Re: [pct-l] leaving soon, mailing white gas, list suggestion

[Jim Serio <jim@rollercoaster.com>]

> Hi, I was wondering, how can some people take off, and just do the
> trail? What do you do for a living? Wow, I wish I could just take off
> and do the whole trail like that. Money is the key thing here, or is
> everyone just "indecently Wealthy"?

One word: SAVE!

I've been planning my trip since 95, but was still
attending school and really didn't have the funds. I
could have bummed the money off family but I wanted
the freedom to go whenever I wanted with no strings,
so as soon as I got my job last August, I began saving.
I'll have a good 15K saved up (just for this trip)
come Mar 2000. I know I wont need more than half
of this amount, but for those unfortunate enough
to not have a job on the return home, I figure I'll
need a few thousand to live on while job hunting (somethign
you shoudl think of as well, as most employers
probably wouldn't take you back after a 6 month 
Hiatus... unless you're a long term employee).

You don't have to be wealthy at all. As long as you
can put away a few hundred a paycheck, and don't touch
it, you'll be there in no time. Just trim down on
your luxuries... no upgrading the PC, cut down on weekly
entertainment, bring a lunch to work instead of eating
out. it adds up. I saved $60/week($3120 or HALF the
trip cost!) doing this.

Good luck!

Jim
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