PDA

View Full Version : Thru Hike Timing



EJC
04-17-2011, 23:03
How did you know it was the right time to do a thru hike? I really want to start mine in March of '12 but it seems like there are a lot of obstacles. I'm single, have a mortgage (complete with the government bonus, telling me I can't move/ rent it until Sept '12 unless I pay it back), 2 dogs, a great job, and student loans. It seems like it will be nearly impossible to take care of all of these in order to start a hike. I would have to sweet talk the IRS, friends to rent from me for 6 months because I cannot afford 6 months of mortgage when I'm not working, work, and the bank. I think I have enough money saved up for the actual hike so far.

I've been looking up info everywhere but am having a hard time finding info about this kind of prep for the trail. I would wait but I eventually want to go back to school which would take another 2 years. I really want to do this before I get stuck and don't have the opportunity. Any suggestions?

Spirit Walker
04-17-2011, 23:11
You're young. You have responsibilities and dreams that make thruhiking unlikely right now. Your time to thruhike may happen in 5 years, or 25 years. When the time is right, you'll know. Most people thruhike at transition points in their lives - after college or the military, after retirement, after a divorce, or at a time of job burnout. Then there are those of us working dead end jobs who find it quite easy to quit in order to hike. People who have jobs they enjoy, families who need them, obligations, etc. usually don't thruhike. There are a lot of people out there who hike two or three weeks a year and are happy with that - until the day that they decide that the time is right to attempt a thru.

singing wind
04-17-2011, 23:31
Sometimes obstacles are blessings in disguise...

Funny thing about trails is that they are there at any time in your life - be it in 2012 or ? - and there's so many to choose from. A thru hike is what you make it and the right time for you will unfold. You'll know. That's part of the beauty and grace these trails hold - waiting can be just as important as walking. York is fairly close to some decent hiking - maybe this time is a good chance to get out and find what really works for you.

All the best with your journey.

Rockhound
04-18-2011, 03:27
This is a question nobody can answer but you. Some long for the trail but never escape the attachments of the real world. Looks like you have built yourself a pretty good cage. Maybe when you escape I'll see you out there or then again you might grow old with a pile of stuff and a bunch of regrets.

Onwego
04-18-2011, 06:33
I am a much older version of you: own a business, 2 dogs count on me, on the Board of Directors of a big charity, still financially recoverig from some foolish personal decisions (nothing is as hilarious as late middle-age romance). And so on.

For me, now isn't the time. Not because I'm "caged", but because I am an adult. Taking 6 months off for any reason carries a price I'm not willing to pay or impose on others at the moment. So I hike 2 or 3 weeks per year, including long weekends, with no regrets.

Since I was 16 in 1971, I've seen much of the Trail in New England and the South. Each week or so I was on it, I didn't need to think of any unfulfiled obligations or unmet expectations. That's worked for me, and it will continue to until I head up Springer in 8 years, when I can finally become fully dependent on the government handouts I've financed for others all these years.

I'll see you out there somewhere, I'll wager.

stranger
04-18-2011, 08:58
I am a much older version of you: own a business, 2 dogs count on me, on the Board of Directors of a big charity, still financially recoverig from some foolish personal decisions (nothing is as hilarious as late middle-age romance). And so on.

For me, now isn't the time. Not because I'm "caged", but because I am an adult. Taking 6 months off for any reason carries a price I'm not willing to pay or impose on others at the moment. So I hike 2 or 3 weeks per year, including long weekends, with no regrets.

Since I was 16 in 1971, I've seen much of the Trail in New England and the South. Each week or so I was on it, I didn't need to think of any unfulfiled obligations or unmet expectations. That's worked for me, and it will continue to until I head up Springer in 8 years, when I can finally become fully dependent on the government handouts I've financed for others all these years.

I'll see you out there somewhere, I'll wager.

No disrespect Onwego but being an adult doesn't mean you can't take 6 months off. I'm an adult, I turn 36 in May, and took 11 months off last year, took 2 months off in 2009 and 5 months off in 2008. I make decent money and know how to save it, never desired a house and doubt I ever will. I'm a resident of 3 countries, have zero debt and travel extensively. I have $25,000 towards retirement but live life like I won't ever get there. For me the time is now, why wait?

Unfortunately...no dogs yet, but maybe soon!

