What have you given up for your thru-hike and how profound was the impact?

[bpowell1014]

So I have been bitten by the A.T. bug baaaadddd. For the last two years, I have been considering quitting my very well-paying job (which I don't like but pays well and I'm luck to have..may take years for me to find a job that pays this well again), leaving my significant other for 6 months (who understands but isn't crazy about the idea). I feel like doing a thru-hike will literally turn my life upside down, to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention job security, but at this point, I'm crazy enough and devoted enough to do it. There is so much more in life that I want to do besides work and conform to "normal" everyday society. I have this calling...this CRAZY calling to do the full A.T.

I get the impression that I'm not alone here. What have you given up, and what were the long-term consequences? Good or bad?

[Lucy Lulu]

I've given up very well paying jobs every time I've done long distance hikes. I've worked in my industry for 20 years, and I've maintained very good relationships with former employers. I've never had an issue finding work once I was finished with a hike. I may not have saved as much as I would have if I had stayed employed, but I've saved enough, and I've never regretted any decision to hike.

[Lone Wolf]

So I have been bitten by the A.T. bug baaaadddd. For the last two years, I have been considering quitting my very well-paying job (which I don't like but pays well and I'm luck to have..may take years for me to find a job that pays this well again), leaving my significant other for 6 months (who understands but isn't crazy about the idea). I feel like doing a thru-hike will literally turn my life upside down, to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention job security, but at this point, I'm crazy enough and devoted enough to do it. There is so much more in life that I want to do besides work and conform to "normal" everyday society. I have this calling...this CRAZY calling to do the full A.T.

I get the impression that I'm not alone here. What have you given up, and what were the long-term consequences? Good or bad?have you ever done any long distance backpacking? if not, fantasy turns to reality real quick. and you may not make it very far. by the way, i was 27 on my first hike. i was single, no bills, no children, no mortgage/rent. i gave up nothing

[RockDoc]

Absolutely right.
I watched a friend quit the trail in Hot Springs and go home just because he heard his grandson say "I miss you" on the telephone. Even the slightest reason can be attractive, not to mention the big reasons you mention.

[AngelEyez]

leaving my 5 year old son. i will miss him but been on my own n been a long ruff road. A great friendship <might be becoming more>. but if he cares for me hell support me n be there when i get home. other then that not a hole lot

[Nick P]

Am giving up my house, having fought off a foreclosure for 3 years (come May). I will have a job to come home to, but am sacrificing half of a year's income in order to walk the trail and (I hope) recover my sanity. I (obviously) can't afford this escapist trek, but my life is in such a tumult--the foreclosure was the inevitable result of a divorce--that I don't really have a choice. I wish you the best.

[4eyedbuzzard]

So I have been bitten by the A.T. bug baaaadddd. For the last two years, I have been considering quitting my very well-paying job (which I don't like but pays well and I'm luck to have..may take years for me to find a job that pays this well again), leaving my significant other for 6 months (who understands but isn't crazy about the idea). I feel like doing a thru-hike will literally turn my life upside down, to the tune of thousands and thousands of dollars, not to mention job security, but at this point, I'm crazy enough and devoted enough to do it. There is so much more in life that I want to do besides work and conform to "normal" everyday society. I have this calling...this CRAZY calling to do the full A.T.

I get the impression that I'm not alone here. What have you given up, and what were the long-term consequences? Good or bad?I was 19 and gave up nothing - and like most people didn't finish my hike because the reality of it wasn't the overall pleasant outdoor experience I had anticipated.

Since you are so crazy about hiking, I guess you are out every weekend hiking whenever possible, right? If not, why not, if you want to hike so much? Seriously, how much hiking have you done? What's the longest hike you've ever done, and under what weather conditions?

A "calling" to do the AT? That's like being "called" to climb Everest, or "called" to go on a round the world cruise - "called" to go on a 6 month long adventure vacation. In all seriousness, that isn't a "calling". Mother Teresa had a calling. Ghandi had a calling. You need a wake up "call". You're going to give up a secure high paying job and lose thousands, or tens, or maybe hundreds of thousands in long term opportunity costs - all to go on a 6 month hiking vacation that you are not even sure you'll finish or even enjoy.

