How do people get the time off from work to Thru Hike????

[BobW]

Right now I am targeting 5/2017 SOBO...my youngest will have graduated from High School. I figure it gives me 5 years to get my finances in line. Build my savings so bills will be paid on time. Purchase, break in and test lighter/better equipment. Find a partner or two. Increase the training intensity (physical and mental) each year for the demands. I don't want to wait until I'm retired - I plan on leaving on my 46th birthday.

The major thing I cannot figure out is how working people approach getting 6 months off from work?
Do you take a Leave of Absence or Quit Job?
Those seem to be the only options?
And how do they cover their medical insurance?
How far in advance do you ask for time off?
What do the experience when they come back to work (how were you treated by bosses & peers)?

I know 5 years is a long time for some, but by I figure proper planning now will provide me better success for the future.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and wisdom!!!

[Moose2001]

Bob...congratulations on your decision to hike the AT. Enjoy the planning and prep time. Your hike will come quickly. Time off! Yeah, that always seems to be the problem. At your age, I think asking for a LOA is the way to get the time off. Different businesses look at LOAs differently. Some might see it as an opportunity to reduce their costs for a period of time. Others might look at it as a lack of commitment. Hard to guage what the reaction will be. If you don't get a LOA, are you willing to quit? That's something you need to consider before you go to the boss and ask for a LOA. How far in advance do you ask? I'd suggest 6 months prior. Gives the process enough time to work out without a lot of pressure on either side.

Then of course, how do you handle medical insurance? I've never heard of a company agreeing to keep you on their insurance while you're on LOA. Not saying it's never happened but I think the chance are pretty slim. That leaves you two options. Go on COBRA or buy your own insurance. COBRA isn't cheap! I'm thinking somewhere around $800 a month. If you're not willing to pay that, then you need to consider going without. Not the best option but it's something some hikers do.

Good luck. See you on the trail.

[mirabela]

For these reasons, it's no coincidence that thru-hiker demographics favor the young (just out of high school, college gap year, just out of college, between stopgap jobs, etc.) and the recently retired!

Having said that -- when I was out, it seemed like the career-aged people tended to either have taken a leave of absence, or to have been between jobs. There were a number of people out there between careers, too -- the usual thing was that they had just left some high-pressure, lucrative but unsatisfying line of work, and were trying to figure out what was next.

Good luck with your planning.

[Monkeywrench]

I thru-hiked at age 50. A number of things came together to make it possible. First, my daughter was grown and off on her own, so daily parenting was no longer part of my life. Second, those years of debt that most of us go through -- mortgage and car payments and credit cards -- were over. We own the condo we live in free and clear, and we pay cash for everything, so no debt. That meant we could afford for me to have no income for 6 months or so. And finally, I was very unhappy in my current job and ready to quit anyway, so no fear of not being able to come back to the same employer.

As it turned out I finished my thru-hike and started polishing up my resume and talking to head-hunters, only to realize I didn't really want another cubicle job, so I changed careers after my thru-hike as well. I'm not sure I would have done that before my thru-hike. One thing you learn from living out of a backpack for months on end is just how little you need to be comfortable and happy. It helps make the financial uncertainty of self-employment less scary; at least for me.

[Papa D]

Thru-hikers are:

1) young - just between high school and college or college and grad school (usually with some parental support)

2) adults 25-50 - self employed, financially independent

3) adults 25-50 that don't have the financial means of the crowd in #2 but place a priority on hiking above else
these folks often do without health insurance, home ownership, traditional families, etc. - some would call them
professional hiker trash - they sometimes work in the industry (gear shop, raft guide, ski instructor, etc.)

4) newly retired folks that have stayed in good shape and now have the time to do what they always wanted to do

I was originally squarely in the #1 category, have flirted with #2 and #3 -- I suppose that I'll eventually fall into category #4

[Moose2001]

(4) newly retired folks that have stayed in good shape and now have the time to do what they always wanted to do

I was originally squarely in the #1 category, have flirted with #2 and #3 -- I suppose that I'll eventually fall into category #4

Nothing wrong with being in Cat #4! We all get there!!

[coach lou]

Thru-hikers are:

1) young - just between high school and college or college and grad school (usually with some parental support)

2) adults 25-50 - self employed, financially independent

3) adults 25-50 that don't have the financial means of the crowd in #2 but place a priority on hiking above else
these folks often do without health insurance, home ownership, traditional families, etc. - some would call them
professional hiker trash - they sometimes work in the industry (gear shop, raft guide, ski instructor, etc.)

