View Full Version : Job - or lack thereof
Hi all,
I stumbled across this site while seeking out some tent reviews. This place has many answers to many question and I'm happy to have found it.
One thing that has been rattling around in the empty parts of my head that I couldn't find on here has to do with balancing employment and this type of lifestyle. With the economy such that it is and jobs not exactly for the picking, how are you dealing with it? What jobs do you have? Do you ask for an extended leave? Self employed? Trust fund? Wealthy spouse? Dirt bag?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Blissful
03-01-2011, 22:55
Welcome to White Blaze!
There was a thread not too long ago about employment and the trail. Use the search feature to help you find relevant ideas too. Like this -
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68950&highlight=employment
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=64973&highlight=employment
Thanks!
( I swear I searched. If it would have been a snake...)
having a trust fund is best. You can have whatever gear you want and eat gourmet food on the trail. Your family will be maintained in good style while you hike and if you get uncomfortable somewhere, the staff at the Four Seasons will pick you up and take care of you for a few days until you feel like getting back out on the trail
actually, this lifestyle is incredibly affordable - I've lived in comfort on $100 bucks for a month on the trail - I'm not kidding this time
wvgrinder
03-01-2011, 23:12
Hi all,
I stumbled across this site while seeking out some tent reviews. This place has many answers to many question and I'm happy to have found it.
One thing that has been rattling around in the empty parts of my head that I couldn't find on here has to do with balancing employment and this type of lifestyle. With the economy such that it is and jobs not exactly for the picking, how are you dealing with it? What jobs do you have? Do you ask for an extended leave? Self employed? Trust fund? Wealthy spouse? Dirt bag?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
Dirt bag??? Around here we prefer the term "Hiker Trash". :p
If you don't have a trust fund, or even if you do, frugality and debt avoidance is the key. Despite earning a very low wage and living in one of the most expensive cities in the US, I save over 50% of my pre-tax income. I hiked two years in a row. I intend to hike again, but not this year, except for section hikes.
I recommend reading this (http://inthetrenches2009.blogspot.com/2010/12/free-copy-of-in-trenches-financial.html) if you don't know how to live a frugal life.
daddytwosticks
03-02-2011, 08:28
Living close to the trail helps too. It's nice to get out even for a weekend and hike the same section of trail. Switching up your direction of travel or hiking the same section at different times of the year really changes the perspective. :)
Speakeasy TN
03-02-2011, 09:14
FWIW I think it makes me go the extra mile for my employer, both knowing I was going to ask for a leave to do a thru and after they said " That sounds like a blast, see ya when you get back."
And on my end I'll say it again " It's not what you earn, it's how much you spend." I make less money than any of my siblings, but I'm walking away to do my thru in 2 weeks.
doveslayer
03-30-2011, 20:42
I was curious myself about how easy/hard would it be to find a temporary job for about 2 months after I get done with the trail. Would it be easy to find jobs along the trail in the "trail towns"?
Lone Wolf
03-30-2011, 20:45
Would it be easy to find jobs along the trail in the "trail towns"?
no. at least a job that pays more than minimum wage
doveslayer
03-30-2011, 20:47
Minimum wage would be great. Just something to get me through the last two months of the year before tax season starts back
With the economy such that it is and jobs not exactly for the picking, how are you dealing with it?
When the corp HQ announced they were closing the location at which I worked, i took the severance package vice a transfer ...
Works for me ...
peakbagger
03-31-2011, 08:22
Appalachian Mountain Club has jobs in the whites of NH. A person isnt going to get rich but they do have benefits and once a person gets to know the area, there is always a demand for folks with the right skills. They mostly get college kids who work for awhile and leave for greener pastures, so they like to balance those folks with individuals with a bit more maturity. There are generally plenty of seasonal positions and worse case if you cn put up with the cold, the local ski areas are always looking for snowmakers in the winter.
Tenderheart
03-31-2011, 08:26
The trick is to get your lifestyle so simple that you need little money. Sometimes easier said than done. The trail will show you how.
litefoot
the judge
03-31-2011, 09:19
got canned from engineering for making too much money in a bad economy, started making pizzas for a chain, made myself irreplaceable, have job offer for when i get home.
