Why I'm hiking the Trail in 2013. How about you?

[Max L]

No trail name yet so everybody can call me Max for now.
My plane ticket from Milwaukee is booked for April 4th and I plan on hitting the trail the next morning. I must say suddenly this trip that I only teased myself with during the summer of 2011 is seeming so real!
In 2011 my mom (turtle feet) thru-hiked and as I followed her hike and listened to her stories I felt like this was something that I MUST experience. But to be honest I've never been completely sold on a 5-6 month hike. from my childhood until my last year in college I was lucky enough to spend my summers on 7-14 day canoe and hiking trips. Even when I was working summer jobs I was able to go on two or three trips. But after college I joined the workforce and suddenly a year and half went by until I even slept in tent; that was July 27th 2012. That next week I decided that I would attempt that AT hike toyed with in mind for over year.
In August I started obsessively saving money, decided that I'd quit my job in march, and begin the trail on April 5th 2013!
To be honest haven't felt this nervous and excited since those few days before I left for college over 7 years ago. Not just because I'm throwing myself into the new and challenging experience of very long hike but, I also feel like this upcoming April marks a dramatic new chapter in my life. As I said I am leaving my job at the end of March to hike the trail, but truth be told I would be leaving regardless... I work an office job (8-5 on a computer in a cubicle) and I need to get away from that.
Aside from the job I also need a change of location. I've lived my entire life in Illinois and Wisconsin and badly want move somewhere with mountains on horizon. I thinking Pacific Northwest or Alaska but who knows.
Now I honestly do not expect to come to some sort of "moment of clarity" on trail and discover an occupational calling to pursue. But i do hope that the experience provides me some time to reflect on where I'll be and what I'll be in doing the next year or two.
That's why I'm leaving Milwaukee for the AT in few months.
Can't wait to meet some of you guys in Northern GA very soon!
~Max

[Rifle]

Max,
You and I sound similar in many ways. 25 years old, grew up in the midwest (Indiana), hiking the AT in 2013 (starting on Jan. 1st. 6 days!) Nervous? You betcha. As cheezy and cliche as it may sound, I really am treating my trip as a "soul search." I grew up in a conservative Christian home, believed it all for years, went to a Bible school, did some ministry and mission trips, then realized I don't know what the hell I believe. So I'm taking a slim Bible (slim and LIGHT!) and two journals. I figure I'll have all the time in the world to read and write. Sort out my thoughts. Maybe find some answers. I believe there's no better place for that than nature. I've also been working random jobs for the last 7 years. Really no direction, just working to make money. No fulfillment, satisfaction, goals, or purpose. So I hope to resolve some of that on the trail too. I realize I may not have an epiphany, but I'm hoping for some level of clarity. I also REALLY want another big challenge and really CRAVE another adventure. I get bitten by the adventure bug at least every couple of years. My last one was Australia in 2010. Now it's time to see what the US of A has to offer.

I hope that on my trip I grow in flexibility, independence, mental and physical strength, discipline, and determination. I hope to get over my bitterness and cynicism so I can get on with life with a fresh and healthy outlook. I hope I have the strength to finish the journey. I hope my dad is proud of me. I hope my stick legs develop some muscle! I hope I see some amazing wildlife and capture some breathtaking scenery with my camera. I hope I meet some amazing people. I hope for solitude in the most natural, most fundamental way. I hope I don't run out of money. I hope I don't run out of motivation.

There's a good chance I'll never see you on the trail, Max since I'm starting a full 4 months before you. I'll be close to finished when you're starting! But just know as you're walking the trail on your own journey that 4 months prior Rifle walked the same path! Best of luck to you! I'm sure you'll do great.

- Rifle

[Don H]

Hey Max I met your mom hiking in 2011! If I recall thru hiking is a family tradition.

Your mom and I had traded info here on WB and just by luck we met on the trail during the first week out.

I'm sure your mom and dad are very supportive of you. Good Luck!

[Airman]

It's going to be cold and lonely this time of the year.

[Capt Nat]

I like the thread topic. Now I'm asking myself, why am I hiking the trail? I guess my whole life has been one adventure after another. I just moved off the boat I had lived aboard and cruised for the last ten years and it just seemed the thing to do to hike the trail. I've got no allusions that my body may give out or an injury could derail me. A death in the family is very possible and could pull me off the trail. None of that matters. I will strike up the approach trail at Amicalola with the intent to climb Katahdin at the other end. Whether I make it or not, my life will be changed forever. The alternative would be to sit and do nothing. After the trail, I don't know, but an eddy or stray zephyr will surely whisk me in some direction. I'm looking forward to the experience and the people that will soon be forever a part of me.