I do appreciate your point, and you do point out that you are able, but not willing to take 6 months off, I just wanted to point out another existence.

4shot
04-18-2011, 09:35
No disrespect Onwego but being an adult doesn't mean you can't take 6 months off. I'm an adult, I turn 36 in May, and took 11 months off last year, took 2 months off in 2009 and 5 months off in 2008. I make decent money and know how to save it, never desired a house and doubt I ever will. I'm a resident of 3 countries, have zero debt and travel extensively. I have $25,000 towards retirement but live life like I won't ever get there. For me the time is now, why wait?




I met alot of people who my thruhike who said that they "would love to thru hike but they can't". I always took it to mean that it wasn't a really a high enough priority for them to make it happen (yet). After all, very few people on the trail are or were independently wealthy and some sacrifices or tradeoffs have to be made. I respect those who aren't able or willing to go do a thru-hike as it certainly is not for everyone. Bottom line, I was afraid that I would keep finding reasons to put it off and that "someday" would never arrive so i made some changes and decisions to allow me to attempt one.

With that being said, I am not an advocate of quitting jobs without a sound financial plan and/or leaving spouses for 6 months without their support and approval. also, it's not good imo to leave young children for that long either.To really enjoy and appreciate your time on the trail it is important that one is not distracted or worried about things back home. that (along with inadequate preparation pertaining to things back in the "real world") gets alot of hikers off the trail before the (planned) finish of their hike.

Montana Mac
04-18-2011, 10:02
Life choices are nothing more then a decision away.

At my job as a horseback guide I often times get the comment how the person talking with me would love to do what I do. It tell them it is only a decision away.

You weigh your options and make your decision based on what you think is best. Will it always be the right decision - hell no - but you made it and now you live with it.

Are there were a few decisions that I wish I could take back or alter - of course. But I made the decision and live with it. Those previous decisions help to give you insight to future decisions.

My motto in life is

Dream Like You Will Live Forever - Live Like You Will Die Tomorrow

I much rather die trying to do something that I want to do then be sitting in a rocking chair saying " I wish I had tried or done............."

Life is what YOU make it - nobody can make for you.

When you look in the mirror and if your are happy with the person looking back at you you know you have been making the right decisions

EJC
04-18-2011, 11:18
Dream Like You Will Live Forever - Live Like You Will Die Tomorrow



That is my problem. I've always done the "right" thing. I just want to do something semi-spontaneous. Get out of my hometown and see the world for what it really is but getting away from the responsibilities at home would be difficult. :Sigh: How early did everyone start preparing for their thru? Is it too early to start asking about time off, loan deferrment, etc?

There's nothing like dreaming big and then sitting at home with a pile of worthless junk thinking "what if?" like Rockhound said.

DapperD
04-18-2011, 19:38
You're young. You have responsibilities and dreams that make thruhiking unlikely right now. Your time to thruhike may happen in 5 years, or 25 years. When the time is right, you'll know. Most people thruhike at transition points in their lives - after college or the military, after retirement, after a divorce, or at a time of job burnout. Then there are those of us working dead end jobs who find it quite easy to quit in order to hike. People who have jobs they enjoy, families who need them, obligations, etc. usually don't thruhike. There are a lot of people out there who hike two or three weeks a year and are happy with that - until the day that they decide that the time is right to attempt a thru.This is an excellent response. I am in a similar situation whereas my current family responsibilities and obligations do not allow me the freedom of attempting to thru-hike right now. I planned to go in 2009 and then I realized that it would not have been wise, given my current lifes situation. I am always thinking of going, and when the opportunity eventually allows me to go, I will. We all have priorities. Some of us more, some less. Those of us who realize that attempting to thru-hike at a point in our lives where it will hurt our careers or that other's will need us and/or will be effected negatively by our absence know that the time to thru-hike unfortunately is not yet at hand.

Trailbender
04-19-2011, 10:55
This is a question nobody can answer but you. Some long for the trail but never escape the attachments of the real world. Looks like you have built yourself a pretty good cage. Maybe when you escape I'll see you out there or then again you might grow old with a pile of stuff and a bunch of regrets.


We don't often agree on topics, but you have this one dead right. I own very little because of this exact sentiment. Everything you own has to be taken care of, fixed, cleaned, whatever. I noticed the less I own, the more time I have for me. I have felt more free the more crap I have gotten rid of.



