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ncmtns
12-29-2003, 18:46
I was wondering if anyone has tried the thru hike because of a change or focus on their lives. eg. loss of job, divorce, death in family?
Has the hike helped to refocus on life and goals?

Blue Jay
12-30-2003, 09:10
Yes, I got tired of being one of the Rats in the Race. Now I'm in the Race just to trip up the faster and bigger Rats.

texashiker
12-30-2003, 10:00
ncmtns- Just today I read a thread about a book where the lady had broken up with her boyfriend and then thru hiked. Here is the link....
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3207

As for me... If I lost my job, I would thru hike in a second. The problem is that I LOVE my job thus I am not about to quit. So, I am starting section hiking this summer!

Spirit Walker
12-30-2003, 18:01
I did my first hike because I was stuck in a rut and wanted an adventure. I realized that all the exciting parts of my life had occurred before I was 21, and that ten years of day to day 'normal' life were taking a toll on me. I wanted to be fully alive again. So off I went.

Did it change my life - yes, in many ways. I learned that I love long distance hiking, that I am happiest in the mountains, and that I want to keep on hiking. But it didn't give me answers to the questions I thought I was asking. My new life direction didn't include clear focus on the future or a career change - more like a choice to forego having a real career in order to keep on hiking. It made me part of a community that I enjoy -- but makes it harder to feel a part of the outside community, which I never did really fit into and really don't belong to now. Once a misfit, always a misfit. In some ways, it spoiled me for ordinary life -- I know a place I can be really happy -- but I have to wait to go back, sometimes many years, and the waiting can be very hard. But at least I have lived my dream - I've gone back three times, and I know there will be a next time. Without the trail I probably would have just drifted along, wanting more but not knowing what. Now I know.

Miss Janet
12-30-2003, 18:22
I have asked this question of hundreds of hikers over the years and the only somewhat common theme seems to be a transition of some kind that makes the hike possible or needed! I am rereading Cold Mountain and I was struck my a line that goes..."I am thinking that this journey will be the axle of my life"

Matt Pincham
12-31-2003, 07:23
I've decided to thru-hike in 2004 with my girlfriend mainly because we both hate being part of the rat race. I'm getting out of the office job position for good (hopefully) and when I get back will begin training to become a policeman...unless I get the travel bug and spend my life working 6 months, travelling 6 months (I wish).

Although I've never visited the US it is a place I've always wanted to travel to. I do plan to see lots more of the US than just the AT in my lifetime but at the moment the AT just fits.

Who knows, next year maybe the PCT will call my name :)

Footslogger
12-31-2003, 21:39
Guess it came down to a simple realization that I wasn't getting any younger and since this was a near lifelong dream of mine there was no better time than the present. I had a good job and have a great partner (who also thru-hike the AT in 2001) so it wasn't so much work related ...although I must admit I was getting pretty burned out at what I was doing.

I decided that it was more important to take a career risk and hike the AT than it was to sit back and wish I had always done it. Once you make up your mind that you are going to hike the AT and you tell people who are close to you about your plans it all seems to come together.

I'm home now ...having realized my dream this year. Do I regret my decision --NO. Am I a changed person ...YES. I came back with a healthier respect for what's really important in life. Quality of life is much more important to me now than my salary or what kind of car I drive. Life is short. Go for a hike !!

screwysquirrel
01-02-2004, 01:50
Amen to what Footslogger said. You only live once.

Lone Wolf
03-19-2009, 11:52
I was wondering if anyone has tried the thru hike because of a change or focus on their lives. eg. loss of job, divorce, death in family?
Has the hike helped to refocus on life and goals?

i was tired of the stench from riding the back of a garbage truck

Frick Frack
03-19-2009, 12:56
I was wondering if anyone has tried the thru hike because of a change or focus on their lives. eg. loss of job, divorce, death in family?
Has the hike helped to refocus on life and goals?

The Appalachians are beautiful and full of energy and normal everyday life sucked us dry so we needed to be rejuvenated. Instead of being focused on "things" now we are more focused on experiences. What a great experience it was.

Cannibal
03-19-2009, 13:02
I went because I was in need of an adventure. I got that and more. I wouldn't trade my time on the AT, but I'm not the person I was before the hike. One year and 18 days after starting my hike I still haven't decided if it's a good thing or a bad thing; just different. No refocus, if anything it made things more blurry.

Only cure, I believe, is another long hike. :D