Rolling this around my headspace

imported
#1

Having lived around the AT for my whole life, I have had the great opportunity of meeting, spending time with and helping many thruhikers. I guess you could say that it has been a highlight of my summers.
I have met a huge aray of people from many different backgrounds. As you all know I dont think any 2 thruhikers are alike.
I have heard many different reasons as to why someone would choose to hike from georgia to maine and vice versa. All of them made sense to me.
Lately I have been feeling like maybe MAYBE I want to be a thruhiker (or at least have a go at it.) Im just feeling like out of sorts. LIke Im not fullfilling my capicity doing what it is that Im doing… like I need to just walk away from my life. Im NOT extrememly unhappy or anything like that. I just feel stagnant. LIke I should accomplish something… I keep reading journals and talking with thruhikers that Ive kept in touch with over the years… they all say either you need to open a hostel or be a hiker. Dunno. maybe. LIke I said. I guess the point of this entry is to find out what made people who have completed thurhikes get to the point in their life where they made the choice to jump on a trail and walk for six months… and did it really change you and your outlook on the world… any input would be much appreciated.

SISTA OF THE EXCELLENT BREEZE

#2

folks head out to the trail for lots of different reasons…a desire for a “spark” of adventure when one begins to feel “out of sorts” or “stagnant” is sometimes the nudge that pushes hikers on out there…but real MEANING is never found by what we DO…it’s more about who we ARE…the AT is a heck-of-a-place to find out more about THAT,though!..i would encourage ANYONE to hike the trail…hikin’ the trail definitely changed the way i look at “time” and what’s REALLY important…the experience also made me realize it’s okay to be “small”(or SLOW!)…DO IT!..it was one of the greatest blessings of my life

maw-ee

#3

don’t hike the Trail as if a thru-hike is going to give you any answers. you’ll be asking yourself the same ones when you get done. the accomplishment part is great, i’m very proud of my thru, but at least now that i’ve finished, there’s a big ‘now what?’ remaining. a thru-hike is an escape, certainly, but it’s a temporary one.

ok, so maybe that’s a bit on the negative side, i guess. i do have a stronger self-confidence and now i use my thru-hike as a metaphor for a lot of things that i currently do. i’m definitely glad i did it and i loved the adventure. but i also used the Trail mainly as an escape and only found that what it was i was running from only caught back up to me once i got back.

0101

#4

I didn’t set out looking for answers, but rather a six month vacation where I would meet cool folk and have a blast in the woods without a care in the world. My life wasn’t particularly stagnant, but the idea of not working for half a year really appealed to me. Now that I’m done, all I want to do is take more six month vacations and hang out with cool folk in the wood.

slick b

#5

0101 answer about finding the same things or problems waiting for him at home brings to mind why some folks redo the trail or new ones year in and year out. For some folks when your “out there” where ever it may be you can forget about home woes…I am taking a few triple crowners to the Grand Canyon in March, Mothers Natures Son and Tin Cup, so for a week they can leave the misses at home and enjoy a new adventure…

meadow ed

#6

Where else can you watch the sunset while listening to Tecumseh sing Desperado with Slick B? Not in any burbs, that’s for sure.

Grinds

#7

0101: I don’t think anything you said was negative. I understand that hiking the trail is not gonna lead me to some mystical answer to all lifes problems. Maybe Im looking to accomplish something way bigger then me. Maybe Im looking to escape. Better then on some wacky trail then in the bottom of a bottle?? dunno. Just a thought see? Thanks for all your input folks.

SISTA OF THE EXCELLENT BREEZE

#8

thanks Sista. and boy, what an awesome escape the Trail is, I wish you the best. i remember times on mountaintops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, thinking about just how far I had yet to go, but how incredibly far I had come, it gave me shivers at just how awesome a trip it really was and what i was accomplishing. heck, i’m still smiling about it two years later.

0101

#9

Just use a pee bottle and you’ll be alright.

Ganj

#10

what??? :tongue

sista of the excellent breeze

#11

All of you are correct in your own right. For me my thru hike was about accomplishing something that I had wanted to do since I was 11 years old. One day I had a serious awakening and realized that I would always regret not giving it a shot. So for me I did answer a question that had a grip on me. If I had not gone out and tried there would have been a void in my life forever. I also think that your AT thru hike will answers questions that you haven’t even come up with yet.

Sven

#12

you’ll fit right in my livers still recovering!:cheers

feral