Take two to three weeks vacation off from work in late March or early April and go hike from Springer to Fontana Dam. Get it out of your system.

[Dogwood]

You might be best if you first backpacked for a week before you throw away what you have to attempt an AT thru-hike. Something like 8-9 out of every 10 AT thru-hikers don't follow through completing their thru-hikes. Obviously, some found thru-hiking wasn't all they thought it would be. You also need to know that, IMHO, most who long distance hike also work or have some source of income and have some degree of "normalcy" or connection to everyday society. No one here can tell you what's right or wrong for your situation and certainly not tell you if you're crazy based on you sharing eight sentences.

[BrianLe]

In 2010 I thought I could stretch out the time between regular eye injections but I was wrong. So the result of that particular thru-hike is that I'll never see very clearly out of my right eye again. Well, barring borg-like implants (for which I retain hope!).

[4eyedbuzzard]

Brad,
Okay, first, I apologize for going off on you as cynically as I did in my post #7 above.

But, realistically, from what you have put out there in various places online, you seem to have a pretty good life. High paying job, good relationship, running, bike rides in park, botanical and photography interests, yada. Yeah, I'm sure it's boring at times, and the daily grind of work is just that (all the other four letter words were taken), but don't throw away all the good on a wanderlust obsession to hike a trail.
Is thru-hiking the trail, with at very best a 25% chance of completing it, worth giving up a secure high paying job that enables you to have many of the other good things in your life?
As a society, we are incredibly fortunate in that we are individually free to do pretty much whatever we choose. But we also have to live with the consequences of those choices - both good and bad.

[bpowell1014]

You make some incredibly strong points, and I appreciate your candor greatly. I have spent the last day absorbing everyone's comments, and now I'm at a loss of what to do. Thankfully, I have plenty of time to figure it out. I am going on a week long hike through the CT A.T. in May and I'm hoping it will give me some time to think. I have done a few week long A.T. hikes over the past year, one of which was miserably hot and stormy, and I can honestly say that through it all, I've grown to love it. We'll see what the future has in store. Thanks again for your thoughts - they have truly been helpful.

[Different Socks]

Working 2 jobs to save for another thru and other hikes, so I've given up free time, hiking time, family time, cable, movies, social contact, bar time, and just plain old "me" time.
Only 830 days to go or 19,920 hours or 1,195,200 seconds--give or take a day.

[takethisbread]

Brad,
Okay, first, I apologize for going off on you as cynically as I did in my post #7 above.

But, realistically, from what you have put out there in various places online, you seem to have a pretty good life. High paying job, good relationship, running, bike rides in park, botanical and photography interests, yada. Yeah, I'm sure it's boring at times, and the daily grind of work is just that (all the other four letter words were taken), but don't throw away all the good on a wanderlust obsession to hike a trail.
Is thru-hiking the trail, with at very best a 25% chance of completing it, worth giving up a secure high paying job that enables you to have many of the other good things in your life?
As a society, we are incredibly fortunate in that we are individually free to do pretty much whatever we choose. But we also have to live with the consequences of those choices - both good and bad.

very rare to see such contemplation of ones comments. this is a tough issue for a lot of us. long distance backpacking, not just thru hiking, can appear to be a very selfish endeavor. long periods away from home.. entire vacations spent not with family but in solitude of the trail. many times the lure of the unrealistic notion of adventure leads us to make unwise decisions.



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[Hill Ape]

what have i given up in life... my god thats a huge list. every year since i graduated high school, i have deferred the dream to thru hike. i've always known its not my time. now, i'm a couple years from being able to take a leave of absence from my job and still return. maybe its my time. but at one time or another, over the course of my life. a divorce. a child that was killed in a car accident. an incurable disease. a couple houses i loved. i feel like i have given up everything. today though, few regrets. count your gains, not your losses.