Working while on a thru-hike

[Andrew Ferk]

I've been planning to walk SOBO from July 4th to Thanksgiving, but today I had a crazy idea. I'm actually hoping it's not too crazy, but maybe some of you with experience can let me know.

I would like to talk with my current employer about hiring me for 30 full eight-hour days on my AT hike. This would take me through December on the AT, but the extra income should cover my entire trip. I would spread those thirty days over two to five day chunks of zero-days where I work from a laptop that I will bounce across towns with a decent Internet connection and a place to work.

Beyond convincing my current client to buy into this, how practical would it be to work while doing a thru-hike of the AT? If it helps, I work with web technologies, and I am capable of doing all of my work with a laptop and internet connection.

Thanks!

[Datto]

It's unlikely you'll be in the mindset to do work when you're in town. Plus, if you do attempt to do what you're describing, you'd likely eliminate much of the long-term benefit of a thru-hike (such as realizing peace).


Datto

[Datto]

Plus, southbounding is a bit more difficult than northbounding (you hit the most difficult terrain on the AT right out of the gate if you're a southbounder).

I can't imagine having done what you're describing when I thru-hiked the AT -- and I was a northbounder.


Datto

[fiddlehead]

Anything is possible.
But it won't be easy.
I know if and when I do another thru hike, I'll be working while doing it, but my work consists of answering 5 to 10 emails a day and taking a phone call or 3 every day. (something I can do while walking) A bit different from taking a day off every 4 or 5 just to work steadily.

[garlic08]

I bet some hikers out there take those kind of zero days and do absolutely nothing with them.

Many fit and motivated hikers finish the AT in fewer than 120 hiking days. If you can do this, you'll have 30 or more zero days in your time frame.

A buddy of mine did this last year to a lesser extent. He just had to finalize payroll and invoicing stuff a couple of times a month. It worked out for him.

Good luck in your plan--sounds workable.

[Rock Lobster]

I took a master's course in school law while on the trail last summer. As long as your time is flexible and you're committed to it, it's possible. You may have to sacrifice some fun times with other hikers, or lose track of people who continue down the trail while you work.

[prain4u]

It is theoretically possible to do this--from a technical and logistics point of view. However, that is A LOT of zero days--and you would have to maintain a pretty good pace (but not an exhausting pace) during your hike in order to complete the thru hike AND take 30 zeros. In short, there would not be a lot of time to "stop and smell the roses".

For me, the biggest problem would be the "blending" of the two worlds (work world and trail world). While such a "blending" seems fairly simple when sitting behind a computer screen and reviewing WhiteBlaze posts---in reality it is much more difficult once you are out on the trail. When you get to a trail town or hostel (and have laundry to do, food to buy, some rest that you want to obtain, and friends that you want to spend time with) it will be very difficult to discipline yourself enough to do a full day of work on the laptop. Doing this for just one day would be challenging enough for many people. Doing this for 30 zero days would be close to impossible for most people).

I think the work component would suffer and the trail experience would also be greatly diminished. (A "lose-lose" scenario--as opposed to a "win-win").

Even if working for 30 days (via computer) was the ONLY way that I could do a thru hike--I personally think that I would pass on the blended thru hike experience.

[prain4u]

One more point....

Many people have done SOME work from the trail while on their thru hike. Many people have taken a school class and thru hiked. Doing "some" work or "some" school while on the trail seems very realistic. For me, it is the "30 full eight-hour days" which seems to be excessive and problematic.

It is one thing to "finalize payroll and invoicing stuff a couple of times a month" or "answering 5 to 10 emails a day and taking a phone call or 3 every day". It is a very different thing to complete "30 full eight-hour days".

[Malto]

Working and hiking may work for some but it would eliminate one of the biggest attractions of a thru hike, moving from the civilized to the natural world. Having to keep going back to the civilized world would mean, for me, the inability to really feel part of nature. It would become a long section hike.

[FarmerChef]

First off, let me just say that I have not thrued. (sp?). I've just done big sections at a time. During that time I have checked email every day that I had reception and even made/taken the occasional call. It was doable but not pleasant for me as my mind kept getting jarred out of the peace of my surroundings to the stress of my work life back home. That's not what I, personally, went out to the woods to find.

Your scenario may be different. Is it possible? Yes. But I think in trying to do it, you would greatly miss out on much of what the trail had to offer. If this is optional and not necessary, why not whittle that time down by a lot or eliminate it completely. Just focus on the trail, the people, the towns and enjoy it without worrying about logging hours. Something tells me that within a week or two of being on the trail, you'll find it almost impossible to enjoyably (key word) do what you're talking about. My two cents.

[Bobby]

First off, let me just say that I have not thrued. (sp?). I've just done big sections at a time. During that time I have checked email every day that I had reception and even made/taken the occasional call. It was doable but not pleasant for me as my mind kept getting jarred out of the peace of my surroundings to the stress of my work life back home. That's not what I, personally, went out to the woods to find.

