Poll: After thru hiking do you move?

[Meriadoc]

I am curious how widespread the phenomenon is. My closest hiking friend and I each moved from NJ to Maine after the trail. Two other trail friends of ours moved to Maine. One friend is itinerant and two others moved right back where they started. This is just a small sample of those I know from the trail.

How common is it to move after a thru hike because of that experience?

[Dogwood]

The poll doesn't allow but voting once. I've done all four after different thru-hikes so..........

[bamboo bob]

I would guess that young hikers with no roots or strings might move but anyone older than a student will go home and then maybe do another trip and not be wedded to just the AT. There are many other beautiful trails to do. Like a lot of firsts, people get fixated on the AT if it's their first long trail.

[Spirit Walker]

After my first AT hike, I moved from Arizona to San Francisco because I had always wanted to live there. After my second thruhike, I moved to PA to be with my hiking partner (now husband).

[Dogwood]

Serious, after my AT thru I let the wind blow me to Hawaii where I thought I might live for a few months doing an occasional odd job being paid or as a volunteer(I did both those first two months) and wandering/hiking/sightseeing too(living itinerantly). That led to me wanting to change my high stress lifestyle from the typical 6 a.m - 9 p.m. I was living on the mainland running a small design/build landscape architectural LLC 10 months /yr. Submitted three job apps w/ my resumes in Hawaii not really knowing at that time what I was definitively going to do. All three companies offered me well paying positions w/ some great benefits. I stayed. Moved to Hawaii but I do travel and wander still, often taking seasonal or estate/development project work. So, I look at it as having done all the last three choices on your list of options after my AT thru AND in a sense I felt like I was moving back home(where I belong).

[Meriadoc]

Silly me, I didn't think of having different responses to successive thru hikes. Next time I submit a poll - in 3 years or so - I'll fix the options on the poll. Also I intended the second option to cover moving to a new location because of a lifestyle change. For me, that included being closer to mountains as well as avoiding that 9-5 mentality. I hiked the AT but was really not tied to it.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Dogwood, I agree with your choice of calling it home - prior to moving I came to NH and ME to scope out places to live and settled on Maine because it felt like home. Then I looked for work.

Another anecdote: two of my friends (a couple) decided before the trail that they wanted to change their lifestyles. So they set themselves up to move to Wisconsin and start an outfitter business. Technically their decision came before their hike. But one of them hiked from Springer to Standing Bear the year before that. I think I'll ask her how they decided to give up and move.

Enjoy the snow if you have it! I'm going shoveling

[Starchild]

I'm considering moving at this very moment.

[RED-DOG]

I have always moved back home to where i lived before, i always lived close to the trail about 30 miles so i really didn't have any need or desire to move else where, for some reason a lot of people move to Damascus or Hot Springs to be more involved in the trail.

[Conure]

I'll soon be moving to the AT for six months. After that, only the Shadow knows.

[HikerMom58]

After my first AT hike, I moved from Arizona to San Francisco because I had always wanted to live there. After my second thruhike, I moved to PA to be with my hiking partner (now husband).

How cool is that, Spirit Walker.

Meriadoc- I think I mentioned this to you before but I LOVE Naples, ME. I have such good memories of camping at Long Lake. I don't blame you for choosing to live there. So jealous of the snow you have right now. Nothing in VA.

[Different Socks]

I lived in New England for 3 years b4 I did my thru. Unless you are a professional or have your own business, living/working in VT, ME or NH is incredibly difficult.
There are no jobs and if you do find one, it's for min pay. There is housing but if you find space to rent, the cost is always beyond what you can afford.
This was confirmed over 15 years later when I went to New Engalnd for vacation from WI. Many people I met whom lived/worked there I asked the same questions:

--Do you live here and how long?
--What is your job?
--Are there jobs?
--Is it still as difficult to live here as it was back in early 90's?

Every single person(no matter their age) said that no matter how long they lived there, they were working 2 jobs to make it, that if you find employment you are one of the lucky ones, and that if you find reasonably priced housing, don't let it go.
So to answer the poll: I lived there before my thru, I moved away after my thru. For the PCT and the CDT, I stayed in CO after my hike.

[Lone Wolf]

I am curious how widespread the phenomenon is. My closest hiking friend and I each moved from NJ to Maine after the trail. Two other trail friends of ours moved to Maine. One friend is itinerant and two others moved right back where they started. This is just a small sample of those I know from the trail.

How common is it to move after a thru hike because of that experience?

i moved to vermont initially after my 2nd hike then in 2000 moved to damascus

[Zippy Morocco]

I moved to Asheville, NC. Thinking about moving back to Montana after the PCT? Not sure though. I would really like to snow bird between the two.

[4shot]

I did the opposite..I had a job opportunity on hold while I hiked that would have required relocation. I turned it down when I got home. I live in an area where many people relocate to after they retire due to climate, outdoor recreational opportunities, cost of living, etc. Just figured why move from an area like that and then spend my time waiting to get back?

[WorldPeaceAndStuff]

I did the opposite..I had a job opportunity on hold while I hiked that would have required relocation. I turned it down when I got home. I live in an area where many people relocate to after they retire due to climate, outdoor recreational opportunities, cost of living, etc. Just figured why move from an area like that and then spend my time waiting to get back?

This is why I live in the High Country. Nothing but college kids and retired folk around here. So much outdoor stuff to do. Tomorrow night I'm getting off work at 8p and stopping by the ski resort that's a mile from work to ride from 8p to midnight. Love it!

[garlic08]

Hiking taught me to eliminate most of my possessions and that made moving simple. It's fun to move around. My wife and I have been doing it a lot, sometimes twice a year, since our first thru hike. We take advantage of house-sitting opportunities, sometimes from Craigslist. And that leads to more hiking opportunities. For instance, a summer in Portland OR lead to hikes on the PNT and WT.

[Tri-Pod Bob]

I'll be moving to NH after my thru this year. Since I'm retired now, no job worries.