Life after the trail, how did you start over?

[Brian3211]

Im wondering what life is like after a thru hike. For you guys who have completed the trail, did you have a plan, job, place to go when you returned home? Did you have to start over from scratch? Maybe you had nothing and decided to start over in a different state....what's your story?

[Slo-go'en]

Everyone is different, so what they do is unique to thier circumstances. I imagine what you do after is largely dependant on what you have for obligations, skills and how much is left in your bank account. One thing for sure, going back to a 9 to 5 grind with a 2 hour commute to a cubical is not easy to do. Which is why middle age people who still need to work should never go on a thru hike...

Oh, you wanted to know my story --I'd have to write a book...

[Datto]

I took 30 calendar days off after my AT thru-hike and just relaxed and reflected, then started interviewing for a new job. Had three job offers, settled on one of the job offers and went to work. Stayed at my buddy Tony's house over the winter when I came back from my AT thru-hike. I'd put my stuff into storage before my AT thru-hike, then when I took the new job after my AT thru-hike I unloaded the storage unit and set the stuff up in an apartment.


Datto

[4shot]

I am married and came back home. Didn't have a job lined up. Looked around for awhile and switched careers, which is sort of what I wanted anyways. I was lucky enough to have about 2 years off between jobs. After I quit the first one, I then decided to thru hike. Some quit for the purpose of thru hiking. I didn't - I quit because I didn't like my job anymore. I still keep up with some of the guys and gals who I hiked with - no matter how they ended up on the trail, no one regrets hiking for 5-6 months.

[Magic_Rat]

On a similar subject, was anyone actually able to keep the weight off after coming back? How'd you do it? Any advice?

[Carl Calson]

i lost around 20 lbs, but after i got off the trail it came back pretty quickly. i would assume you have to stay active or eat less, or both.

I hiked from GA>VT last year, and now it's that time of year again where everyone's getting prepared to start their thru again. I want so badly to be in their shoes. It's really an exciting time, and an incredible experience. I will finish some day, and if everything goes as planned I will start from Springer again.

[Spirit Walker]

After my first hike, I ended up moving to San Francisco, which was something I had always wanted to do. After my second hike, four years later, I went back to my old job for a short time to help out and earn some money, then moved east to be with my hiking partner. Seven years later, we quit our jobs, put our stuff in storage, and went hiking again. After we did the CDT and PCT back to back, we got new jobs, bought a house and settled in for a few years. Six years later, my husband retired, we sold the house and went traveling again.

When I was younger, it wasn't that hard to keep the weight off as I stayed very active, walking a few miles every day and hiking every weekend. When I got older, the weight came back quickly after the hikes, despite being active. Now it takes real effort to keep the weight from coming back or losing it after I've regained it.

[Datto]

One thru-hiker thing I'd forgotten to mention after completing my AT thru-hike.

Soon after I'd come back from Maine, I'd had a job interview with a Fortune 100 company in Cincinnati -- decided to drive there for the job interview instead of flying. I thought I was going to be interested in the job so if an offer was going to be made by the company, I could be there to get housing and other things setup before returning back to Indiana.

The company did make me an offer while I was in Cincinnati -- except they told me I had to have a complete physical before they could extend the offer. The company asked me if I wanted to come back another day to do the physical or do the physical that day. I'd asked about the physical and the HR person said all new hires have to take a complete physical exam because the company got a big discount on employee health insurance by doing so. I told the HR person I'd prefer to do the physical right then rather than come back another day. On the drive to Cincinnati I'd hit an ice storm -- I was just to the point of mastering vehicular driving again after the AT and must have been, Ha, driving a blazing fast 10mph on I-75 through the ice storm. Didn't want to have to do that jaw-clenching drive again unnecessarily.

On my way out of the building I saw one of the other company guys (he'd been with the company for six months) who'd done the interview with me and I'd asked him about this physical business. He said yeah, everyone had to go through it. He looked at me and said, "It won't be pretty." Huh. Pretty.

I drove over to the place where the physicals were done and they'd known ahead of time I would be arriving and got me in right away. An hour and a half later, after all the poking and measuring and pulling and all kinds of weird medical "activities", I thought I'd completed everything needed for the physical. The lady at the reception desk told me, when I'd ask her if I was done with everything, that I should wait and there would be someone coming out to talk to me.

