[pct-l] (Guest Post) Re: Affording a thru hike

[hayduke at toughguy.net (Hayduke)]

Lately I have been trying to figure out how to create for myself a reliable
source of revenue that I can be away from for 4-5 months at a time. My goal
isn't to have the income continue while hiking. I just want to be able to
come back to "society" and start it back up.

The perspective I have taken is that I need an income that is high enough to
earn enough money in 6-7 months to cover my entire expenses for a 12 month
period. For example if I owned a home, I would need to make enough to pay
mortages and taxes for the months I am on the trail. I also save about
15-20% of my income into a retirement account. When I examine options, I try
to make sure I can maintain an equivalent amount annually. That's the part
that makes it really tough. There are plenty of ways to work 6-7 months and
be able to afford to hike the other months every year, but the nature of
"seasonal" work doesn't often pay well enough to allow me to save for
retirement AND the next long hike.

Anyone have ideas for good income during the winter months?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Platypus" <PlatyHiker@yahoo.com>
To: <PCT-L@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 10:48 AM
Subject: [pct-l] (Guest Post) Re: Affording a thru hike


> * Message posted to PCT-L from the National Scenic Trails Website
> * by our guest Platypus <PlatyHiker@yahoo.com>.
> * Please use <mailto:PlatyHiker@yahoo.com> to reply to the sender.
>
> Rather than factoring in lost wages, you may want to factor in lost
> savings.  If your salary is high, but your non-hiking living expenses
> are also high, you may not be giving up a lot to go on a thru hike,
> provided you minimize your fixed costs.  But, if you've been saving
> aggressively for some other goal, say retirement or a house, going on
> a thru-hike does halt those saves for the duration of the hike.
>
> > I think the cost of a thru hike is a little more complicated than this.
> > One has (fixed costs)+(money spent on trail).  Some people might want to
> > factor in lost wages.
>
> > But, we can certainly subtract from the total (fixed)+(spent)+(lost
> > wages) the
> > amount of money one would usually spend if one was at home.
>
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