Hiking the trail out of anger or frustration with life?

[EvilCapitalist]

To make a long story short, I am at the give up point. Not to give details(boring), but I am now broken and don't care anymore. As opposed to suicide(which is stupid, because I WANT TO LIVE, which I am currently not doing), would thru hiking the trail give me a fresh start? I just want to find a way to hit the reset button.

Has anyone had success thru hiking simply out of anger, frustration, or simply because you didn't care anymore?

Thanks for your feedback.

[JAK]

Very interesting thread starter. Seriously.
Anyone?

[MDSection12]

I haven't thru-hiked, so I can't exactly answer your question as you pose it... But my concern would be what if it doesn't turn out the way you wanted, by no fault of your own? If you put all your eggs in the AT basket then what happens if it doesn't have the results you hoped for? Setting a goal, and making a change to achieve that goal is always a good idea, but don't look at it as such a dire situation or you may be disappointed.

Rather than saying 'will it give me a fresh start' how about just saying 'It's gonna be a lot of fun, which I could use right now.' I've always read that expectations have a lot to do with people's success on the trail; if you expect too much you may be disappointed... Many who have completed the trail say 'it's just a long walk' and I tend to agree. Whatever problems you have now will likely come with you, though you'll be having fun so they may not be as noticeable.

I think it could be a great idea, but I'd be wary of expecting too much is I guess what I'm getting at. Good luck to you, you have admitted you are unhappy and are willing to make drastic changes to be happy... That to me say that you will succeed, but the method only you can choose.

[Astro]

I hope you get some feedback from thru-hikers who have been in the same situation. Anger is a great "short" term motivator, while thru-hiking the AT is a "long" term endevor. While I have only section hiked, I believe it is certainly worth pursuing. For me personally I believe anger/frustration could get you going at the beginning, but then you will probably fall in love with what you are doing and that will take care of the long term challenge. Of course if you find out you do not like walking all day, being in the woods, being cold and rained on then you might quit like anyone else. The good thing is it sounds like you do not have the constraints that hold a lot of people back from committing to (or completing) a thru-hike (job they love, family commitments, etc..)

In conclusion, assuming you already like (or better yet love) hiking, I would recommend giving it a shot.

[moldy]

Noooo, The AT is not for you. It will produce the oppisite effect. You should work out all these issues first. Perhaps a long solo sailboat trip across the Pacific. You can get a used Cataina 24 for less than the cost of a thru-hike. Think about it, the warm sun, deserted islands with white sandy beaches no cell phones and all the fish and coconuts you could want. The AT is nothing but pain and suffering.

[WingedMonkey]

Has anyone had success thru hiking simply out of anger, frustration, or simply because you didn't care anymore?

Unfortunately that's how many thru hikers end up felling after they start a hike.

I don't think it will be healthy to start already in that frame of mind.

However, going to the woods for a short time or even for a few weeks to figure it all out can be healthy.

Then with a refreshed attitude, consider a thru hike.

[HikerMom58]

The first couple of questions I would ask is this- Did you ever have any interest in hiking in your life before now or did you just "pick" this activity randomly? What previous knowledge do you have of the AT, itself? Did you EVER dream of hiking it, one day?

[T-Rx]

The first couple of questions I would ask is this- Did you ever have any interest in hiking in your life before now or did you just "pick" this activity randomly? What previous knowledge do you have of the AT, itself? Did you EVER dream of hiking it, one day?

Listen to the mom. She has your best interest in mind.

[soulrebel]

Good topic with so many people goin thru tough times... I've been using the "outdoors" to try and keep my friend from completely falling off the cliff. (He mostly sits at his mom's home watching tv and partying) It seems to have done him both good and bad. On one hand, he has a "healthy" outlet for all the pent up energy from broken relationships, unemployment, and just being human in general. But on the the other, he'll go so hard in the activity that he hurts himself physically, or will focus on going and doing that activity that he continues to neglect all other life responsibilities. He's turned into quite the mooch, and literally I'm tired of feeling sorry for a grown man that is white, middle-class, w/ a college degree. So he's at risk of losing friends unless he starts gettin his head right...And his head only seems right when we're beating the piss out of ourselves going up and down mountains in the middle of the woods...Go figure