[Brandon BUNCE]

for many reasons
1 i like to travel
2 to get in touch with nature and develop spiritually
3 just to do and say i did it even though people tell me its a crazy idea
4 it is going to be a fun adventure full of natural wonder historical sites and a fun place to go
5 i like nature and outdoor activities

[Brandon BUNCE]

fun places to go

[HikerMom58]

I'm pulling, on the sidelines, for you Max L, to fulfill your dreams. I know you will, whatever that looks like.....

Rifle - are u going to journal on line as well? If you do, I'd like to follow u along on your journey. I'd like to meet y'all when you come through Daleville, VA. Send me a PM for my contact info.- Roanoke Trail Angels like to help out hikers in our area.

Capt Nat- it won't be long now. I'm thinking u should get to meet quite a few out there from WB.....Class of 2013 is about to begin... exciting!!

[Half-Life]

Trailname TBD (Vaughn)

First post, very much excited for this year's hike.

In 2006, I took three months off from work to do the Mongol Rally, driving a crap car from London to Mongolia. Having spent the previous three years working from a cube, I wanted the time away to have an adventure. I got back to work after my leave of absence and knew that I was done working there. I quit in February 2007, enjoyed a few months of work-free life, and then moved to Japan in July 2007 to teach English.

I spent five years there and became really good friends with an outdoor enthusiast (I also decided that being willfully unemployed in ones life is a good thing to do occasionally). He hiked the PCT some years ago and I always enjoyed listening to his stories and respected his ability to survive on a minimal supply of material goods, as well as being really handy when it came to making due in the wilderness.

The timing and budget work out this year. I can only imagine it will be harder to find the time (or make the choice to quit and take half a year off) in the future, so at 32 and single, I'm going to give it a shot. I'll head back to school in 2014 for a change in career, too. I'm enjoying the preparation and looking forward to the basic-ness of it all while meeting some like-minded hikers on the way. At times, the idea of hiking so far seems daunting, but I know if I never at least make the effort, I'll look back and wonder if I could have done it. So I'm going to do it.

Max, good luck. I'm planning a mid- to late-April start, so unless I'm hoofing it, I probably won't see you.
HikerMomKD, mind if I get in touch?

[sgt easy]

thanks for making me think - amidst all the logistical crap involved in actually making a run at the a.t., the motivation, or whatever spirit that moves me, got a bit lost. i'm an old fart; ex marine vietnam vet (thus the sgt easy, not my yet to be determined trail name); ex marine biologist, with more than 20 years studying ecology of tropical shores, then moving into applied science focussed on making polluters of the oceans pay for their "mistakes"; avid reader, paddler, hiker, fisherman; 30 year "veteran" husband, and now widower, of a beautiful soul - yikes, i could go on. i'm in it for the journey, the joy and the suffering. who knows where and when it will end, and does it really matter? i'm not gregarious, but i'm with you all, those who have hiked it and those who will...walking on the earth, as long as she grants us the privilege. that's why i'm going.

[colorado_rob]

Easy answer for me, nothing too exciting, just a four month long retirement party. Well, maybe "celebration" is a better word. Just want to chill out and push the body hard, one of my favorite pasttimes, and at the same time thoroughly resting the mind. Can't wait! Nice thread.

[Danl]

I started thinking abou hiking the trail about 8 years ago when we moved to Tenn. from Mich. I raised my children giving up alot for them. Empty nest now, retired young because I could. Wife supports me although i truly wish she would come with. I now have a cousin on board and he and i are excited. All our family are behind us, and there are those whom say we are nuts. Now i have a bigger incentive and that is to make all those nay sayers eat their words because CAN'T never did anything. Good luck to all those that share this dream. C ya on the trail.

[turtle fast]

The trail does afford you the time to do a lot of thinking and you DO realize what is important to you. You also realize how good sometimes you have it and things you take for granted...like indoor plumbing. I have though run into folks that did have an epifany on the trail about their lives, but I think that the time and space afforded by the trail helped them to their conclusions.

[turtle fast]

As another resident of Milwaukee...and as someone who has traveled and lived elsewhere extensively....you will find out that the character of here is unique and is uniquely situated to afford a variety of activities as well as offer a good job environment. Unfortunately it does take money to live. Now when one thinks Milwaukee...NOBODY and I mean NOBODY thinks it sounds like a nice place to live and work (and that's the secret). Not to say that the place has a few problems (like everywhere else), but you will realize that if you wanted to go somewhere that being in the center of the country affords an easy airplane ride to sun and surf, to the big time skiing of Colorado or Montana, to a ride to some of the best canoeing in the US. And I have not even gotten to the cultural benefits of being close to Chicago...and yet not feel close to.