Okay, I waited. A nurse came out in a nurse outfit -- one of those nurses who'd gone into administration rather than remain on the ward. She had me go into a small conference room and sit down. She started out by thanking me for taking time to meet with her. Ha, that should have been the tip-off.

She told me they'd completed their exam and had found something.

You can not give an opening softball line like that to someone like me -- a comedic line that has been used all the way back to the beginning of talkies -- and not expect there to be ramifications. My brain went into overdrive spinning the mental file cabinet of possible answers -- starting with Rodeo Whistles and going backwards alphabetically to Hamsters and then over to Bank Line Stanchions. In my world, all comedy leads to Bank Line Stanchions.

My lips were just twitching to lay out the punchline but my mouth had gotten me into a serious predicament on one of the says just prior to the start of my AT thru-hike and I'd been trying to lead a more simple life on the Trail.

In fact, I didn't even bring up the experience of the Bojangles Exam that I'd had by a nurse a half hour earlier. That was material just made for comedic delight. You know, normally they have a man do that kind of exam but on that day, they must have been short-handed.

I knew I was in great shape with no problems at all so rather than offering a smart aleck remark, I just said, "Oh? What's that?"

She got a serious look on her face and came close to me and said, "Your heart rate is way lower than normal."

By this time my mouth couldn't be corralled any longer and I'd responded to her, "It only does that when I'm around pretty nurses."

I saw her face go from annoyment, to smiling, back to annoyment.

If only I could keep a straight face. That would make the comedy last so much longer. Instead, I burst out laughing and the nurse started smiling again before reverting back to seriousness. With that southern accent of hers, she said to me, "We've never had anyone in here like that who wasn't see-yuk."

I laughed again and told her I'd just thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail.

That got her smiling -- evidently she'd gone to some college in Virginia and one Spring Break she and her friends had gone out for ten days and had hiked on the AT. She told me it was one of the best things she'd ever done in her life and that her and her friends had discussed going out again to start at the southern end -- the beginning. She said they never did -- got wrapped up with husbands and kids and jobs. She said she'd wished her and her friends would have hiked the AT right after college when they'd had the time. Of course she'd had the thru-hiker twenty questions and I could tell that I'd stirred an idea in her head about something -- maybe something she'd forgotten completely about up until I showed up one day to get my Bojangles Exam and some other tests for that job offer.

Yeah, it wasn't pretty at all. But it was funny and that's what counts. How can you get a Bojangles Exam and not have it be hilarious?

Ended up taking a different job but I still remember that look on her face when I'd told her I'd just thru-hiked the AT -- she'd been so relieved.


Datto

[soulrebel]

It's a total mindFk. What the hell do I do now!?! I think it would be ideal to have "a gig" lined up for October 15th-March 15th following the hike. Then go on another trip, obviously. rinse and repeat till life aka "kids" force you to do otherwise.

[Brian3211]

It's a total mindFk. What the hell do I do now!?! I think it would be ideal to have "a gig" lined up for October 15th-March 15th following the hike. Then go on another trip, obviously. rinse and repeat till life aka "kids" force you to do otherwise.

So what your saying is go on a thru hike, find a hole in the wall job and save your money and then next year go on another trip like say the PCT? I have considered doing this but not sure how it would work out. Has anyone done this before? Did everything go smoothly?

[Datto]

I had 15 months between when I completed my Appalachian Trail thru-hike and when I started the next adventure, which was traveling the South Pacific and Scotland. After the AT I had a job that paid relatively well and my savings rate was very high.

During the time after my AT thru-hike a recruiter had told me I'd always be able to find work with my skill set but that I wouldn't be able to pursue the premium pay positions because I didn't have much of a specialty. After I came back from my South Pacific/Scotland adventure I realized I was going to be adventuring quite a bit in the future and leading a much more full life from that point forward. So I needed the premium pay to be able to do adventuring on a regular basis and be able to come back afterward and get a job. I set out to obtain some specialty expertise -- that was a game-changer for me and doing so gave me the financial resources needed to live life more fully.


Datto

[Dogwood]

Life after the trail, how did you start over?

I wouldn't phrase it that way. After my AT thru, I took what I learned and what I had become while hiking and incorporated it into my entire life(on and off trail) to become something better. I would like to think I've been doing that ever since on consecutive thru-hikes.

