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the_mechanic
02-01-2014, 15:10
So I plan(ned) to do the AT this year and now I'm really concerned I’m getting an acute case of cold feet.

By way of background, I decided to do a thru hike this year for a lot of reasons, but the main one is escaping the mind-numbing grind of my job. I'm actually not a mechanic as my handle would suggest, but have been practicing as a civil litigation attorney in Florida for about five years. I work with some amazing people and the actual job is relatively awesome compared to people that do similar work (laid back office, good pay and mostly 9-5 schedule). I'm actually really good at what I do, despite mostly hating the tedious, contentious and unfulfilling nature of the work.

Until about a week ago, I was dead-set on heading out from Springer in March. Last Tuesday, I got an unprompted offer to do a different type of work within my job that could be better/more interesting than what I do now and would definitely be a big, big career booster—a career booster that might lead to work I actually like one day.

It goes without saying that the combined actual cost and opportunity cost of doing the hike is eye-watering. After paying off an ocean of student loans and 10 years of busting my ass in school and work, I’m finally, finally making really good money right now (though this is not the most important thing in life).

On the flip side, I struggle with chasing the dream of “one day my job might be great” further down the pipe. I have never done anything for myself like an AT thru hike—never took time off from school; never have done extended travel, etc.

So are there any 30-something career people who are/were planning on doing the hike and have struggled with the idea of “throwing away” five months and their job, even though you weren’t in love with your job in the first place?

ugggggggh
02-01-2014, 15:45
-i am 40 and not getting younger.. i thought to do the trail at 27... a good job is why i never did. now i will be blessed if i can finish the buckeye trail and possibly harpersferry to mass. if you have a family to support then think about the job. but if you are single or married without children...
-one man said... "i could have stayed in buisness and i would be very wealthy right now, (but i quit my construction job and hiked the trail) , instead i am happy."
-money is not everything. in fact it is almost nothing. take the trail and write a book. i will buy the first copy. (and the second if its good)

lonehiker
02-01-2014, 15:48
I'm not the 30-something audience you requested to respond, but made a significant career decision in mid-40s that was similar. Stay with career. Sounds as if there is light at the end of the tunnel. The trail will be there and you can hike it in retirement or section it during your vacations.

Slo-go'en
02-01-2014, 15:48
So are there any 30-something career people who are/were planning on doing the hike and have struggled with the idea of “throwing away” five months and their job, even though you weren’t in love with your job in the first place?

Isn't that the dilemma every prospective thru hiker faces? It sounds like you would have no problem getting another high paying job and making oceans of money later, if you find that is still important to you after the hike. If you are free of any significant debt and still single, this might be your best oppertunity to do something like a thru hike.

I aways suggest to people who may not have any prior backpacking/hiking/camping experiance to do some shorter trips first and find out if this is truely some thing you want to do before commiting to quiting a job and doing all the other things which have to be done prehike, only to find themselfs going home after a short while.

Leaving a mind numbing job is a good reason to go on a thru hike, but not the best. You might find your trading one mind numbing job for another. Make no mistake about it, thru hiking is a job.

Honuben
02-01-2014, 18:41
I'm 37 years old and leaving my third career to do this hike. My first was in the navy 8.5 years, got hurt, and retired. Second working at a shipyard as a quality inspector for 5 years. My current job is a mechanic for the gov. Shipyard for 3+ years. I've loved all my jobs and have been great at them all and could have done 30 years in any of them. But as my wife retires from the navy it's time for her to go home to Kentucky. As she settles into our home there it's affording me this opportunity to hike something I've always wanted to do. As my career has revolved around the navy and industrial sector, I can't see myself working for the navy in Kentucky. So I guess it's hard for me to say I'm throwing away 5 months of work, but starting a new chapter. Jobs are out there and I'll find another one but life is short and I may never have the opportunity to this again. In your situation, you've paid off you student loans, not happy with the Jove, but tempted at prospect of a new one. See if you could take a leave of absence. If you done your time there, a good employer should value what you can do and would want to keep you after a good soul search on your hike.

Spirit Walker
02-01-2014, 18:42
If the choice were to stay in a job you hate vs. go hiking, I'd say go for your hike. Having the opportunity to do something really fulfilling, however, changes the equation. The trail will still be there, whether for section hikes or a later thruhike.

