[pct-l] Exitting

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Dec 24, 2010, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> My thoughts exactly! Glad to know I am not the only "crazy one"  
> willing to leave
> an amazing job that I love with no plans for what to do when I have  
> completed my
> journey. I have promised myself that?next year is about NO WORRIES  
> though and I
> will figure out my new work path once I am done following the PCT  
> path that
> calls to me right now.
>
> Happy Hiking!!??
> ?Lisa

That's basically what I did: left a good job without plans for what  
to do next. I hoped to figure that out on the trail.

The trail is so full of amazing things happening every second of the  
day (hard to believe, but it is true) that I never had time to think  
about what to do next. The answer never came.

Anyway, long story short, I thought I was done with the field I was  
in, but I found myself at home after the trail doing that same kind  
of work in my free time. So I went back in to the same field working  
for a different employer. Because the economy fell apart between when  
I left my job and now, it's not as well paid, has no benefits and is  
part-time. I still think the hike was worth it, though.

The thing is, when you return from the trail, there's a lot about  
modern life that seems ridiculous and anything you thought was hard  
to tolerate before could potentially be even harder to tolerate.  
Sitting all day and not seeing the sun is one thing I find hard to  
tolerate.