I've tried to get him to go on a long solo hike, but he's too much of a chikenshi to do it. He had the money, but now he doesn't. He's at the end of his rope and the bottom of the bottle. Everyone gets "chity and sloppy" in their lives. Life is a balancing act. It can be really f'n hard to keep your ducks in a row...Even if you think they are, they aren't. Relax, enjoy the ride. But yes hiking is a great activity. thru-hiking is a bit of a beast and doesn't give much recovery day to day and may make you permanently not give a darn about society. IF you do go for a thru start doing PT now, you'll see an immediate improvement in life if you start training...Gl buddy

When you're going through hell, keep going!!!

[Ender]

That's not the reason I hiked the AT, but I will say that thru hiking the AT definitely got rid a lot of the anger I had been carrying with me through the years. Took a while, a couple months at least, but by the end of the trip I was a much calmer, happier person.

That's just me though. Who knows if it'll work for you.

[max patch]

I can't answer your question but I can give you a couple thots:

On the positive side, many people successfully thru hike at a major cross road in their life, such as loss of job or loss of relationship. The hike gives them 6 months to work out their problems or to put them aside.

On the negative side, unless thru hiking is a passion you have, it would be difficult to stick with it for 6 months. People who have dreamed about a thru for a lifetime sometimes don't even get out of Georgia as discover a thru is not the experience they thot it would be.

[Starchild]

To make a long story short, I am at the give up point. Not to give details(boring), but I am now broken and don't care anymore. As opposed to suicide(which is stupid, because I WANT TO LIVE, which I am currently not doing), would thru hiking the trail give me a fresh start? I just want to find a way to hit the reset button.

Has anyone had success thru hiking simply out of anger, frustration, or simply because you didn't care anymore?

Thanks for your feedback.

You have said a lot of good stuff in your post, most directly you want to live and not die and what you are doing now is not living. That is exactly correct, what you desire is life and you seem to know it. I encourage you to seek out that life, which means stop doing what you have been doing because it obviously does not work (check Albert Einstein's definition of insanity). As such I would say yes it will work for you, get you to where you need to be, it may be direct, or it may point you to the correct direction (so be open to new doors in different directions, don't complete it out of being stubborn but be open to the journey wherever it takes you, which now seems to be the thruhike.

Peace

[bfayer]

I am not a thru hiker, but I can tell you that after 29 years of active duty service in the military , I have seen hundreds of young people in your situation that joined the service for the same reasons you have stated.

The majority of them either never finish boot camp, or don't make it past the first year. They join thinking the military is a magic bullet that will fix their life. There is no magic bullet in life, and the military is hard work where you spend a lot of time cold, wet and away from home. In other words a lot like the trail.

If you want to hike the trail because you love hiking and want a few months to get your head on straight, I say go for it.

If on the other hand, you expect it to fix your life, I think you will find at the end of your hike that life off the trail has not changed much. If you want to prove to yourself that you can achieve what you set out to do, what do you do if you have to get off the trial?

You need to be honest with yourself about what you want to archive, and what the trail can do for you?

Either way, don't give up on life, and remember every door that closes, opens another.

[joshuasdad]

Why a thru-hike, when sectioning can provide the necessary retreat? There was a lot of anger in me when I started the trail, but much less so now (long, long story, but note my user name, and as an FYI, my (living) son is not named Joshua).

But anger pretty much just carried me the first few miles. After that, I was looking forward to the next view, the next conversation (my first day I met Apostle Paul, a fellow section hiker), and if fortunate, friends or family at the end of each day's hike.

Since you live reasonably close to the trail, just get out for a few days, or even just one. Have a supportive friend o family member meet you at day's end if you would like, but I suggest hiking alone for the time you need to reflect on your anger, and so that you have the capability to fully experience new people and places. Repeat the above on future weekends. If hiking is no longer fun, then stop (sage advice stolen from LW). But if it makes life better, then continue doing it.

Of course, YMMV and HYOH, but just my two cents.

[RedBeerd]

A wise man once told me that I need to have a backup plan if my life doesn't pan out how I want it to. Basically, f*** it, things suck I am going to do what I want if it might bring me happiness. For me hiking the AT or a bike across America would suffice so hey go for it..how much worse could things get?