4) newly retired folks that have stayed in good shape and now have the time to do what they always wanted to do

I was originally squarely in the #1 category, have flirted with #2 and #3 -- I suppose that I'll eventually fall into category #4

Life as we know it

[Spokes]

I sorta agree with PapaD. From my totally unscientific method of asking folks their situation during my 2009 thru I discovered only 3 types:

1- recently graduated
2- recently experienced life changing event i.e, divorce, loss of job, death of spouse/child etc...
3- recently retired

[Berserker]

I'm kinda in your scenario (married, full time job and kids). I will be speaking hypothetically because I have not thru hiked anything yet. I'm close to half way done section hiking the AT, and honestly don't have much interest in ever thru hiking it. If I do thru hike something it would be the PCT. I have put thought into doing this in the future. It definitely depends on your job. For me a leave of absence may be an option. Another option would be to quit and come back as a contractor as that's how many operate in the industry I work in. If I did the quitting option I would then have to have 6 months of expenses saved up as well as money to pay for health insurance for that period of time. So anyway, there's a little advice for what it's worth. Good luck in your planning.

[Spirit Walker]

Agreed that the majority of hikers are people in transition. Many are just out of school or the military, recently divorced/widowed, or retired. Those of us in the middle are either people who don't have compelling careers or who are burned out. A hostel owner I talked to several years ago kept track of the people who stayed with him and he saw a lot of social workers and engineers.

I was one who quit jobs because I simply love to hike - hiker trash IOW. I've done it several times, but as an administrative asst. jobs used to be pretty easy to find. I hiked without insurance and only had one problem that probably wouldn't have been covered in any case with the usual high deductible insurance.

My husband, an engineer, was able to get sort of a leave of absence for his AT hike: they assumed he'd give up fairly early, so they kept his job open for two months and kept his insurance for six months. At the end he was out of a job and it took several months to get another. On later hikes he simply quit outright. For his first thruhike, he rented out his house, on the second and third hikes we were renting, so we just put stuff in storage and left, on the fourth we sold our house and took off. He didn't have insurance on the 2nd and 3rd hikes, but was covered by Medicare on his last one.

[Nutbrown]

Why not talk to the employer now? If you have a re;ationship with a boss, can't hurt to discuss a future dream. At least it will give you an idea of how to go about it when the time comes.

[Danl]

I will retire 1 june 2012. Then real prep will go into high gear. So i guess i will be in the cat. Of newly retired. Yet i am yet to be considered a senior citizen. My cousin whom is the same age has also the same age as is planning on a LOA, but if denied will quit. He drives truck and has a good work record so i doubt he will have a problem signing with another company.

[Sassafras Lass]

You live simply.

That means no mortgage, no medical insurance, no "American dream." At least that's how the husband and I achieve the adventures that we do.

[WhiplashEm]

I'm planning on quitting my job come next spring to hike, but not burning any bridges on the way out, just in case. (However, I'm not terribly attached to my office job and there's no real room
I do love the idea of becoming professional hiker trash, though

[Firefighter503]

I hinted at taking a leave of absence for a thru hike for a while, and then asked for a leave of absence and was denied. Like was stated above, I had already made up my mind to quit if I wasn't given a leave of absence. I disliked my job anyways. I got off the trail prior to finishing due to a family emergency, got rehired at my old job, and then quit for good about 6 months later. Now I am making 3+ times the money I was making, and finishing college at the same time. I'll be NOBO again in 2014 more than likely.

[kidchill]

I think it's too variable to give direct advice on this one. I decided this January that I wanted to SOBO this year and just went straight to my boss and asked if I could have a 6 month LOA and still have a job. He said yes, and I said okay, I'm doing it. Now, I work in anesthesia so there's a need at the place I work at, as well as all across the country. The hospital is actually taking over our group and supposedly I'll have a job when I get back. The bottom line is, without anything in writing, I truly have no idea if they'll have a job waiting for me or not. I have the advantage of making 6-figures without a wife, kids, or mortgage and I can come and go as I please in terms of relocating, so it's not a big deal to me. But, if you have others to worry about, you seriously need to ask yourself if loosing this job will grossly impact your life, especially with the current state of the economy. Again, I work in healthcare which is "relatively" recession proof. Further, I would recommend getting something in writing so it's binding. In terms of insurance, search posts and there's a recent posting regarding short term insurance. I have no medical problems so an emergency coverage works fine for me, but you also have family to worry about. With five years to plan, you have the benefit of time. I'm just too spontaneous to plan anything that far in advance

[kayak karl]

professional hiker trash, though

where do i send my resume?

[Todd Tarbox]

professional hiker trash, though

where do i send my resume?

Your current employer!!

[Magua]

Work to live. Dont live to work.

[garlic08]

I phased out of my career in my late 30s. I went part-time with the company and gave up my health insurance benefits with them. But I negotiated a higher hourly rate to pay for my own insurance. My wife did the same thing. By then we'd been out of debt for many years. At the same time, we were downsizing and simplifying our lives, making it easier to leave everything behind for long periods for some pretty great trips. Good luck with your plan.