Living close to the trail helps too. It's nice to get out even for a weekend and hike the same section of trail. Switching up your direction of travel or hiking the same section at different times of the year really changes the perspective. :)
+1... I can walk to either Woody Gap or Neels Gap... NOBO/SOBO/DRT/BMT... Winter, Spring, Summer,Fall... Weekends, Mid-Week, all week... I'm just sayin' its deff possible :D
I was curious myself about how easy/hard would it be to find a temporary job for about 2 months after I get done with the trail. Would it be easy to find jobs along the trail in the "trail towns"?
All jobs are temporary.
doveslayer
03-31-2011, 12:40
good point sbhikes.
Thanks peakbagger I will check them out.
trailangelbronco
03-31-2011, 14:11
I knew a guy in 1998 who quit his $75,000 per year job and left his wife & kids with $3,000 a month in bills to go hike the AT. It was his lifelong dream, but he didn't plan for it very well.
He bought about $2,500 in gear and had about $4,000 in $$ in a secret savings account.
He lasted two weeks before a severe ankle strain sent him home. His wife wouldn't let him in the house, he couldn't get his job back and had to file bankruptcy.
I would love to thru hike, but have bills that won't be paid for three more years, and a home that won't be paid for ten more years. At that age I will be 55, and hopefully will be in the health to thru hike. Until then, Whiteblaze help's get me thru.
It isn't how much you make, It's how much you owe.
Fog Horn
03-31-2011, 14:29
I'll be in reserve status then and not active duty. Its permissible to take six months off in the reserves :)
In the meantime I plan on paying off my car, and saving money, so that when I do thru, my main bill will be for my iPhone, lol
WingedMonkey
03-31-2011, 15:10
When I got the time I ain't got the money, when I got the money I ain't got the time .
slowandlow
04-02-2011, 12:45
It isn't how much you make, It's how much you owe.
This is the key to it all. Debt is what keeps people chained, the exchange of your invaluable time in the future for some material possession today. Avoid debt and you tell your boss to go to hell at any time you like.
My own circumstances; lived impoverished for most of my adult life while I raised three children on my own. I/we learned the difference between need and want, and also to not have debt. I struggled but my house, my truck and my motorcycle are all paid for - they aren't fancy but they are mine. I pay cash for everything. I worked in construction but almost from necessity learned finance and financial planning. I also have a tax preparation business and this year when tax season is over I will "retire" from everything but tax prep and then do what i love the rest of the year - spend time in nature. Next year rinse and repeat. My children are grown and well established and I'm single - when you're alone the world is full of possibilities! I make enough during tax season to hike/canoe the rest of the year, as someone else wrote the backpackers lifestyle is not expensive. Live within your means/don't acquire debt and you can live the way you really want to. Janis Joplin sang "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" I say that freedom is doing what you love and happiness is enjoying what you do
Living close to the trail helps too. It's nice to get out even for a weekend and hike the same section of trail. Switching up your direction of travel or hiking the same section at different times of the year really changes the perspective. :)
This is for real.....
I can go on overnight and weekend trips now, get dropped off at a trailhead and literally walk back home - free except the cost of gas to the trailhead.
To do the same hike last year I'd have to pay for a shuttle, take off work, drive 800 miles (400 both ways), pay for meals and usually a room somewhere.
the staff at the Four Seasons will pick you up and take care of you for a few days until you feel like getting back out on the trail
That's why I liked the Concierges at the shelters in the Smokies. Hot towels to freshen up before dinner, the staff always served from the left and there were mints on my pillow at night.
Datto
Hiker Trash, I'm proud to be considered that - infinitely better than normal, clean , boring folks.
Dirt Bag, more of a sponge-like term for a total user.
Let's hear it for all the Hiker Trash, Yeah!
Whilst I'm out here, anyone driving up to Trail Days around the 10th or 11th of May from north east Florida, let me know if you have a spare seat and I will share the gas with you, both ways.
I'll even shower first! But I may stink a little on the return journey as I intend to camp out
[email protected]. Thanks!