[pct-l] Hiking and the real world

[David Thibault]

Sasha, you ask a really hard question.  I believe it is the extremely rare
individual whom can combine regular Long distance hiking and a profession.
At least I haven't found anyone willing to pay me to hike yet.  Generally
most folks on the trail are taking some time off from things like a
profession or are just out of school and haven't started one yet.

Of course there is that group commonly referred to as "hiker trash" that
hike year in year out by generally taking short term work in the off season.

I have met a couple of hikers that were able to combine contract type work
with hiking but you have to be in a field that supports that.  One guy I met
was a nurse and did contract nursing when he wasn't hiking.  The other
worked in Antarctica for 6-12 months a year and then hiked when not there.
These guys seemed to have a career and were able to do regular long distance
hikes.  I've also met one or two guys in construction but most were out
during slow work times anyway.

Day-Late






> Hi,
> I'm a college student who, in the past few years, has gotten very
> interested
> in long distance backpacking. I've been on the list for a while and have
> heard from a lot of very experienced backpackers. Reading their posts, I
> was
> wondering, how you have implemented the backpacking world into "real life".
> Is it more common for people to take the Yogi path and sort of haphazardly
> get into backpacking while maintaining an unrelated job back at home or do
> most take the Ned path and get into backpacking by falling in love with it
> through their job? Working for my school's outdoor organization, I've
> guided
> a number of backpacking trips. As man of our school's guides graduate
> though, they move on to careers in different areas. How can long distance
> backpacking be sustainable as a career path? What ways do people mix their
> passion with profession?
>
> --
>