View Full Version : Getting out of my own way
InTheWind
11-02-2012, 00:04
I wish I could start worrying about my pack weight. I wish I could circle a day on my calendar this spring. Every piece of me wants to make this a reality, but there is some hesitation deep down that is keeping me from pulling the trigger. So I am looking for any words from people who have sat on the fence contemplating the thru. Closing in on 30 years old, I want to commit more than anything and nearly all of the stars have aligned in life to make this happen. It feels like now or never. However, I must sacrifice my job (that I despise) in a time we all know is not ideal. Time is running out to get it together for 2013. Somebody say something! I appreciate any input from those of you that have already realized my dream.
Big Dawg
11-02-2012, 00:24
Welcome to WB!
I can't give you "input from those of you that have already realized my dream" because I section hike the trail, but I have been on the trail long enough, and spoken w/ and read threads from those that made the leap, and you my friend seem to be in the perfect place in life to thru. Let's see,,, almost 30, would leave job you despise, nearly all the stars have aligned, every piece of you wants to make this a reality. It sounds like it may be your time. Believe me, as time moves on, spouse, kids, house, good job,,,, they'll settle in before you now it. Embark on this awesome journey before your window closes. As my friend Michael says,,, Just Do It!!!
You will get four general answers to your question. Allow me to summarize them in advance of everyone's posts.
Answer #1) Go for it! You only live once. Don't be a slave to a job. Don't worry about money--such worries will only keep you from REALLY experiencing life. Live in the moment. Do it while you are still young, dude. Tomorrow you might have a wife and kids and it will be too late then. You never know if you will get sick, injured or even die without having accomplishing your dream. That would be a tragedy. Start tomorrow, man!
Answer # 2) You are still so young! There will be plenty of time to hike the Appalachian Trail in future years when you are less conflicted and when have more time to really prepare properly. The trail isn't going anywhere-----but jobs are hard to find in this economy. In the mean time, work hard. Save your money. Hike whenever you can. But in the end, be responsible. How will you survive with no job when you come off the trail. What if you break your leg in the very first week of the hike and you have to back go home to no job and no money? Wait a year or two--and then take your hike. The time will fly by fast and the two years of waiting will have gone by before you even know it..
Answer # 3) My dear friend, you must do whatever works best for you. A thru hike is a very intense, life changing and individual experience. Thus, this is a very personal--and deep--decision that one must make alone. No one else can tell you what to do. There is no right or wrong answer. Weigh your options carefully and then do whatever 'feels right" in your heart. I wish you all the best as you make this important decision--my thoughts are with you.
Answer # 4) Quit your dang stressing and make a decision. It's just walking. What is there to be confused about? If you have to think about it this hard--you better stay home.
There--you now have virtually the whole thread summarized (in advance) in just one post.
By the way, putting all satire and sarcasm aside--WELCOME TO WHITE BLAZE!! May you have many happy years of hiking!
turtle fast
11-02-2012, 02:27
Your not getting any younger.....and that though finding a job may be tough...they are still out there. It seem like you are at a crossroads or almost a natural stopping point as you have no intentions on having a job that you just do not like...but despise. You are lucky enough to see this now unlike others that go through their life and get to a point where they hate their job but realize it too late and can't change things.....but you can. Consider yourself fortunate. Only you can determine if it is now or never....many push that magical possibility of hiking the AT until tomorrow, then tomorrow, and tomorrow....until tomorrow never comes.
Train Wreck
11-02-2012, 02:31
Ditch the toxic job as soon as you possibly can, whether or not you go on to hike the AT at this time.
I wish I could start worrying about my pack weight. I wish I could circle a day on my calendar this spring. Every piece of me wants to make this a reality, but there is some hesitation deep down that is keeping me from pulling the trigger. So I am looking for any words from people who have sat on the fence contemplating the thru. Closing in on 30 years old, I want to commit more than anything and nearly all of the stars have aligned in life to make this happen. It feels like now or never. However, I must sacrifice my job (that I despise) in a time we all know is not ideal. Time is running out to get it together for 2013. Somebody say something! I appreciate any input from those of you that have already realized my dream.
