your Thoughts please

[Jester2000]

My 2 cents.
I gave up a $30 per hour job as a plumber here in California. I thru hiked the PCT, came back, and was lucky enough to get the job back. I saved up enough money and immediately went back out and thru hiked the CDT. When I returned this time my job was gone. To save money for my upcomming Thru hike of the AT in 2011 I am now doing hard labor for 9 bucks an hour. I am 41 years old. Everyday I smile because it is one day closer to being back out on the long trail.. the AT.
The lesson in my case: Yea I could have gone to school.. Yea I could have stayed at my high paying Plumbing job. Maybe i could have begged for my old job back. Somehow these big trails have changed my perceptions of what is really important to me.
The one thing I know now is that all those insecurities I had before now pale in comparison to the amazing gift of the experiences of a Long Distance hiking.
I know I am rambling on here about stuff that is in my own head. I just wanted to put it out there that it was a diffcult descision for me as well but one that only proved it's worth after it was made.
I am going to admit something here. In the beginning of my PCT hike I succumbed to the "section hiker/thru hiker bias" There is a little chiding that goes on and appears to happen on the AT as well judging by the above comments. All I can say now is: "Who am I to judge?"
Somewhere near the end of the PCT I realized what an amazing gift it is to be able to hike at all. I don't know how many years I have left to do this, but I do know how many years I waited to take the plunge.
Hiker Trash.
No Regrets.
-Iceaxe PCT'09 CDT'10

Listen to this man.

[stranger]

Do you trust your employer? What if they go outta business? What if you get a new boss? What if the company is sold?

Most employers are bastards, not all...but most. Even if you have a good employer, there are so many variables like the ones listed above.

Don't compromise, you could die in 6 months...live now.

[Dogwood]

IceAxe, you get it! Some of your recent posts are bringing tears to my eyes - LIVING LIKE YOU ARE TRULY ALIVE, PASSIONATE, ENTHUSIASTIC, ENLIGHTENED, SELF AWARE, LIVING THE DREAM, KNOWING YOU HAVE FOUND THE PLACE WHERE YOU BELONG DOING THE THINGS THAT YOU WERE MEANT TO DO, PURSUING THE CALLING OF YOUR HEART, AT PEACE WITH YOURSELF, APPRECIATIVE, HUMBLE, NO REGRETS, JOYFUL, ETC Being fresh off your CDT thru-hike you are still in the zone! Stay there! I'm being blessed with your enjoyable comments/higher energy! Keep preaching IT brother!

Isn't it an amazing feeling TRULY LIVING in the exact place in the exact time where you were meant to - AND KNOWING IT? You restfully go to sleep and refreshingly enthusiastically awake with that inner knowing that changes your attitude and perspective. It drives you, energizes you, and makes the world a brighter place, not only for yourself but for ALL the world. It sure beats simply existing or going through the motions attempting to blend in while pursuing the status quo or living unknowingly according to someone else agenda.

[Johnny Thunder]

So, if your employer gave you a slightly different deal when you asked for a 6 month leave of absence, would you accept? What are some of the minor differences between the hikes I might not be thinking about...

The offer? As many 1 month vacations as it would take you, 1 per year, to finish the hike. 2 weeks of it paid. Probably even more behind that, to do other hikes perhaps? JMT, PCT, etc.

The job is good, and there's more room for advancement... and the big cons i see right away are that 1 month is trail legs and trail mindset JUST starting to kick in... 6-8 minor adventures as opposed to the granddaddy of them all... trying to figure out transportation and car placement for each segment hike....

pros: maybe selecting good weather good season for specific sections. obviously keeping a management job that pays pretty well in a bad economy (although i feel i can get hired fairly easy in the same field, probably working my way back up to where i am now a bit, also a pay cut to start, but hey, no debt here) can't really think of any more... can u tell i really want to thru?

This is a tough one. In understand what you're going through since this same offer was given to me when i quit to hike in 2008.

