[pct-l] The trail personality (was ADZ thoughts)

[Brian McLaughlin]

----- 2 Original Messages (among others) -----

> ... He said he was not very social,
> a bit to himself.  Yet, he and I had the most delightful chat right there
in
> the middle of nowhere after a 10 second introduction.
------------------
> Another is that hikers, by-an-large, are type A, gregarious, outgoing and
> social individuals.


I think the trail draws all types, for many reasons.
After all, the trail is just... a place on earth. It doesn't
require a person to approach it in one spirit and only
one. People bring who they are to what they do and
both the extroverts and introverts can enjoy aspects
of hiking for different reasons, in their own styles.

I would consider myself a classic introvert. This does not
mean I do not enjoy people or that I have poor social
skills. In some ways I have better social skills than my
extroverted wife. What it does mean is that I feel refreshed
and recharged after a period of time alone, while if I'm
among people, however enjoyable it may be, it takes energy
and eventually tires me out. I seek out solitude in order
to deliberate on what happened in the social setting and
come to terms with it more completely.

I am precisely the type of hiker who would deliberately avoid
clumping with other hikers, would seek a solo camp site
as often as possible, would be happy enough to chat with my
fellow hikers for a short time, but would break off the chat
after a bit to walk up the trail alone. An extroverted hiker
would be inclined to hook up with the other hikers and camp
next to them.

These different sorts of hikers sort themselves out on the
trail quite soon. And that is a good thing.