You're not ready to go. This is something that I ran towards without hesitation. Any fears I had made the whole thing more exciting, because I had already decided I was going to do it, not because I could still back out.
You will get four general answers to your question. Allow me to summarize them in advance of everyone's posts.
There--you now have virtually the whole thread summarized (in advance) in just one post.
If you do more summaries - one about gear (what do I pack?) and the "real definition of a thru hike" - we can go ahead and close up shop here.
pnkwolfe
11-02-2012, 07:00
I wish I could start worrying about my pack weight. I wish I could circle a day on my calendar this spring. Every piece of me wants to make this a reality, but there is some hesitation deep down that is keeping me from pulling the trigger. So I am looking for any words from people who have sat on the fence contemplating the thru. Closing in on 30 years old, I want to commit more than anything and nearly all of the stars have aligned in life to make this happen. It feels like now or never. However, I must sacrifice my job (that I despise) in a time we all know is not ideal. Time is running out to get it together for 2013. Somebody say something! I appreciate any input from those of you that have already realized my dream.
I'm 46 and yearn for the opportunity to put myself to the test. I had a chance, about 7 years ago, and passed on it. For all the right, rational, responsible adult reasons. And even though I probably made the right decision, I still have some resentment for those things that influenced it. Now I wait for the next best timing, probably *sigh* retirement.
Make your decision. Live with it. Good luck.
Lumberjack2003
11-02-2012, 07:49
The AT is a huge challenge so it is natural to feel the way you do. Getting out of your comfort zone is never easy. I was in the same position as you and a couple of years older.
Here's the question that I asked myself while I was getting ready "If I try and fail then I'll know I made a mistake. If I don't try then I'll never know what I missed."
The AT is one of the most important things I ever did. Everyone who does it will tell you the same. You have to decide if giving up your job is worth the gamble for one of the few things that will change your life.
gpburdelljr
11-02-2012, 08:57
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from
the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." Mark Twain
HikerMom58
11-02-2012, 09:05
If you do more summaries - one about gear (what do I pack?) and the "real definition of a thru hike" - we can go ahead and close up shop here.
True dat... can we just go ahead & hire prain4u to do more summaries? prain4u- you are good!!
Drybones
11-02-2012, 09:23
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from
the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." Mark Twain
Mark Twain was a wise man and he speaks the truth.
Creek Dancer
11-02-2012, 10:49
Don't piss away this opportunity. If you can afford to go, just go and have the time of your life. Align the rest of those starts and just go.
Giving up a job you despise is not a sacrifice. Beside, you found that jopb when you were looking for a job. So you will find another job when you look again.
Why oh why is youth wasted on the young....:)
sharper8
11-02-2012, 16:04
You are the only one who has to live with your regret.
Honestly, there's still plenty of time to pull the trigger. Why not move forward for now as though you're going to hike? Let that be the decision. See how the decision feels. Try it on for size. What would you do if you were going to hike? What would your training regimen be? Then get out and train. What would your gear look like? Start putting it together. See how that decision fits you.
Sometimes indecision is like quicksand. You get more information by forcing yourself to move in one direction or the other, even if you ultimately decide to go a different way.
You have four months or so to decide -- one of the things that reduces fear is preparation.
For three weekends every month between now and your 'no-turning-back' day, go overnight hiking (not camping -- carry your full backpack for 10 miles every day you're out) -- lots of trails you can do this from your location in Chicagoland where you can drive to an overnight hiking trail on a Friday evening, hike there over all-day Saturday and Sunday morning and then drive back to Chicagoland Sunday evening.
Then, plan to take a one-week backpacking trip and carry your full backpack on a 10 mile daily hike then also -- if you want, you can do a one-week hike at the Knobstone Trail in southern Indiana near Louisville (the terrain on the KT is very similar to the terrain in Georgia so you'll get it handed to you just as if you were hiking in Georgia).
