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Common questions asked

People always seem to ask me the same question. What do you want to hike the Appalachian Trail and why now. I usually always answer then by saying something like, I have wanted to do this for a long time. I want to do it before I am too old and won’t be able to do it. I don’t want it to me one of the things that I wished I had done. I just recently found this saying that one lady wrote in you pre hike journal for her reason for doing things. This one really hit what I have been trying to say to people.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did”. -- Debbie Mille's 2009 --

You would think that at my age my patents would understand that I have dealt with a lot of things in life and that I would not jump into something without doing my homework or research on the subject. Well that is not the case. My mother thinks I should wait. I am 50 years old not. How much longer should I wait? I don't thin any answer I gave here she would be happy about.

Here are the questions I keep getting asked and my reply to them.

Q. What do you want to do this?
A. I love the outdoors and nature and I feel so relaxed away from congestion of everyday life. This is how life should be, hiking among good people and friends and not having a care in the world. And of course my new reply of, Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did so.

Q. Are you going to hike with anyone?
A. No but there are plenty of people starting. I will end up in a group of find someone suitable I am sure.

Q. You better watch on for the murders that go after people on the trail.
A. That is not true. There are not murders that stock people on the Appalachian Trail. Something happens every ten years or so and everyone gets the impression that is happens all the time.

Q. Are you going to carry a gun?
A. No there is no reason to. It would just be more unnecessary weight I would have to carry.

Q. How long is it going to take you?
A. It depends on how many miles I do each day, how may layovers I take in trail towns, if I get sick or hurt. The average is six to seven months.

Q. Can you afford it and what are you going to do for money while you gone for your bills?
A. I have a military retirement check that will make my mortgage payments. The wife works and will be able to afford all the other bills. I have also been putting money aside for the last couple of years for this hike.

Q. How much does a hike like this cost?
A. One person may only spend $2,000 or less for this hike. Another person could spend $4,000 or more. It all depends on how often you go into towns, stay at motels and hotels, how often you go out to eat, if you get hurt and have to heal up in town for a couple weeks, whether you like to party on the trail or in towns. There are a lot of reasons why people spend a lot of money during their hike. I have about $4,000 saved up for my hike. That is the average price of what one of these hikes cost. I am going to try and do it for less so I have money to come home to.

That is usually the basic questions I get asked.