[Lone Wolf]

Has anyone had success thru hiking simply out of anger, frustration, or simply because you didn't care anymore?

herll no! best to resolve your issues before takin' a long walk. why ruin your vacation bein' all pissed off?

[Hosaphone]

I am not a thru hiker, but I can tell you that after 29 years of active duty service in the military , I have seen hundreds of young people in your situation that joined the service for the same reasons you have stated.

The majority of them either never finish boot camp, or don't make it past the first year. They join thinking the military is a magic bullet that will fix their life. There is no magic bullet in life, and the military is hard work where you spend a lot of time cold, wet and away from home. In other words a lot like the trail.

If you want to hike the trail because you love hiking and want a few months to get your head on straight, I say go for it.

If on the other hand, you expect it to fix your life, I think you will find at the end of your hike that life off the trail has not changed much. If you want to prove to yourself that you can achieve what you set out to do, what do you do if you have to get off the trial?

You need to be honest with yourself about what you want to archive, and what the trail can do for you?

Either way, don't give up on life, and remember every door that closes, opens another.

I was going to post something like this, but less eloquent.

I think it really depends on your situation. I'm similarly frustrated with a lot of things right now, and really tempted to say F it and just go hiking this spring - have plenty of cash, could make the time. But I know that when I got back, all the same problems would still be there but they'd be worse after 4-6 months away. So for now I'm just keeping my head down and powering through.

Obviously you shouldn't "keep your head down and power through" your whole life, but I think I'll be in a much better place a year from now by doing so. If I were to leave it all and go hike, I'd still be right here and probably stuck here for even longer than I would have been otherwise. YMMW.

[Malto]

I thru hiked but not to escape life. From my experience I would say no don't do it. Get your life in order then if hiking is really a passion then pursue it. I see very few things that will get better post hike, relationships, financial etc. the ONLY thing that could of help is the fact that you will have countless hours to reflect on your situation. It could help you get perspective...... Or not. One final thing, I found that my emotions were "much closer to the surface" during my hike, likely caused by the pure simplicity of life. Again, this could be a good thing or not.

Thru hiking isn't going to solve anything. Taking action to get your life together will.

Good luck.

[T-Rx]

I am a very practical person and as a general rule I think it is best not to make decisions based on emotions. Weigh the pros and cons of the situation and then make the decision on whether or not to hike based on sound reasoning. All the things mentioned previously such as finances, relationships, etc.. Will not disappear just because you decide to hike. They will still be there waiting when you return. Life can be very frustrating at times. If I let emotions rule my decisions I would quit this corporate rat race today and go hike this spring. However, my practical side tells me just stick it out for 1 or 2 more years and then I can retire and devote all my time and energy to doing other things like hiking. Hiking may give you a different perspective on life and goals but the facts will remain the same as they were pre hike. Good luck with your decision and best wishes to you whatever that decision may be.

[SCRUB HIKER]

A wise man once told me that I need to have a backup plan if my life doesn't pan out how I want it to. Basically, f*** it, things suck I am going to do what I want if it might bring me happiness. For me hiking the AT or a bike across America would suffice so hey go for it..how much worse could things get?

Rather than saying 'will it give me a fresh start' how about just saying 'It's gonna be a lot of fun, which I could use right now.' ... Whatever problems you have now will likely come with you, though you'll be having fun so they may not be as noticeable.

I agree with these posts. You should absolutely go for a hike, but you should do it with the idea that it will be a relative improvement over your current life, six months of who-knows-what type of adventure and maybe even fun. But don't imagine that it's a reset button. I know what my major faults are and, after numerous adventures and travels and one long hike, I've always come back to the real world to find them still present. At first I was under the naïve impression that adventures could function as a "reset button," but for me at least they can't. I just do them because they're fun and challenging. If they've changed me, it's in ways that I won't notice or understand for awhile.

Maybe your external circumstances--problems caused by other people, things out of your control--can be fixed by a long hike, by simply saying sayonara and detaching for six months. But if you know, deep down, that some of your problems are the result of persistent maladaptive aspects of your character, I caution you against believing you can scrub them out with a thru-hike.