[pct-l] Solution to...What do you guys do for money?

[Charles Doersch]

Dear Krikor,

As an alternative to the good Reinhold's recommendation of wealthy
girlfriend -- which honestly hadn't occurred to me -- one could always have
rich boyfriend(s) or sugar daddies ...

But more to the point, as to your question what we all do:  My family of
four guys is gearing up for the PCT for 2012 -- and everyone is taking on
extra work while we're slashing expenses every way possible (austerity
plan). I'm a professor -- and while that brings in about a nickel per hour
in pay, it does allow me time (and I can take a leave-of-absence for the
extra time). One of us is a freelance writer -- a very successful one -- so
the time commitment is not exactly a problem. Two of the family are between
university and grad school in their careers, and working jobs at top-end
restaurants plus temp work in publishing -- so there's heaps of pretty good
moolah from them. (Isn't Yogi a waitress in Kansas -- besides her fabulous
work publishing guide books for the rest of us?) I'm taking on extra
classes, so that's working out.

And we've been able to cobble together free time & adventurous roaming about
the planet for years and years. We've lived on six continents, and traveled
in 59 countries. Recently did a road trip 8,000 miles from Colorado to the
far end of Panama and back ... sailed across sections of the South Pacific a
few times ... journeyed with Touareg nomads in camel caravans through bandit
territory on the wild & wooly Mali/Niger border across 350 miles of the
Sahara ... worked archeological digs in Australia and the Pitcairns ... etc.

There are ways.

PS. Teaching English in Taiwan was a big money maker for us when we were
abroad. Low expenses. Good pay. We wired the funds back home and six months
of overload work there paid for six months traveling 5,000 miles overland
across Africa.

Cheers,

~Charles Doersch

On Sun, May 29, 2011 at 4:33 PM, Reinhold Metzger
<reinholdmetzger at cox.net>wrote:

> Yes Krikor,
> The question of how to support a serious hiking life style troubles many
> serious hikers.
>
> The simple solution to this common problem is.....a wife or girl friend
> with sufficient
> income to support your hiking life style.
>
> DO  I  NEED  TO  SAY  MORE?
>
> JMT Reinhold
> The problem solver
> --------------------------------------
> Krikor wrote:
>
> This question is for thru-hikers and those that go on overnight hikes
> multiple times throughout the month.
> What do you do for a living?
> I am considering making a career change that would allow me plenty of
> time to do what you do either for pleasure or professionally.
> So far I have considered mountain guide and forester.
> Forester sounds good to me because I'll constantly be outdoors, it is
> stable work with health benefits though education costs are significant,
> mountain guide is my dream job but am concerned that I won't be able to
> support a family with the income.
> I've also head nurse because by setting your own hours, you can work
> your butt off for an extended time and end up with a couple weeks off in
> a row to roam free :)
> What do you guys think, what are some of your professions?
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