A few years after my first thruhike, I was in a similar situation, though at a much lower level. I was bored with my job and dreaming of the trail. Then I got an interview for a job that seemed ideal. I got the job and put away my plans for my thruhike. Four months later, I figured out that I was never going to be happy at the new job, despite the many pluses, because my boss was awful. So I quit. But it worked for me, because I got a chance to learn a lot and to see what working in that field was like. I did the responsible thing, for once. If not for my boss, I might still be there and my life would be completely different. Either way would have been good. As it is, I have no career, but I have a lot of great memories. But there are times I wish I could have had the meaningful work too.

Tipi Walter
02-01-2014, 20:17
I think your situation is fairly easy to resolve. If you love your job or love doing what you do, well, there's the answer. If you love nature and backpacking and sleeping outside no matter what, well, there's your answer. Both are callings. Many people never find their callings or what they love.

slbirdnerd
02-01-2014, 20:21
For all the "could be's" and "mights" you mention, I'd go with the trail. You "could" also get run over by a bus on your first day at the potentially maybe better possible job in the future. If you are truly good at your job, there will be other opportunities. I'd be willing to bet that your trail experience will give you something--some perspective, some ideas--that you wouldn't have otherwise and maybe, perhaps, that could lead you in an even better direction. (Of course, if you're leaving behind a family and bills to pay, maybe it's not your time.)

Meriadoc
02-01-2014, 20:32
I work with some amazing people and the actual job is relatively awesome compared to people that do similar work (laid back office, good pay and mostly 9-5 schedule). I'm actually really good at what I do, despite mostly hating the tedious, contentious and unfulfilling nature of the work.

Until about a week ago, I was dead-set on heading out from Springer in March. Last Tuesday, I got an unprompted offer to do a different type of work within my job that could be better/more interesting than what I do now and would definitely be a big, big career booster—a career booster that might lead to work I actually like one day.

If these are good people you might ask for a leave of absence. The moment sounds right for that. Since you would be switching types of work no one would have to cover for you. (If I am understanding this correctly - that you would stop the current work and pick up new work instead.)

kayak karl
02-01-2014, 20:45
you know all the answers better then anyone else. are there jobs in your field available? may you be in a relationship in the next few years that may knock out the next 20? how important is the trail to you?
do a PRO n CON list and be thorough and honest.

Bati
02-01-2014, 20:49
Hiking the entire trail in one season is overrated (wonderful, but overrated all the same). Consider taking the new job and asking for a shorter leave of absence if you don't think 5 or 6 months will be possible. A one or two month break will give you a chance to escape to the trail, avoid the burnout that many hikers suffer, and hopefully work doing something you love afterwards.

Malto
02-01-2014, 21:20
I'm not the 30-something audience you requested to respond, but made a significant career decision in mid-40s that was similar. Stay with career. Sounds as if there is light at the end of the tunnel. The trail will be there and you can hike it in retirement or section it during your vacations.

Agree with this and would add that you could find a window prior to retirement to do the hike. I was 45 and was able to do a leave of absence from my job. The trail will still be there. It is very easy to walk away from a job at McDonalds and return to Burger King. It will be a whole different critter in your situation.

Affirmative
02-01-2014, 22:12
It goes without saying that the combined actual cost and opportunity cost of doing the hike is eye-watering. After paying off an ocean of student loans and 10 years of busting my ass in school and work, I’m finally, finally making really good money right now (though this is not the most important thing in life).

On the flip side, I struggle with chasing the dream of “one day my job might be great” further down the pipe. I have never done anything for myself like an AT thru hike—never took time off from school; never have done extended travel, etc.

So are there any 30-something career people who are/were planning on doing the hike and have struggled with the idea of “throwing away” five months and their job, even though you weren’t in love with your job in the first place?

Sorry I don't qualify to answer your question (I'm 24), but maybe my perspective might help. Life is the longest thing you'll do on this Earth, but life is short.
At my age, almost my entire life has been spent doing something I dislike - school. It's something I learned to just play along with and jump through hoops because it's what "you're supposed to do". You can justify it in so many ways, but really what is that all about? And just to give you a little more perspective about my life, I'll let you in on a little secret. I was put in special ed in elementary school (maybe that should be my trail name, eh? haha).Yet I went through an International Baccalaureate program in high school and graduated with a BS in Business Administration from UC Riverside. I could have done grad school... I could be working a really lucrative career right now... I could be getting married and making as much money as I can get my hands on... but that's not what I want at all. All I know is that the more I go down that path, the harder it is to pull away.
There's stability, security, and comfort in it. But it also lures you in deeper and deeper. Deep down you have a feeling you can be living a thrill instead of making excuses that bog you down and keep you chasing a path of discontent.

You know what normal life is? Monogamous. There's relatively no highs or lows. It's full of distractions and trivial things.