After my AT thru I went to Hawaii(Kauai and Maui) where, surprisingly, unbeknownst to each of us, were two other AT thru-hikers that had thrued that yr. Three of us all together at the same hostel. I had bought an open ended return airplane ticket. About 3 wks before intending to fly back to the mainland I applied to three job offers. All three companies offered me positions. I decided to make Hawaii one of my residences.

[Brian3211]

After my AT thru I went to Hawaii(Kauai and Maui) where, surprisingly, unbeknownst to each of us, were two other AT thru-hikers that had thrued that yr. Three of us all together at the same hostel. I had bought an open ended return airplane ticket. About 3 wks before intending to fly back to the mainland I applied to three job offers. All three companies offered me positions. I decided to make Hawaii one of my residences.

That is the most ironic and coolest thing I have read all day. I know this sounds crazy but I was just thinking about this today actually. I was thinking how cool would it be to live in Hawaii, then I thought what about visiting there after my thru and seeing how it goes. Your post have given me inspiration, Thank you. If I may ask, Did you have alot of money left when you visited Hawaii?

[Dogwood]

So what your saying is go on a thru hike, find a hole in the wall job and save your money and then next year go on another trip like say the PCT? I have considered doing this but not sure how it would work out. Has anyone done this before? Did everything go smoothly?

LOL. I probably know at least a dozen thru-hikers that live this way. Although, I would say the majority of those that do this don't consider themselves as having a "hole in the wall job." Most of the ones I know, including myself, know they can always find work somewhere and live frugally. It's not all that hard when you have a certain mind set, some employable skills, and opt for a non-status quo lifestyle. Of course, you don't have guarantees on how this will work out or if it even will work out but that's not going to stop all people when they know they have the ability to always land on their feet and take things in stride. How many guarantees do you think you really have in life?

Did everything go smoothly? There are always bumps in the road and challenges in life. They are inevitable, NO MATTER WHICH ROAD YOU TAKE.

[Datto]

Many people who come back from thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail have such a high level of self-confidence and a great deal of clarity that challenges don't seem that big of a deal like they once were. Clarity of thinking makes it such that the process to go to the next level (or not) seems much clearer than pre-AT and the right things seem to get done much more quickly.

Plus, for many there is no postponement on taking the steps necessary to live life fully. There's a level of importance that living life fully takes on for many AT thru-hikers post-AT. I guess you could say that some hikers think living the normal life of everyone else just doesn't seem to be good enough anymore after you've had the experience of completing a thru-hike the AT. Many who have completed a thru-hike of the AT believe there isn't any challenge that can't be overcome.

I keep a strip map of the AT around just to remind me.


Datto

[Dogwood]

I did not have a lot of money when I decided to make HI one of the places I live. What I did have is previous experiences on HI so I wasn't going or residing there completely cold. I already had made some connections there. I knew what the islands were like. I appreciated HI and a certain way of living in HI. I was adaptable. There are those who come to HI on their first visit and immediately adapt, enjoy it, and decide to stay. And, there are others who never adapt to island living with what seems like a vast number of personal resources. I'll make this clear. There is no place in the U.S. quite the same as Hawaii. You, being from the Show Me State, is most likely going to experience a totally different international culture and lifestyle in HI.

[Dogwood]

Well said Datto.

[4shot]

on a more practical note, I have given up tuna in a pouch, Snickers and Knorrs dishes since thru hiking. Plus I bathe more frequently.

[Lumberjack2003]

I knew that I was going to change my career and where I lived after the trail so I paid off my debts and saved some money. After the trail I visited a few friends in different cities before making a decision. Then I looked for work. I went a full year between jobs.

[Brian3211]

I did not have a lot of money when I decided to make HI one of the places I live. What I did have is previous experiences on HI so I wasn't going or residing there completely cold. I already had made some connections there. I knew what the islands were like. I appreciated HI and a certain way of living in HI. I was adaptable. There are those who come to HI on their first visit and immediately adapt, enjoy it, and decide to stay. And, there are others who never adapt to island living with what seems like a vast number of personal resources. I'll make this clear. There is no place in the U.S. quite the same as Hawaii. You, being from the Show Me State, is most likely going to experience a totally different international culture and lifestyle in HI.

I agree, I'm sure it will be completely different than what I'm use to. I think I would like island living, I'm not really sure what the culture is like but I am pretty adaptable. I don't really know what to expect but I just might have to give it a try if I can find a job before money runs out, I suspect I won't have alot once I'm done with the trail.