I have been an avid backpacker for a few years now but over the last year I have really been slacking as my job has pretty much consumed me - and even beyond the backpacking aspect.
A buddy and I were hanging out last night, first time in a year, and he's the same type that likes the outdoors. He's been off in WV guiding rapids, mountain biking, and a few other things so he hasn't been around any to hang out. I've been throwing around the idea of attacking a thru-hike ever since I really got in to backpacking and, of course, this topic came up again last night - as well as the PCT and a couple others. I don't know that I have much of a desire to do the other trails, I know the appalachians better as I have family in VA and a lot of my treks have taken me to the WV mountains (I know the trail is different on the south and north, but I at least have some exposure to the terrain there).
I know the longer I hold off the harder it will be to tackle the trek, but at the same time I don't know that I can break away and drop everything to do it.
I'm 25, I have been out of college for a little over a year (dec 09), I am getting pretty well situated in my job (which took me 2 years to get). I am a precision farming specialist for a John Deere dealer - I work with the GPS systems on tractors and combines. I've been all the way through masters training in my first year. Right now I am the project manager for the installation of our reference GPS network covering much of south western Ohio, as well as spotty coverage further north. My job is good and now that I've been there a year they are throwing more responsibilities my way and I am a lot more comfortable with the industry I am in - in regards to knowing the products/systems and understanding our customer's uses, operations, and the culture. I still have a ways to go, though.
Over the past year I've pretty much sacrificed everything for my job. I let my friendships lapse, I missed out on the one trip that means more to me than anything else - visiting my family's place on Lake of the Woods in Canada (a 2 day drive from here). The only semi-backpacking trip I have gone on since I started working is down to WV - a combination snowboarding/snowshoeing trip. We only hiked a couple miles up in to the appalacian mountains on snowshoes, camped over night, and hiked back. Its just way too much effort to do that over a weekend and make it to work at 8am Monday morning ready for the day.
Last August I bought a new truck - pretty much exactly what I wanted. January 20 I rolled it in a ditch. I hit ice, couldn't hold it on the road, and lost it in the ditch. I made it out OK, but how I'm not sure. The truck was a diesel F250 - when it was upside down all 8500lbs of that thing squashed the cab like a can.
It is a wake up call - puts in to reality a bit more what I've been missing out on. I could be dead right now and I haven't been living hapily. I've put all my time and energy in to my job so I can feel better there and perform better, but I've sacrificed my friends and all that I like to do to build my career. I need to get away and back to some of the things I love.
For those that have dropped everything and taken off - how do you go about doing that? I have a good career lined up and I am making some decent headway in that. I don't know how I would quit that path now and not know what the future holds. It took me 2 years to get this job, though I didn't really know what I was in for - I just wanted a job that took me out of the city to guide me to the lifestyle I want to live. With the current economy and job market only 1 in 5 college students have a job out of college - I was one of those.
How can I drop it all? Should I drop it all? I know no one can answer those but me, however I know there are others that have been in the same situation, or very similar. How did you do it? How did things pan out when you were done with the hike and had to get back to "reality" with a job? Did you have your old job back? Did you get a new job? Are you happy with your decision to drop it all and are you happy with how you are living now?