That is my problem. I've always done the "right" thing. I just want to do something semi-spontaneous. Get out of my hometown and see the world for what it really is but getting away from the responsibilities at home would be difficult. :Sigh: How early did everyone start preparing for their thru? Is it too early to start asking about time off, loan deferrment, etc?

There's nothing like dreaming big and then sitting at home with a pile of worthless junk thinking "what if?" like Rockhound said.

Modern society brainwashes us into believing that happiness comes from buying things. Wrong, nothing you can buy will make you happier(besides food when you are starving, ect), as in luxuries. That $60K Infiniti will do the same thing as the beater station wagon I paid a grand for. Possessions chain you down. You think to yourself, "now I have a house, I gotta live here, take care of it, ect". Call your loan companies, they should be able to work with you. I am about to apply for a long term economic hardship forbearance. I don't think either of you wants default. I will see how reasonable my loan companies will be in the future though.

Datto
04-19-2011, 11:54
Here's an approach -- take a weekend and gauge your life. List on paper your expectations and plans and wants and desires in these eight categories listed below. Then, by the end of the weekend force yourself to derive your top three goals in order of importance. The goals can be from varied categories or can be all from the same category -- it doesn't matter.

Wait a month, then revisit the three top choices you've made and change/confirm those top three choices. Think big. Take another weekend and make a detailed plan of action and timetable (putting a timetable to it is crucial) on how you're going to apply your most precious resources (time, energy, capital and love) toward achieving your top three goals. Then start achieving by executing your detailed plan of action.

Begin -- that's where most people have problems.

* Financial
* Family
* Social
* Spiritual
* Physical
* Career
* Community
* Other

The key element this approach accomplishes is to help you narrow down what it is you truly want out of life and not squander your resources. To remove the common shotgun approach or the default "see what happens" approach and instead, move to rifled precision with your direction and efforts.

Datto

protargol
04-19-2011, 13:56
I'm finding the right time to do it is now, right after I lost my job and my career path was put on pause. Fortunately for me I had the funds and no debt obligations or personal obligations. For me the timing was a surprise, but I have to seize the opportunity when it arises. I'm in a way quite lucky because I wouldn't have been able to do this for quite some time on the track I was on. Just making lemonade and it's going to be great! :)

EJC
04-19-2011, 14:38
Thanks for the idea Datto. I can easily fill out some of that without thought. My career doesn't have a path- it's one position, everyone's the same if you've been there 30 years of 5. The only thing time gets you is extra days off. The other good thing about my job is there has recently been 3 full time openings available for months which we are unable to fill. I could probably quit or take a LOA and still have a job but knowing my luck the spots would be filled.

My only family are parents and brothers, all of which are self-sufficient. They will be OK without me for a few months. My biggest problem is this dumb house. The IRS will really make or break the decision. The IRS is tricky and they sent a warning saying it cannot be turned to a rental or sold and it has to be my primary residence for at least half the calendar year (until Oct. '12). I think after tax season I'll go in to talk to them. Anyone think that pitching it as having 2 full time roommates would make it sound like I'm still "living" here? It's not like I'm moving. As long as the new "roomies" pay the rent/ utilities on time I won't have a financial problem. I don't think getting my loans deferred will be too difficult. And I think I can sweet-talk family into helping with repairs for the house and watching the dogs for a few months.

There are a few problems with waiting, at least in my head. I want to go to school for 2 years. If I waited my hike would start around 30-31 and that I will be ready to actually start on my career ladder and having a family and then never getting away to go. The benefit to waiting would be that I could sell or rent without the IRS hunting me down. I don't exactly know why right now but I can't stop thinking about the trail and I get this gut feeling that this will never happen if I wait, which is why I'm really hoping to go soon. I suppose only time will tell...

carpattack
04-19-2011, 19:29
I am in a similar boat...Married, no children, good job, mortgage. My job offers a year sabbatical after 10 years of service, but I am only 5 years in. I know we want to start a family soon (I am 32 years old) and if I waited till then chances are we would have a kid or two. My wife is supportive of me going on and thru hiking next year but worried about me finding a job afterwards to make sure we won't lose the house. These are things I still need to plan out and hope for the best, but now still seems like the perfect time...