[pct-l] Wife Buy-In and Contracting Biz Prep For Thru Hike

[Kathi]

My situation is a bit different, in that before I married my husband he 
knew I wanted to thru-hike the PCT. I also do not have children other 
than the furry variety. That being said, when I started to assess my 
gear a few years back I was met with a tiny bit of resistance but 
definitely not a "no". So I kept trudging forward. To my surprise he was 
paying attention to the gear research I was doing and I started getting 
very nice gifts of gear for birthdays and Christmas.

Then this summer I really kicked things up a notch and started doing 
solo trips. That was met with a tiny bit of resistance but again, 
definitely not a "no". While I was excited to tell friends what I was up 
to, my husband was silent about it. Then suddenly after a 4 day/3 night 
(my longest out solo) he couldn't stop telling people what I was up to! 
Now he seems proud of my accomplishments. It also made him very happy 
that for my last trip I finally got a SPOT device.

After years of asking him to go to the ADZPCTKO with me and then going 
alone he said he actually might attend the 2013 event with me!!! Yay! It 
also seems to have renewed in him a desire to get out and do things he 
stopped doing when he was younger. He's never been a backpacker and I 
don't think he will be but that's exciting that I seem to have sparked 
something in him to do things he has always wanted to do too. So you 
never know what will happen!

If at any time my husband would have said "No" then I would have had to 
really evaluate things. I love my husband and don't want to ruin our 
relationship so I'm not sure what I would have done. Fortunately that 
didn't happen and my incremental approach to going on a thru-hike seems 
to be working. The date is still off in the future so who knows what 
will happen when I have everything packed and ready to go, but my 
husband loves me too and wants to make me happy so just like I am 
willing to compromise my backpacking adventures for him, he is will to 
compromise being without me so I can do it. Now THAT is a good husband! 
I chose wisely!

I personally haven't figured out yet what I am going to do with my 
business while I am gone... still working on that one myself!
Good luck! I am sure there are many women on this list, myself included, 
that would be willing to have your wife ask us questions about the 
trail, etc. so she can get a woman's perspective on things too.
Kathi

On 10/4/12 10:31 AM, Jesse Baldwin wrote:
> Basically, I have a goal of thru-hiking the PCT and it's time to put some meat to it by setting a date. I have chosen 2016 and I have some things to get in order by that time. I own an electrical contracting business, a home, I'm married to a "non-backpacker" wife and I have two sons. My oldest is 17 and almost out of the house (I hope) and the youngest is 6. The youngest will be turning 10 in May of 2016 (hopefully on the trail).
> My long-winded-point IS, I did a "Google" search re: wife permission PCT, etc since there is some resistance and mostly incredulity from the spouse. (Not much in the way of search results came up)
> I announced the date to her last week, and while watching the Nat Geo PCT doc (little lame, I know) I told her only 300 hundred or so people tried it in a year. She asked "How many people are in the US?" and I responded, "I don't know, around 300 million maybe." She said I should easily be able to figure out my odds for going by using the two figures...
>
> My question is: has anyone else had similar experience with a less than ecstatic partner in fostering buy-in and successfully planning and carrying out a thru-hike?
> And/ Or
> Does anyone have experience with prepping a contracting (or other small biz) for being away for up to 6 months on a thru-hike?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>   
> Jesse Baldwin
> Owner
> Baldwin Industrial Group
> CA C-10 License #925362
> www.BaldwinIndustrialGroup.com
> www.MammothLakesContractors.com
> Ph. (760) 914-2455
> 53 South Landing Road
> Crowley Lake, CA 93546
>
> Thank you for choosing Baldwin Industrial Group!
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