[pct-l] Wife Buy-In and Contracting Biz Prep For Thru Hike

[Jennifer Zimmerman]

My husband and I are planning a 2013 thru-hike.  FWIW (and this is
probably very different from your situation) he's a software contractor
that works through his own company, of which he is the only employee.  For
him to take time off it's mostly just a matter of negotiating a timely end
to his current contract and not taking on another.  I'm not super
knowledgeable about all the logistics behind running the company but I do
know that he handles his payroll/retirement stuff and quarterly taxes
online, which ought to make it accessible from enough points on the trail.

Convincing a reluctant spouse might be tricky, especially since you're the
only one who knows the dynamics of your relationship and we can only speak
from our own experiences.  The idea of thru-hiking for 5-6 months is a lot
to swallow right off the bat. She might feel put out because her spouse is
suddenly talking about going on a months-long vacation, leaving her to hold
down the fort and take care of a 10-year-old.  Again, I don't know your
relationship so I could be completely off-base here.  You should talk to
her about it and find out exactly why she's reluctant for you to go.
Without knowing more, my suggestion would be to involve her in your
preliminary planning - help her get to know the trail and the culture
around it.  See if she might be interested in reading some trail journals
or following the PCT-L to get a sense of what it's all about.  If she's
willing to be your support person while you're out there that might help it
to feel more like "our hike" and less like "your hike" since you will be
hammering out details together.  The simple fact that you're thinking about
this 4 years in advance means that the idea will have a long time to become
more "normal."

We both love the outdoors and camping but my husband was still taken aback
when I first suggested thru-hiking -partly because we had no prior
backpacking experience.  As we worked together over a few years to do our
research, assemble our gear, and start getting trips under our belt,
though, he came around to the idea.  Sometimes it just takes time to get
used to it.

Good luck!


On Thu, Oct 4, 2012 at 12:31 PM, Jesse Baldwin <jessembaldwin at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Basically, I have a goal of thru-hiking the PCT and it's time to put some
> meat to it by setting a date. I have chosen 2016 and I have some things to
> get in order by that time. I own an electrical contracting business, a
> home, I'm married to a "non-backpacker" wife and I have two sons. My oldest
> is 17 and almost out of the house (I hope) and the youngest is 6. The
> youngest will be turning 10 in May of 2016 (hopefully on the trail).
> My long-winded-point IS, I did a "Google" search re: wife permission PCT,
> etc since there is some resistance and mostly incredulity from the spouse.
> (Not much in the way of search results came up)
> I announced the date to her last week, and while watching the Nat Geo PCT
> doc (little lame, I know) I told her only 300 hundred or so people tried it
> in a year. She asked "How many people are in the US?" and I responded, "I
> don't know, around 300 million maybe." She said I should easily be able to
> figure out my odds for going by using the two figures...
>
> My question is: has anyone else had similar experience with a less than
> ecstatic partner in fostering buy-in and successfully planning and carrying
> out a thru-hike?
> And/ Or
> Does anyone have experience with prepping a contracting (or other small
> biz) for being away for up to 6 months on a thru-hike?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Jesse Baldwin
> Owner
> Baldwin Industrial Group
> CA C-10 License #925362
> www.BaldwinIndustrialGroup.com <http://www.baldwinindustrialgroup.com/>
> www.MammothLakesContractors.com <http://www.mammothlakescontractors.com/>
> Ph. (760) 914-2455
> 53 South Landing Road
> Crowley Lake, CA 93546
>
> Thank you for choosing Baldwin Industrial Group!
> _______________________________________________
>