(Life+A.T.)-work=Variable X

[Mikiniki]

Does anyone else feel like its taking more work just to start the trail then it will take to finsih it? What are you all giving up/leaving behinde to be able to hike the trail?

**********************
I just told my boss today that I'm gonna need 6 months off to hike the Appalachian Trail. Found out that I'm going to have to quit and and then hope that my position is still avalible when i return.....that job makes over $12,000 a year...more than any 18 year old just out of high school should make.

[Cool AT Breeze]

Your'e eighteen. You will get another job. Hike.

[KG4FAM]

12k a year ain't living high on the hog. ditch the job and go hike.

[Serial 07]

hike...if you're good, it'll be there...if it ain't, then you'll prove'em wrong...hike...

[RedneckRye]

You got a job at least once before.
You are allowed to quit your job (no matter what your folks or society or whoever has told you).
After your hike, you will have more experience than you had when you got the job that you quit.
Probably you will get a better job when you go look for a new one in the fall.

Also, on July 24 of this year the minimum wage goes up to $7.25 per hour. If you are full time that is just over $15,000 per year.
Your boss can might someone to replace you, if not then you will find someone to replace her or him.
Have fun hiking.
Wish I were you this year.

[STEVEM]

Does anyone else feel like its taking more work just to start the trail then it will take to finsih it? What are you all giving up/leaving behinde to be able to hike the trail?

**********************
I just told my boss today that I'm gonna need 6 months off to hike the Appalachian Trail. Found out that I'm going to have to quit and and then hope that my position is still avalible when i return.....that job makes over $12,000 a year...more than any 18 year old just out of high school should make.

Don't worry, even in these bad times at 12K/year that job will be waiting for you. But, why would you want it?

[4eyedbuzzard]

...that job makes over $12,000 a year...more than any 18 year old just out of high school should make.

My advice:

1) stop believing whoever is telling you this. If you weren't worth every penny you're being paid you wouldn't have a job. The notion that you aren't worth what you're being paid is pure bulls&!t.

2) go hike if you wan't to.

[mtbmatty]

Found out that I'm going to have to quit and and then hope that my position is still avalible when i return.....that job makes over $12,000 a year.

there will certainly be other jobs available when you get back. $ is'nt everything, although it can help to make things a bit easier. the reality is thats not enough to support yourself anyhow. my advice do the AT and any other adventures you want to do. your still young, hopefully you plan to further your education or learn a skill that will always be in demand. that way you can always find work. beleive me i kick myself sometimes for "waisting time" and not following through with some of the things i've wanted to do in my life.

bottom line: regret can be a terrible thing to live with......sometimes being selfish is a good thing

[Frosty]

beleive me i kick myself sometimes for "waisting time" and not following through with some of the things i've wanted to do in my life.

You are 34 years old. How can you be talking in the past tense about things you wanted to do in your life. Stop kicking yourself and start doing those things.

[jersey joe]

Does anyone else feel like its taking more work just to start the trail then it will take to finsih it? What are you all giving up/leaving behinde to be able to hike the trail?

Consider yourself lucky that you only have to give up your job. Your circumstances could be much tougher; you could be married, have kids to support, have a mortgage, etc.

[mtbmatty]

You are 34 years old. How can you be talking in the past tense about things you wanted to do in your life. Stop kicking yourself and start doing those things.

given a choice i would be on a mountain bike. my true passion, something i felt i was good at. i rode for many reasons, the biggest which is probably why a lot of people hike, ski, climb, or any other activity. it was simply this : to see what i was capable of, to see what is on the other side of that hill. i learned a lot about myself on a bicycle. i kick myself now for not following through with some things i would have liked to have done. i'm not in the position to do those things now because of a disc problem in my lower back that prevents me from riding at the same high level i once did. all i'm saying is that the " there's always next time" attitude can come back to bite you.

[Ladytrekker]

I am extremely knowledeable about this topic, because I am divorced, in my early fifties, worked most of life and nearing retirement. I have the so-called bucket list of things I have not done, but dreamed of doing. I now instill in my 21 year old son, please experience life while you can. So, last year he backpacked Spain alone and is now ready for law school. I went to Colorado and Utah, did some hiking and whitewater on the Colorado River, took up kayaking that I do almost every weekend, beginning to section hike the FT to get in shape to begin section hiking the AT in 2010 and am really quite happy, but part of me is trying to catch up on all the things I feel I have missed. I can truly tell you I live by the old addage if I only knew then what I know now. Do it while you can, later may not be available.

[Ladytrekker]

Look up selfish in the dictionary:

It means taking care of ones self

[berninbush]

If you're only making $12k a year, I assume that has to be a part-time job, as it's less than minimum wage for full time. I know the economy's bad and 18 year olds are at the bottom of the totem pole for employment, but I don't see that sort of job as a good reason to give up your hiking plans unless it's something with a really good upward path for the future. (And I'm not at all surprised that they can't "hold" your job for you. Most of that sort have people come and go with regularity... which means if they're happy with you, you can probably get re-hired.)

Now's a good time, though, to put some thought into what you'll want to do when you're done hiking, if you have a goal of being self-supporting. Raise your expectations. What do you enjoy? What are your talents? Is college a good option for you? Would you like to learn administrative/ computer skills like MS Office and have a shot at jobs paying $15 an hour or more? Achieving a thru hike can help you find the confidence to chase these dreams in the future.

[Bobby "Bad Feet"]

Jersey Joe said it BEST
You could have a wife, kids, and a mortgage, ( kinda like the 41 yr old that I am) You are at the age I started dreaming of the AT! GO FOR IT.....All the other wonderful things in life can wait. (Wife,kids & mortgage) They, like the job will be there when ya get back, in 1 way or another..... Wife and Kids are the GREATEST thing in my life right now!!!!! But I will se ya up there in 9 years.... bad feet and ALL!!!

[Johnny Swank]

I started thinking about hiking the AT when I was about your age. Probably could have pulled it off then, but spent a long time in college, short time in 1st marriage, etc for the next 12 years before actually thru-hiking. At your age, if you've got the money ready, and parents that will let you crash while you get back on your feet when you return, then I whole-heartedly so go for it. I really wish I hadn't waited myself.

[RITBlake]

I'm going to have to quit and and then hope that my position is still avalible when i return.....that job makes over $12,000 a year...more than any 18 year old just out of high school should make.

Not really, There's plenty you could be doing. Hell minimum wage in PA will pay you about 14K a year. You could find work as a day laborer and you could def. make 30-40K, even at 18.

I'd say, go hike, you have your entire life to work, make money, that comes in time, the chance to go hiking for 5 - 6 months does not.

[Don't wait]

Do the hike now before you get loaded down with life. If you wait until later you'll still be waiting, like me.

[eric_plano]

Reiterating previous posts. I was making more than 12k as an 18yr old in 94. Those jobs come and go...go hike.

[BackTrack1]

Id , hike now , just like every other poster hear said, im 41 yrs old, divorsed and have custody of my 2 girls, i wish i could hike the AT now, but i must wait another 7 yrs before my youngest graduates high school,
there will be plenty of jobs for an 18 yr old to get started with when you get back, the trail will make you a wiser person, you will laern alot from people out there.
I SAY GO FOR IT NOW OR THE TIME MAY NEVER COME!!!!!
its been about 8 yrs since i learned about the AT, and have been dreaming of hiking it ever since, i now have another 7 yrs to wait, seems like forever away.
BUT, i will summit Kahtahdin some day.
good luck.