[Loon Louie]

Life is kind of like being on one long hiking trail. We all know where we started and I think most of us know where we want to end up and what kind of person we want to become by the end. Getting there and being true to it is the hard part, even though we all know we simply have to put one foot in front of the other. For me, this hike is about finding my courage and confidence and learning to humbly put one foot in front of the other.

[Mulungu]

In South Africa more than 2 million children n go to school each day without having had anything to eat since they left school the previous day.
blisters for bread is an Organisation that feeds over 375 000 children every day. They are fed a warm brea Kraft of porridge when they arrive at school and a cooked lunch before they go home.
This scheme is a non government body and survives on fun raising.
southern cross and I ( springbock) will be walking to raise funds through being sponsored by companies and individuals in South Africa.
we only have time to walk 1000 miles from springer mountain to Harpers ferry but we hope to raise over 500 000 rand enough to feed 500 children for a year.

http://1000atmiles.webs.com/

[Mulungu]

In South Africa more than 2 million children n go to school each day without having had anything to eat since they left school the previous day.
blisters for bread is an Organisation that feeds over 375 000 children every day. They are fed a warm brea Kraft of porridge when they arrive at school and a cooked lunch before they go home.
This scheme is a non government body and survives on fun raising.
southern cross and I ( springbock) will be walking to raise funds through being sponsored by companies and individuals in South Africa.
we only have time to walk 1000 miles from springer mountain to Harpers ferry but we hope to raise over 500 000 rand enough to feed 500 children for a year.

http://1000atmiles.webs.com/

Sorry about the spelling. iPad doing its predictive text thing and me not checking before clicking on post.
Hope you get the picture

[HikerMom58]

Sorry about the spelling. iPad doing its predictive text thing and me not checking before clicking on post.
Hope you get the picture

I do Nice Mulungu...hope to see you in Daleville VA. PM me for my contact info, if you like.

[Many Moons]

No trail name yet so everybody can call me Max for now.
My plane ticket from Milwaukee is booked for April 4th and I plan on hitting the trail the next morning. I must say suddenly this trip that I only teased myself with during the summer of 2011 is seeming so real!
In 2011 my mom (turtle feet) thru-hiked and as I followed her hike and listened to her stories I felt like this was something that I MUST experience. But to be honest I've never been completely sold on a 5-6 month hike. from my childhood until my last year in college I was lucky enough to spend my summers on 7-14 day canoe and hiking trips. Even when I was working summer jobs I was able to go on two or three trips. But after college I joined the workforce and suddenly a year and half went by until I even slept in tent; that was July 27th 2012. That next week I decided that I would attempt that AT hike toyed with in mind for over year.
In August I started obsessively saving money, decided that I'd quit my job in march, and begin the trail on April 5th 2013!
To be honest haven't felt this nervous and excited since those few days before I left for college over 7 years ago. Not just because I'm throwing myself into the new and challenging experience of very long hike but, I also feel like this upcoming April marks a dramatic new chapter in my life. As I said I am leaving my job at the end of March to hike the trail, but truth be told I would be leaving regardless... I work an office job (8-5 on a computer in a cubicle) and I need to get away from that.
Aside from the job I also need a change of location. I've lived my entire life in Illinois and Wisconsin and badly want move somewhere with mountains on horizon. I thinking Pacific Northwest or Alaska but who knows.
Now I honestly do not expect to come to some sort of "moment of clarity" on trail and discover an occupational calling to pursue. But i do hope that the experience provides me some time to reflect on where I'll be and what I'll be in doing the next year or two.
That's why I'm leaving Milwaukee for the AT in few months.
Can't wait to meet some of you guys in Northern GA very soon!
~Max

Should see you on trail or we will here about each other. I am hitting trail on 12th at Franklin NC to start NoBo. That is 8 days out from Springer. Good luck on your hike. Hike On!!!

Miller

[tjkenney67]

Life is kind of like being on one long hiking trail. We all know where we started and I think most of us know where we want to end up and what kind of person we want to become by the end. Getting there and being true to it is the hard part, even though we all know we simply have to put one foot in front of the other. For me, this hike is about finding my courage and confidence and learning to humbly put one foot in front of the other.

Nicely said....