be...for you, no one else.
I feel like something is terribly wrong, too, and always have just like you. For a long time I thought it had to do with my upbringing. These days I think it's an awakening that is tied to our culture's pointless and destructive way of life. I found the answer on the trail to some extent. The trouble is, I found it hard to stay on the trail for more than a few months. So maybe the answer is somewhere else. Or maybe there is no answer.
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
Why I will...
Go for it Man....Don't let us on White Blaze down..we will all be pulling for you.Happy trails.
Grampie-N->2001
Johnson, I just realized you're from Steele City, FL. I was born and partially raised in your area and I pass through there at least twice a year to look in on my baby sister's grave just down the road from you. If it were me still living in that area, I would be a little loony too. YES, go hiking and don't go back!
Good luck, kid. The trail will teach you what you need to know, if you pay attention. Please keep us posted.
- Duffy
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Kahlil Gibran
bring a bible.
Strange how everyone relates to you and feels the same way after your second story...hmm.
But I totally understand the feeling of needing to find something greater out there that can't be achieved in the mundane life I'm currently trapped in. You've already made it clear that you're not going to listen to any of the naysayers in this thread, but I encourage you even more to not listen to them. Especially ignore them when they equate thru-hiking the AT to something like climbing Everest, swimming the English Channel, or traversing the Sahara. It seems like you've really been doing your research, which while conditiong is very important, research is about 3x more important in any goal you want to achieve in life.
Sure, the same problems might be at home when you get back, but you might have a different perception of them too, which could help you deal with them or resolve them altogether.
Of course nothing's garuanteed, you don't know what's going to happen, and no one can tell you what you will and won't get out of it, it's a personal journey. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you like it so much that we might run into each other in 2012 (SOBO).
Sounds like a Chris McCandless story in the making
i think Nimblewill nomad said it best:
http://nimblewillnomad.com/three_wise_men.htm
As for your reasons for hiking and the torments you're experiencing, no comments or advice. I hope the hike helps you.
My only advice is please don't consider yourself a "failure" if you end your hike before Katahdin. Aside from injuries that can physically curtail the hike, you never know what might come up.
I think it's adimrable that in planning, you're setting your sights on Katahdin. All aspiring thruhikers do this. But once you're on the Trail, take one day at a time. Savor and enjoy each day.
You came to the wrong place. All anybody does here is try to stop people from hiking. It's kind of our passion in life, our mission. I personally hate the trail so much I try to pound it in to submission every chance I get.
I'm starting to get the sense that we're not the primary audience.
With that attitude, yeah, you probably will find something.
It's called Springer Fever. It doesn't pass, it only goes into remission.
In all seriousness, you'll get nothing but encouragement from anyone on this site. You have some experience hoofing it, and I know you're out there to do your own thing. That's great. Hike Your Own Hike (HYOH). We're not trying to control your experience, or define it, only you can do that, and only you should do that. But, don't mistake well intentioned advice for something more sinister.
SO.
Skim this. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7630
I would say read, but it's pretty long and you don't need to know all of it.
and
Print this. It's awesome. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/arti...supplybook.pdf
I think it's just a good idea to acknowledge that there are folks out there that have done this before, and have some generally good advice.
So read this, and just think about it. There's some fantastic stuff to consider.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...differently%22
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