I had been working as an IT recruiter for 4 years and had grown into the defacto day-to-day manager since my boss was very happy to be a little more "free" with his time. This suited both of us. Obviously, he did not want to lose me. But still I decided that my life was headed elsewhere.

While I was hiking the housing market collapsed which...whatever...you know. So I knew while I was hiking that coming back to "real life" was going to be difficult. But, since I no longer had a definitive "career" or "job" to come back to I was allowed to think more openly about what would make me happy for the rest of my life. In the end I was offered a consulting job before I left the mid-atlantic that would allow me to finish hiking on my (then) current pace and only require 5 days of work a month.

I've spent the past 2 years hiking and traveling based out of Asheville and just moved to South Korea to teach English to elementary school children.

I would say emphatically that my life is better for having taken the 6 months to through hike regardless of the imminent consequences. But I recognize that I'm one of those people who will never be without prospects or possibilities.

But just as easily as my life-goal-shift came it is important to realize that it might not have. I might have returned home broke and tired with no options. That could happen.

[4eyedbuzzard]

No i've never hiked for a month. But if i go, it's gonna take an injury to stop me. Call it what you will. Second, I couldn't do that. I'm a man of my word. If i say i'm taking the month, then i take the month period. I couldn't do that to my employer.

Be as honest with yourself as you are with your employer. Thru-hiking is a romantic notion/idea. It's very easy to get caught up in the dream and desire to do it. But it is just as easy, if not easier, to find out the reality of thru-hiking it is not as pleasurable as the idea of thru-hiking.

You're 30 something and have a good job with a month off every year to hike - in one of the worst employment situations ever to face people this country. So unless hiking is everything in your life, think long and hard on it, beacuse for most people hiking isn't everything. There are spouses, SO's, children, education, housing, cars, food, etc. And most of those desires require a good income.

Hike your own hike, live your own life. No one can make this choice (and it is a very serious one) except you.

[Torch09]

When I got off the trail last December, I couldn't find a job and was forced to move back in with my parents. As much fun as I had hiking for 6 months, my first reaction would be to advise you to keep the job and take the deal. But considering I am young and have very minimal job experience and only a high school education, its natural that I would have a tougher time finding a job. If you are sure that YOU can find another job, then I'd say definately go for it! Take all the time you need.

[Appalachian Tater]

Take the first one-month period and hike the entire time. Then you will know if you want to actually do a thru-hike.

The majority of people who think they want to thru-hike change their minds after they start, even people who have hiked before and who committed to doing the thru.

I think after a one-month hike you will have made up your mind about what you want to do in the future about your job and hiking.

[bigcranky]

First three responses... all the same. Interesting. I am curious, are all three of you section hikers yourself?

Yes, and note that we are all in our late 40s. I don't want to speak for the other two, but I am not in a position to take off six months and do a thru-hike -- mortgage, kid in college, etc. It would be tough even with a guaranteed job on my return (and that's hardly guaranteed these days.) So even though I, too, have been dreaming of a thru for 15+ years, it's just going to have to wait.

But a month every year to hike? Yeah, that would be great. Especially if I got to pick a different month every year.

[Marta]

Like Dogwood says...try the one-month plan. If, a couple of years from now, the thru-hiking flame still burns, you can quit your job then. Maybe your job situation will have changed, too, and make the decision for you.

Heck, if you discover, at the end of a month, that you can't bear to leave the Trail, you can quit your job then.

75-80% of people, i.e. MOST PEOPLE, who start the Trail discover they don't want to hike for five or six months. Being able to try a month-long hike is a great gift, with no downside.

[peakbagger]

I sectioned the AT in mostly my forties but I didnt have the luxury of one month stretches although I did have one five week stretch. I could have kept going after five weeks, but decided that five weeks was about all I wanted to do in one stretch, so the rest of the trail was one week sections twice a year. The one thing I found that really helped was to arrange to slackpack at least a day at the begining of the trip before putting the backpack on. I had a friend that was hiking with me and we had car support so it was easy for us but most of the hostels along the route offer slack pack options.

