My BF has been infected

[sbhikes]

Whatever Trailbender decides to do, my boyfriend is close to retiring and looks forward to hiking the PCT. He followed all the rules AND he resisted society's brainwashing to consume rather than save. It's fine to see things a different way, but it's even better to be able to live according to your beliefs without looking over your shoulder.

[Trailbender]

Whatever Trailbender decides to do, my boyfriend is close to retiring and looks forward to hiking the PCT. He followed all the rules AND he resisted society's brainwashing to consume rather than save. It's fine to see things a different way, but it's even better to be able to live according to your beliefs without looking over your shoulder.

I would have no need to look over my shoulder, even if I decided to leave school and not pay the loans. I have always lived according to my beliefs, despite what anyone else thought. It is good that he saved, I saved as well, and it enabled me to refuse many of the loans. I really don't want to have to wait until retirement to live the way I want to live though, no offense.

[Awol1970]

I respect that post TB. But...you borrowed $ from people and now you feel like it would crimp your style to pay it back. I'm amazed that you don't see that, but it is what it is.

You are right though, debtors prison doesn't exist in this nation. Looking over your shoulder will never be a problem. It will be awfully hard to live on the trail for 30-40 years though. And also hard to work under the table for that long too. Not impossible, but hard. So the piper will be paid eventually. Interest is a bitch, but you know that.

Everything bores me after my thru hike...well duh.

Of course it does. Everything bores me after I get back from hiking or going to Cancun or whatever. However if a person loaned me $ then it behooves me morally to pay them back. If I don't then sure, I won't go to prison...but it doesn't change the FACT THAT IT IS STEALING.

[Trailbender]

I respect that post TB. But...you borrowed $ from people and now you feel like it would crimp your style to pay it back. I'm amazed that you don't see that, but it is what it is.

You are right though, debtors prison doesn't exist in this nation. Looking over your shoulder will never be a problem. It will be awfully hard to live on the trail for 30-40 years though. And also hard to work under the table for that long too. Not impossible, but hard. So the piper will be paid eventually. Interest is a bitch, but you know that.

Everything bores me after my thru hike...well duh.

Of course it does. Everything bores me after I get back from hiking or going to Cancun or whatever. However if a person loaned me $ then it behooves me morally to pay them back. If I don't then sure, I won't go to prison...but it doesn't change the FACT THAT IT IS STEALING.

Interest is stealing, what about that? If I borrow 15K, why should I pay back 20K? It is not a matter of "crimping my style" moreso than slavery. That would be what it is if I had to work some crap job for years to pay it off. Pure and unadulterated slavery. There is no other word or description for it. I don't really see it as stealing, I did mention besides that I would try to pay it back, but if you don't have the money, you just don't have the money. It doesn't take Calculus to understand if you make $800 a month and your monthly loan payment is $400-$500 a month, that loan is just not gonna get paid.

As far as stealing, the Federal Reserve pretty much prints that money out of thin air. They literally make more of it. Banks can rob people blind and get away with it. The rich don't need your sympathy, trust me.

Look at that studentloanjustice website I posted. People's loans blowing up to 3x-4x or more than what they borrowed because of default. If I borrowed 10K or whatever, that is what I owe, don't try to suddenly say I owe you 50 or 100. That is what is happening to the people that can't afford to pay their loans back. These loan companies are predatory and evil, and I would feel no issue with being like a freedom fighter and throwing a wrench in their works.

[Awol1970]

I should say @ this point I only have a simple high school education. But this ain't rocket science.

Interest is not stealing. Interest is profit. Interest is what YOU agreed to when you signed the loan. I am sure when you deposit $ into an interest-bearing account at your bank you don't consider yourself a thief. Nor should you. You are profiting from what is essentially a loan to a bank so they can turn around and make a profit from it. To say that if you were loaned $10K that is all you should pay back shows your immaturity. It is simple economics.

Lol@ being a freedom fighter throwing a wrench into the works. It speaks succinctly to your delusions of grandeur. You see yourself as a hero! Striking out for the common man! Making a statement against the capitalist pigs! What a crock of s@$&.

[Pete Moss]

I'll quit writing posts pointing out your flawed thinking when you quit writing posts with flawed thinking.

Did you actually write "Worst case, if I didn't graduate, why would I pay for a degree I didn't get?"

Did you actually write "I have paid enough in taxes to "earn" food stamps."?

I can't believe I am the only one chiming in on this...

Nope ...Your right on, dude just doesnt get it. The gubmint ALREADY owns him and he doesnt even know it. He can't see the forest from the trees.

[Luddite]

It wouldn't be much of a business if they didn't charge interest. They would just be doing you a favor.

AWOL, I don't think the man is delusional, just a bit disillusioned.

[Awol1970]

I should also throw out there the fact that there are ways to get $ interest free for school. Grants and scholarships for instance...he was the one who entered into a contract that now is thorn in his side.

There are also interest free loans. I work for Habitat for Humanity part-time in the Atlanta are. What they do is provide affordable housing to folks who have never owned a home, live in a blighted area, and don't make quite enough $ to qualify for a conventional loan.

The way they do this is build a house that is stripped of all profit margins, built primarily by volunteers (though some work is subbed out to for profit contractors), and provide a 20 year interest free mortgage to the homeowner. The mortgage is held by Habitat. Habitat does this as a ministry to the community.

Banks provide loans for profit. As they should.

[sbhikes]

It doesn't matter what TB believes. As soon as he gets hungry enough to get a job, the IRS is coming after him. You don't want to mess with the IRS.

