[pct-l] Affording a thru-hike

[mgeis at yahoo.com (Matt Geis)]

I have to agree with Larry and Chuckie on how to make
a thru-hike happen.  While to an extent I agree with
Yogi and Billygoat about if you avoid new cars and
mortgages you can pull it off, my one exception with
that line of thinking is that it can easily be
interpreted to say "if you have a mortgage or a new
car, you should probably forget about it".

Not having either of those regular, heavy bills can
make planning a thru-hike a lot easier, I'll be the
first to admit.  And I agree with Yogi that doing
distance hiking every summer would require significant
non-hiking lifestyle compromises in favor of the
benefits of enjoying a hiking lifestyle.

However, a mortgage does not preclude a thru-hike. 
Ask around and you'll find that a lot of people out
there on the trail have similar bills and expenses --
not everyone is a vagabond off the trail as well as
on.  What precludes a thru-hike is poor planning (not
saving ahead where you can, or not researching how to
find affordable health insurance for the trip), or to
echo Larry's point, not planning your trip at all.

I had thought about a thru-hike for years, and for a
long time "knew" it was simply not possible because I
wasn't a student anymore with months of vacation (not
that I ever took months of vacation, I usually
worked).  It was some reason or another, until I
started wondering if there wasn't a way I could just
take time off of work, or even more radically, change
jobs.

I started reading books about the PCT, and it was
Karen Berger's book that sealed the deal.  I'm doing
it, I told myself after seeing the pictures of the
trail (the PCT itself is present in most of their
pictures).  When I'm going, I'll figure that out
later.

Someday, someday, someday....

Then in May of 2001, I was laid off from my job.  Why
the hell wasn't I on the trail??  This would have been
the perfect year!!

I promised myself not to let a similar opportunity
pass me by, and started actively planning for a 2002
hike.  I set the condition that if I could find work
in a bad economy until April, I'd do the trip.  It was
a scramble, but with such a goal and prize in front of
me, it was easier than I thought it would be.

Like Chuckie, not a day goes by that I don't think of
some part of the trail, some night I spent camping
out, some moment shared, or of some friend met along
the way.

So, listen to Larry, to Chuckie, and to Yogi and
Billygoat (if you have a mortgage or a new car, maybe
don't take their words literally, but find other areas
of your life in which to economize), and it can
happen.  A lot of people jealously comment to
thru-hikers "boy, I wish I could take five months of
vacation to hike" without realizing that those months
came as the direct result of good planning, and tight
focus on a goal.

Iron Chef


		
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