If you want to fly someplace warmer for a week long backpack trip, you could fly to Florida and hike the Ocala Trail (easy terrain, about 70 miles long start to finish, should be comfortable weather during February which is when I hiked the Ocala Trail, has places to resupply along the way).
By the time you do all that over the course of the next four months, you'll have had the time and peace to have thought through the idea of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail -- and you'll know whether you want to do an AT thru-hike or whether it's not to your liking.
Datto
max patch
11-02-2012, 16:53
Time is running out to get it together for 2013.
You still have 5 months to decide.
I quit my job and did all my "planning" over my 2 week notice period at night.
InTheWind
11-02-2012, 20:22
Thanks everyone for letting me vent to people who actually analyze my thoughts rather than just thinking I am crazy. Thank you for your input as well. Its absolutely true that I need to find a job that I do not despise, even if it means I have to "break my leg in the first week of my hike" because I am "not ready to go". I guess when you have followed the rules to play the same boring game as the majority, it is tough to leave your chips at the table and start your own game.
Karma - that is a great suggestion and basically the approach I have been going with so far to keep moving forward. Datto - Great recommendations.
ITW
Try to bear w/ me as I give you a cliche loaded Crash Davis to Nuke LaLoosh reply
Carpe Diem : Seize the day
In August of '13 I'l turn 60 and I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate it than doing the traverse of the Presidentials that I had first done forty years earlier and the hike that really turned me on to hiking
Thirty years ago I had my AT thru hike penciled in down to the last mail drop in Monson Me
And me being the procrastinator that I am put it off for one year bc of reasons that are meaningless now But were important then
Then injuries and surgeries and marriage and divorce and ADD and depression intervened and my thru hike hasn't happened ......yet
Here I am 30 years later w/ my mind is set on being on top of Springer on 3/24
Will I be the most fit hiker that ever started a thru hike ?
Honestly ? No But I won't be the least fit hiker either
Will I be the most properly equipped hiker that ever started a thru hike ?
Honestly ? No But I won't be the least properly equipped hiker either
If you look at the long history of successful thru hikers you discover there are a lot of ppl that don't fit the mold of the idealized hiker that have succeeded and a lot of ppl who do fit the mold and who have not succeeded
Me ?
I'm going to get to Springer in the best shape that I can w/ what I think is the right gear for me and then adapt to my new reality on the fly
turtle fast
11-02-2012, 22:50
But you have to remember that even tough you are opting out of that "poker game" you are not truly losing those chips, just holding them for another game at the time of YOUR choosing.....you can get into another "poker game" anytime you want. Good luck on your decision.
MuddyWaters
11-03-2012, 16:36
Just do it, IF its something you want to do.
Chances for people your age are few. Kids come along and sidetrack things for at least 20 -25 yrs.
if I were your age, knowing what i know now...I'd either hike the AT or keep the job or buy a boat and spend a couple of years fishing for speckled trout and redfish in the flats. And I would get some really good sour cream doughnuts. and go see Willie Nelson in concert and try to catch the Allman brothers in NYC at the Beacon theatre. If you hike decide to hike the AT, I hope you can catch a wonderful sunset on top of Max Patch. If you keep the job that's cool too. alot of people do that. I like boots rather than trail runners but most don't. Don't sweat your mail drops, resupply is easy on the AT. If you keep the job, I definetly would not mail drop food to myself at the residence in which I currently reside. I would get it then drive it back to my home in the same vehicle in which I was in to save on postage.Plus you do not have to dehydrate it.
If you hike, the AYCE Chinese in Waynesboro is not to be missed. I hope this helps!
InTheWind
11-15-2012, 23:45
Those quotes always get me.
I can't imagine sweeping all of my feelings and dreams under the rug and being able to keep going without regret.
"Some of us live, all of us die"