[Hayduke_AZ]

Ever heard the saying about arguing with people on the internet?


Maybe we can get this thread back on track...

Grats on your BF's conversion Diane. Sounds like you're gonna have a nice life once he decides he done working for a living

[sbhikes]

Thank you. I hope it works out. I mean, I hope we both enjoy long distance hiking and neither of us gets injured or something. He sprained his ankle on the PCT last year and says sometimes it still hurts. I hope retiring and doing what he really enjoys cures him of all those aches and pains that seem to plague him.

[Iceaxe]

Thank you. I hope it works out. I mean, I hope we both enjoy long distance hiking and neither of us gets injured or something. He sprained his ankle on the PCT last year and says sometimes it still hurts. I hope retiring and doing what he really enjoys cures him of all those aches and pains that seem to plague him.

I hope you both have a great season on the trail this year. That was pretty scary having Trailhacker fall like that.
I injured my ankle 6 months before my PCT thru in 2009. I was totally freaked about it when i was training and it would act up. That was part of the reason i cut my gear weight down to 10 lbs. I know it seems like it's frowned upon around WB to discuss Ultra light stuff but i know it helped me. As for the ankle injury it still hurts me some times if i sit cross legged but once on the trail the pain is gone.
Good Luck to you both! Happy Trails Piper and Trailhacker!

[Hayduke_AZ]

I hope you both have a great season on the trail this year. That was pretty scary having Trailhacker fall like that.
I injured my ankle 6 months before my PCT thru in 2009. I was totally freaked about it when i was training and it would act up. That was part of the reason i cut my gear weight down to 10 lbs. I know it seems like it's frowned upon around WB to discuss Ultra light stuff but i know it helped me. As for the ankle injury it still hurts me some times if i sit cross legged but once on the trail the pain is gone.
Good Luck to you both! Happy Trails Piper and Trailhacker!

Talking UL is frowned upon here? I didn't notice that.
I have not spent much time on these forums, but I do like this smiley... a LOT
LOL that banana cracks me up


This post made me feel a little better about my paranoia that I will injure myself before my hike. I used to bicycle commute to work, but I stopped when the urban trail and roads got icy. Now it's mostly thawed, but I am still worried about that lingering patch of ice! When I'm chopping firewood, I keep having horrible thoughts about what would happen if the axe slipped or something. Just walking across an icy parking lot I get nervous I will slip and hurt myself. I know I'm paranoid, but I can't help but be extra cautious lately!

Luckily I'm still hiking with my pack whenever I get a chance (mostly weekends). I did 8 miles yesterday

[BrianLe]

Hayduke_AZ said:

"This post made me feel a little better about my paranoia that I will injure myself before my hike."

There can be a kind of odd parallel paranoia that occurs as a person starts getting close to the end of a thru-hike. Sometimes that can be "I really want to get done before enough snow falls that I can't finish". For me and some folks I hiked with on the AT last year (getting into Maine) it was "I'm starting to walk a bit more carefully as I really don't want to fall (yet again) and injure myself so close to the end".

I guess there's always something to be nervous about!

And since I'm chiming in on this thread, ditto Iceaxe's comments, Piper --- I hope the two of you have a great time on the trail. If it doesn't work out that he wants to be a(s crazy as a typical) long distance hiker, you could consider some hybrid approach, such as what my wife and I have followed --- she joined me on three decent stretches of the PCT and a hundred mile stretch of the AT and despite conventional wisdom to the contrary it worked out really well for her to do those pieces with me. She trained hard beforehand, so that everyone around her quickly forgot she wasn't just another thru-hiker. She likes hiking, she just doesn't ever sleep well in the woods, and so gets slowly sleep-deprived.

I guess my point there isn't those specifics, but just that with some creativity it might be that two people can still share a thru-hike adventure at least to some degree, even if it turns out that one is unwilling or simply unable to walk all the miles. For example, think how nice it would be if he walked a few hundred miles and then decided to be your dedicated car-based support person from then on? Cush. :-)

[sbhikes]

Or what if he loves it and I become one of those trail wives who ends up running the entire way just to keep up!

[Sickmont]

Or what if he loves it and I become one of those trail wives who ends up running the entire way just to keep up!

Thats actually not a bad way to end up me thinks......

[BrianLe]

He likely won't make you run too hard to keep up --- a female is just too valuable a companion for hitching into towns! :-)
And of course, if it works out that way, you can always work on the male ego thing to see if you can get him to carry some of your stuff ...

[Hayduke_AZ]

Or what if he loves it and I become one of those trail wives who ends up running the entire way just to keep up!

Thats actually not a bad way to end up me thinks......

Ya, and that's bad why?

He likely won't make you run too hard to keep up --- a female is just too valuable a companion for hitching into towns! :-)
And of course, if it works out that way, you can always work on the male ego thing to see if you can get him to carry some of your stuff ...

That there is some wisdom!

[Alligator]

Student loans isn't what the thread is about, please bring it back to the thread topic. Thank you.

[Speakeasy TN]

Thank you. I hope it works out. I mean, I hope we both enjoy long distance hiking and neither of us gets injured or something. He sprained his ankle on the PCT last year and says sometimes it still hurts. I hope retiring and doing what he really enjoys cures him of all those aches and pains that seem to plague him.

I bet knowing that he never had to go to the office again would do that ankle a world of good! To do the conversion did you sprinkle him with Aquamira water?