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

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

By the way, one of the best things about being the one left at home  
is having the house to yourself all the time. I doubt a husband can  
use that as a selling point to his wife, but I'm pretty sure from one  
wife to another it could be a selling point.

I also enjoyed shipping the boxes and even being at the ready to come  
pick him up when his hikes were over. Being "Mission Control" was  
fun, it sort of broke up my otherwise boring office existence and  
gave me a purpose, however small. Also, going out to meet him in  
trail towns was fun. It was fun to meet the other hikers and attempt  
to help them out. (Somehow all our efforts at trail magic have mostly  
failed.)

I did my own long distance hikes before my partner ever did any long  
distance hiking. So once he decided to give it a try I was really  
excited to relive my own experiences through his and to have him  
experience what I had experienced so that he'd know what it was like.