You know what leaving an extremely stable career in government/public safety is like? IT'S LIBERATING! It's exciting. You feel sorry for all the coworkers you're leaving behind with kids, mortgages, a brutal job, and 24/7 stress. Sure I still have a bulk of my student loans, but I have confidence in myself with a can do attitude.

It sounds like you really want to do this and you're looking for people to help convince you to hop the fence. My problem with that situation would be that there's two sides to that decision. People who will encourage you and people who will discourage you (your employers, your parents, friends/family, what have you). You ultimately have the power and you're the one that has to make the commitment.

Yes or no.

If you put it off for later... well just do your research on how well that statistically pans out.

rickb
02-01-2014, 22:19
One could have a hell of a lot of great adventures with 5 weeks vacation a year and an extra $20k worth of income to make them happen-- every year. Or whatever multiple +/- is your reality.

Trail or no Trail, sound like you are in a good spot

Conure
02-01-2014, 23:06
Leaving a mind numbing job is a good reason to go on a thru hike, but not the best. You might find your trading one mind numbing job for another. Make no mistake about it, thru hiking is a job.

That being said, at 17, I and two friends decided to hike the AT. We were all good friends that met in the Cub Scouts, continued together through Webelos and then Boy Scouts. We were all working at different part time jobs and going to high school when we planned to take the next year, gather up gear and get ourselves into some sort of long distance hiking shape for our adventure. As the year progressed, one friend got involved in a relationship and his girlfriend didn't want him to be away from him for so long, they were in love (8 months later they couldn't stand each other); my other friend was promised a full time job after he graduated from high school (he worked in a machinist shop at that time and took the offer, a year later he quit, after lots of menial jobs he's now a chef and usually works over 50 hour work weeks with low pay); I wasn't ready to hike it alone then. The AT never happened, we all though it would happen at a later point in life, we all had a strong desire to do it one day.

It's almost 40 years later now and I'll be starting my thru-hike later this year. I didn't get married (until I was 51) and I have no children, instead I spent my life cradling a career and making money. My wife supports my passions (as I support hers) and my hike. My one friend is physically incapable of hiking the trail now, he is very envious and somewhat resentful that I am going and he can't. My other friend feels tethered to his job, feels he is indispensable to his employer and doesn't want to risk losing his position, even though he still says that one day he'll get around to it. His health is weak from years of working long hours and not taking care of himself. I seriously doubt he will ever fulfill his dream of hiking the AT.

A gentleman who was about my current age, to whom we spoke about our plan to hike the AT when we were 17 told us, "Its best to do these types of things when you're young because you never know where life will lead you or what it has in store for you to later. You may think you're in control of your life, but you'd be wrong." There's only so much understanding that such a statement will grant a 17 year old, but what truth it yields all this time later.

If you have the resources--physically, emotionally, mentally, and financially--and the desire to do the trail now, then now is the best time to do it. If you're uncertain, then maybe its fear based, or maybe you're just not ready. At 17 I was not ready, not because of fear but because I thought I didn't have the resources to succeed on my own, but now I know I was wrong.

Pursuing money gave me a lot of material wealth, but at the cost of sacrificing my passions and dreams. In the last five years I've managed to rid myself of much of my material accumulation, simplify my life, quit my high paying job, and follow my passions and dreams. My life is now filled with much greater hope, happiness, and fulfillment then the money ever provided. Now, I consider myself fortunate, very much so : )

Just saying, things change...live your life while you can, you don't know where you'll be in the future.

Marta
02-02-2014, 07:38
If your primary reason for hiking is to escape your job, and you've been offered a job you think you'll like better, there's no reason to go for the hike.

George
02-02-2014, 11:58
should not need to tell you that meaningful, lucrative work in law is not easy to come by - quitting a job that you are unlikely to be able to get back/ replace does not ensure the ability/ desire to complete the trail in one shot and IMO the trail is more enjoyable in bite size pieces anyway,

imscotty
02-02-2014, 12:09
It is a tough call and one only you can make. Me, I tend to be practical. I suppose I have missed out on some great experiences (including a try-hike) my staying employed throughout my life, but the secure finances has allowed me to travel, pursue my many hobbies, and help others. It has been worth it for me.

BTW: When I saw you handle my first thought was hit man. ('The Mechanic' was an old Charles Bronson movie).

lonehiker
02-02-2014, 14:41
BTW: When I saw you handle my first thought was hit man. ('The Mechanic' was an old Charles Bronson movie).

Probably most on here don't know the movie or that your picture is Barnabus Collins.