View Full Version : Where do you find the time
With the basis of this website being the A.T. and all the people who have managed the great feat of making it all the way through, my one question is how did you find the time or manage to create the time? I know some opportunities don't make themselves, but what about employment, apartments/housing, income, etc.?
I'm looking for any insight/personal stories and anecdotes of how people went about planning for their journey and what they did about the above points. It seems to me that logically you would quit your job, get rid of your apartment, and store your belongings. I'm just interested in hearing the ideas and methods of others.
Sickmont
02-01-2011, 15:03
It's pretty much coming down to making the time. Im getting rid of a ton of excess crap, saving up some money, and when the time comes i'm leaving here and what little i have left over is going to a buddie's house for storage.
mweinstone
02-01-2011, 15:12
i got no people in this city or any other. been alone all my life. cant loose the apt or noplace to come home to. never had a boss, been a contractor all my days so i quit when i want. as far as funds. never had any. all my trips were with credit cards when i had a job and a way to pay back. used to have top credit rateing and 0 intrest and great offers. not no mo.i would take 8 g's off a card at 1 or 2 % and hike. then go back to work paying like 300 a month to the card. worked well for a while. then fans turned on and i had to go real bad and just couldnt make it to the privy and , well, hit the fan is putting it lightly. i call what happened to me, getting locked in the wind tunnel at jpl.
With the basis of this website being the A.T. and all the people who have managed the great feat of making it all the way through, my one question is how did you find the time or manage to create the time? I know some opportunities don't make themselves, but what about employment, apartments/housing, income, etc.?
I'm looking for any insight/personal stories and anecdotes of how people went about planning for their journey and what they did about the above points. It seems to me that logically you would quit your job, get rid of your apartment, and store your belongings. I'm just interested in hearing the ideas and methods of others.
Like your saying some people do quit there jobs..Some ask for a leave of absence and some are underemployed...There are numerous reasons people do a thru...8 out of 10 will give you one good reason why. But generally its because thats easier for someone to understand...Some yes even put their things in storage...But you have to start small and work it out with a plan.I have a friend hos wife is going to take the roll of the income provider in the family while he is on his thru...
In my position it took several years of preparation. Even with a house and two sons in college (one started the hike with me) it can be done. I could take unpaid time off from work, but let them know a couple of years in advance so I wouldn't be put on any projects that would startup during my hike. Then at home during the last year we knuckled down and reduced expenses and built up a savings buffer. Even sold the pickup, since it would have just sat there for 6 months. At work I did a lot of documenting plus left things as stable as possible so they wouldn't need to chase me down to fix something from the trail.
It just seems hard to fathom how people do this more than once, twice, or even three times given the fact of how long a thru hike of this length takes. I wonder how many people hike the trail and find a way to make money by providing for people on the trail, thus putting them close to the trail in which they probably enjoy so much. I have read stories and other articles of previous hikers owning gear shops, hostels, and other services but I wonder how feasible that is?
Sickmont
02-01-2011, 16:39
I have read stories and other articles of previous hikers owning gear shops, hostels, and other services but I wonder how feasible that is?
To me if you have a passion for something that you love and get that much enjoyment from then its only a natural progression to try to make a living at doing what you love. Sure makes the "career" choice that much easier.
To me if you have a passion for something that you love and get that much enjoyment from then its only a natural progression to try to make a living at doing what you love. Sure makes the "career" choice that much easier.
Those are just some ideas I keep kicking around in my head. I'm still young and have some time to make all of these decisions. It seems like a good way to spend life, on the trail or catering to trail folk like the ones here on this site. I doubt that it would be a dull life ha. I agree with you completely Sickmont.
balloonatic
02-01-2011, 17:05
well the time for me is the simple thing. I am currently unemployed and am single with no debt or anything holding me back, when my lease ended a couple months ago i moved in back with the parents for a couple months while getting ready for the trip. I will be using my time on the trail to better my resume. as a trained chaplain and former pastor i will be acting as one on the trail this summer and if God willing I will find a youth pastor position when the trail is done.
mweinstone
02-01-2011, 17:20
hey! ballon being bit by a tic! glad to meet you. picking the brains of bible scholors is my favorite thing on earth. we have phattchap who was a millitary chaplin. but i may have overpicked his brain. so ill need yours.to pick! we also have sherlock and ryder and lots of folks like you. you are a great boon to any hiking class. you have the ability to comfort and advise. very hip. we adhere to a rule in hikerdom, both here and on the trail, no polotics religion or philosophy. but in private we blabb till the cock crows.lol. may i chat with you thru the personal messege feature and ask you bible questions? i would love that if you would. hope to meet you . can you attend the billville winter warmer? and if not because you dont like drunks, im sober. we could hang out and talk god all weekend and i could show you my weirdo hidaways up the trail from the doyal a mile or two. my first question would be what do you think of tyndale. i love his trans. dont answer here.lol.see you soon i hope.
garlic08
02-01-2011, 17:25
...how did you find the time or manage to create the time?