I have met folks who have doen the AT and PCT in one month stretches and they really like to option to pick the best weather. I would love to section the PCT but considering the long shuttles it sure looks like that would be better done in longer sections than I currently could swing.

[Toolshed]

Offer sounds great on paper, but will you be there in the future - I mean will you like the job long enough to stay and let it payout as countered?
Will the employer be there in the future?
What if there is a buyout or merger or if new HR Head or a new boss takes over will they honor the committment?
Lot of things to think about. Finally, what does your boss know about the future that you do not.... Could be compelling....

[StorminMormon]

Take it. If one year, or two years down the road you don't think it's working out the way you thought. Say, there just doesn't seem to be the advancement opportunities you thought, or you're just not enjoying the shorter hikes like you thought...you can always renegotiate, or quit. Sounds to me like you basically hold all the cards.

[Ender]

As a past thru-hiker, I say 100% take the offer. It's the best of both worlds, a truly great compromise. Frankly, I've considered doing something similar for the next time I want to hike the AT.

[gravityman]

Realize that at you're life could change at any moment (meet someone, kids, mortgage, whatever) so don't assume you can do it next year if you decide to.

That said, here's my take.

It seems like 3-4 months is the optimal amount of time out on a long trail for me. After that it becomes less fun and more like a job. In 2001 we got off at that point. In 2005 we made it the whole way, but decided the first 4 months were fun, that last 2 were a lot harder.

If you have an open dialog with your boss, you can try to ask for 3 months for the next 2 years and see where that takes you. I would say that would be better than a thru, as you can pick the weather (down south thru spring, up north thru fall and you can skip the hot months in the middle).

If you can't suggest that, then I would really examine what you want. We really wanted to hike from GA to ME in one go. Having done it, I don't want to do it again in one go (but we do want to do the PCT and CDT in a few month-long sections) We have kids now, so we won't be going for more than a few nights anywhere... Life changes...

Also, what is your options for vacation time outside of this time? Is he adding 2 weeks to your total vacation time? It could be really tough if you have to work the rest of the year with no vacation...

Gravity

[sbhikes]

I would take the offer. Disclosure: I did two 3 month section hikes of the PCT.

Reason I would take the offer: I would get 1 month off, guilt-free every year. I could enjoy that entire month all at once doing an epic hike of my choosing. If for some reason the company reneged on the offer or I lost my job or whatever, I would still be able to do a thru-hike.

In fact, I think I would keep a plan in the back of my head to continue saving and planning for that thru-hike because once you've asked for the leave of absense, they kind of know you're less loyal than the other employees so it's very possible you will get laid off the first chance they get.

So take the offer and see it as simply a temporary post-ponement of your thru-hike with the ability to take some epic hikes in the mean time.

[sbhikes]

P.S. I felt that 3 months was plenty long enough for me. It does get to feeling like a job after a while. If I could do a 3 month hike every year I would be in heaven.

[Moose2001]

Lots of good advice in all these posts. I think what it all comes down to is.......what's important to you?

If the job is important and it gives you the personal satisfaction you need and want...take the offer. If the hike is the most important thing to you, take the hike. I often tell other hikers that to do a thru, it has to be the most important thing in your life for the 4-6 month period you're on the trail. If that's not true, then stay in the job. If it is true, do it now so you don't regret it the rest of your life.

[Toolshed]

P.S. I felt that 3 months was plenty long enough for me. It does get to feeling like a job after a while. If I could do a 3 month hike every year I would be in heaven.

Huh....? all you have is a bird to take care of ...What's stopping you?

[gravityman]

...once you've asked for the leave of absense, they kind of know you're less loyal than the other employees so it's very possible you will get laid off the first chance they get...

I'll disagree with this. It depends entirely on your company/culture/boss. My company said "Have a great hike, see you when you get back." They actually were laying people off when I came back, but they took me on, found me work, and continued to promote me. I don't feel like I have totally unique skills, but I am highly skilled (Ph.D. in industry doing optical design in aerospace).

Gravity

[clured]

4-5 one-month hikes over the course of 4-5 years is in no way comparable to a real thru-hike. Quit, hike.