My brother and I are attempting a thru hike at the end of March 2016. We are both retired, aged 58, and want to do it for the same reasons you described. I see it as an opportunity to be truly free. No schedules, no telephones, no demands other than the ones you put on yourself. Also the fact that the trail is actually still there to be explored and admired. We too live in Florida and want to experience some true American landscape.