This is it in a nutshell--you never "have" the time, you have to make the time. I can't possibly tell you how many people I've heard say wistfully that they'd do a thru hike if only they "had the time". As if for some reason I "have more time" than they do. We all have the same number of hours in a day, days in a year.
I bought a T-shirt from the ATC that lists the days of the week on the back, Sunday through Saturday, and at the bottom of the list it says, "See, there is no someday." That summarizes my philosophy.
As to the mechanics of it, for me it took a couple of decades of hard work to set up my life to where I could take months off at a time. I had a plan when I was a young guy and stuck to it and it paid off. It would have been quicker if I'd have been the guy who invented Google or something, but short of that it just takes a lot of hard work.
The question of how to find the time/money comes up a lot. The common threads, although not everyone does all these things:
1. Extreme frugality
2. No debt
3. Fungible, low wage jobs or flexible consultant-type jobs
4. Retirement from a good job
5. Exploiting transition periods (job loss/divorce/graduation)
Multiple offenders do the following it seems without fail:
1. Avoid debt at all costs
2. Extreme frugality
Blue Jay
02-01-2011, 17:43
The only thing we truly own is our own time and it is truly priceless. Bottom line, your ONLY choice in this world is how to spend this time. If you cannot find time to do what you truly enjoy, when will you find it? Most likely never, because for you tomorrow never comes.
Spirit Walker
02-01-2011, 23:23
It's a question of priorities. If thruhiking is a priority for you, you will find a way. My first two hikes I was single and working dead end jobs. I saved for a few years, put my stuff in storage and went hiking. Third and fourth hikes my husband and I saved for seven years before packing our stuff and heading west. We both had good jobs, but long distance hiking was our priority. Afterwards we thought we were through with the long distance hiking - so we bought a house and got new jobs. Five years later, the house was sold and away we went. As others have said, we aren't big spenders - except on travel. Everybody picks their own priorities. You can find the time and the money for a thruhike, or even multiple thruhikes, if you make it the most important thing in your life. If it isn't, then go figure out what is and spend your time and money there.
Special-K
02-01-2011, 23:56
jpm1628, im 20, had a great job and easy goin life. i had an apartment for a year and things were looking great for me in life. Then one day i couldn't stand some people, an couldn't stand how people were treated,. So I spoke my mind and quit. I got a job at Eastern Mountain Sports to get good deals on gear, And come March 1st I'm flying to Georgia and just walking north. I don't have a huge friend base at all so I'm nor leaving anyone in the dust, and like others have said...passion. The love to be out and meeting people and interacting with people outside of the social norm. From what I've heard its a lot easier to do all these awesome trips like the A.T. when your young and you have no real commitment, no mortgage, no bills...well no huge bills, and wife and kids that you have to leave. If you think the A.T is right for you and its something you "think" you should do. DO IT! And also not having a plan about your future is the best plan of all.
Jim Adams
02-02-2011, 00:15
Finding the time is not the problemm...making the decision to put everything else on hold is the problem...once that decision is made, you have the time.
My key ingredients to being able to leave anytime I want:
NO VEHICLE PAYMENT.
Either save enough to cover your rent or mortgage or give up your dwelling while your gone.
Put all of your utilities on "vacation" status so that all you pay are the service charges.
It may cost you $3000-$6000 to hike for 6 months but you can't stay home for 6 months on just $3000-$6000.
Probably the best thing is to have a job that is in high demand but due to other elements such as low pay, it is not over filled. I have been a paramedic for 34 years. The last time that I hiked I gave a 2 week notice (actually a 4 week notice) to my employer stating that I would be terminating my employment to go hike....they gave me a 6 month leave of absence and told me to walk fast.
OK, now the most bazaar way yet...buy a house! That's right, buy a house. I purchased a house last spring. I got the government tax break...$6000. This will make 6 months of my mortgage payments and I'll still have $3,600 left....see you on Springer in March!
geek
Jim Adams
02-02-2011, 00:17
Finding the time is not the problem...making the decision to put everything else on hold is the problem...once that decision is made, you have the time.
geek
Did I mention that this will change your life forever?:D
geek
One word: utilitarianism. Everything will fall into place.
Finding the time is not the problemm...making the decision to put everything else on hold is the problem...once that decision is made, you have the time.
Very well said and i couldn't agree more...I know I want to do it, but it's just taking that step...It's almost scary ha...I just started a job in October so I don't really have any seniority and the pay is good, but I've already decided that it's not something that I would like to do for the rest of my life.
I'd like to think I live a life of impulse so I'm sure one day I'll just start walking and won't stop.