I'll be starting out late in February from Springer and walking to Katahdin. Trail Name: Starman/Nocturno (I do a lot of night hiking and midnight star gazing)

I'm taking the spring, summer, and semesters off from my teaching job to hike the trail. I did a week long hike in Virginia this spring break and almost quit my job right then and there, but I would rather hike the whole trail at once, and my job is too good to just walk away from. I'm 29 and want to thru-hike before my career and family responsibilities become too overwhelming to be able to walk away from. I suppose that in a way this thru-hike will be the last hurrah of my irresponsible twenties and the beginning of a new phase of existence that is less free and spontaneous. The next time I will be able to do stuff like this will probably be when I hit the middle-aged, and hopefully well-off, retired adventurer stage of my life. Till then, I'm saving up and really looking forward to this great adventure!