Hike alone? or with a partner?

[Kalell]

Just an FYI on some financial considerations / impacts - I believe that once you take off you will not be considered full-time at your college anymore for either student loans or tax purposes (one full-time semester per year will qualify you for IRS purposes). Any Stafford loans will have to start being repaid after 6 months, and if applicable, your parents will not be able to list you for tax purposes as a dependent student. You can get a deferment on the Staffords when you re-enroll and go back, but when you graduate you have to start paying immediately (because the six-months grace period has already been applied).

When I was in college I spent a semester in Florence, wrote a paper on how the Medici's impacted the Renaissance - then traveled around Europe by rail. Find a professor that will give you credits while hiking the AT. Even if you are part-time it's better than not being in school at all.

[Sensei]

When I was in college I spent a semester in Florence, wrote a paper on how the Medici's impacted the Renaissance - then traveled around Europe by rail. Find a professor that will give you credits while hiking the AT. Even if you are part-time it's better than not being in school at all.

I've been trying to think up a way to get grant money for a "research" trip to hike the AT, but everything I've come up with so far seems like a stretch. If only I were an anthropologist...

[NCcummins]

I tried talking to the dean of the business program here at ETSU. He was all for taking the time off to hike the trail, and wished me the best of luck. I asked him about connecting the trail to school, and as far as a business major goes, there is no way to do it. I ride on the track with a geology professor, he said if only that was my major, he would be more then willing to help me out!