Your scenario may be different. Is it possible? Yes. But I think in trying to do it, you would greatly miss out on much of what the trail had to offer. If this is optional and not necessary, why not whittle that time down by a lot or eliminate it completely. Just focus on the trail, the people, the towns and enjoy it without worrying about logging hours. Something tells me that within a week or two of being on the trail, you'll find it almost impossible to enjoyably (key word) do what you're talking about. My two cents.

I took 30 zero days on my thru hike which lasted about 6 months. The time component probably is what you make it in terms of hiking days and zero days. Anything is possible, but can you really sit down and work for 8 hours? That to me would be the hardest part.

[Dogwood]

Certainly doable but it will make some things feel choppy! Doing it for no more than 3 days at a time max would be the way I would plan for it. But, do you have to work which is WHY you are asking the question? INDEED, as others have noted, and IMO too, one of the chief reasons folks cite as their reason(s) for embarking on a thru-hike is to decompress and get away from big time civilization constantly in their faces.

[Meriadoc]

I met a thru hiker in Gorham who, to the surprise of the rest of us, pulled a laptop out of his backpack to perform upkeep on his website. It worked well for him: paid his bills and didn't take a lot of time.

[putts]

I think if you really enjoy what you are doing for work then it sounds doable, and may even be a great idea. If this is one of those jobs that you plan to have only until you can find one you like, then I think it would be extremely difficult to pull off, even if it pays well.

[kayak karl]

i sometimes take 3 day hikes while work is still going on. its better then working, but i don't enjoy it as much as just being off. last trip i had to order windows from Pinnacle Peak. kind of a pain and i'm only talking 3 days, not a thru.

[Dogwood]

I met a thru hiker in Gorham who, to the surprise of the rest of us, pulled a laptop out of his backpack to perform upkeep on his website. It worked well for him: paid his bills and didn't take a lot of time.

It's not unusual for me to witness that kind of stuff(people on a laptop for a couple of hrs every couple of days or once a wk to update a journal or to blog or manage stock trades or some biz) but getting off regularly for 2 - 5 days on a 2200 mile continuous thru-hike is going to make some things choppy as in start then stop start again then stop again start again then stop again......etc This scenario can have an effect on the hike as well as the work in ways that not everyone will appreciate in hindsight. .

[stranger]

Not hiking related but very similar in alot of ways...

A guy I tour with does very similar work, he can do his work from anywhere in the world, at any time of day (mostly) and all he needs is a laptop and internet connection. Yes it's challenging, but it can be done. People might say that touring is not as physically or mentally demanding as hiking, and perhaps not, but it's very, very close.

For example, on our last tour...day 1 we drove from NJ to Pittsburgh, about 7 hours drive, then we load in around 8pm, he's sitting in the corner on his laptop doing his work, 3 hours later we play, we roll out around 3am and decide to drive straight through to Lexington, we arrive into town at 9am, sleep for a few hours, I come down around 3 pm and he's sitting there on his laptop working in the hotel lobby. Repeat, repeat...

With hiking, it's pretty easy in my opinion to hike around 20 miles a day if you are fit and an experienced long distance hiker. I think it's quite achievable to hike 5 days a week and still average 100 miles/week...again, this is my opinion based on my experiences...it may not work for you.

I think bouncing the laptop might be tricky, but if you are holed up at a motel that should be easier.

As for me, I wouldn't want to do it, just like I'm glad I don't have to do work on tour...but you gotta do what you gotta do. And on taking zeros, Garlic is right, I once took 17 zeros on a 50 day hike, doing nothing, so productive zeros make more sense IMO!

[jesse]

You'll be alone. Won't be able to fall in with regular hiking partners.

[Datto]

I traded stocks during my AT thru-hike. Sitting in a booth at Quincy's in Damascus, Excellent Good Half Moon told me how foolish that approach was (EGHM was one of the most well-liked thru-hikers on the Trail -- wisdom beyond his years from my perspective). He'd worked for one of the big trading houses before starting his AT thru-hike and thought I was, well, crazy for doing trading on the Trail.

He was right of course.

One time I found myself racing to the next town cranking out miles in order to handle the next series of stock trades -- I stopped in the middle of the Trail one day and told myself I really need to stop this. So I did. I'm told quite frequently these days that's called, "growing a brain".

It wasn't until Millinocket, Maine did I trade again.

The profit from the trades covered all the costs of my AT thru-hike and then some but I wouldn't recommend anyone doing what I had done to trade stocks while I was thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

I look back on that now and think, "What in the world was I thinking??!"

I'm certainly so glad I'd eventually stopped that kind of back-life related nonsense someplace in Virginia.

The only other idea I'd had on the the Trail that was worse than stock trading while I was thru-hiking was that Barry White impersonation I'd performed at the Secret Shack. Blister Sister set me straight on my talent and innate abilities.


Datto

[prain4u]

The key here is the phrase: "(working) 30 full eight-hour days".

From a simple logistical perspective, doing this successfully would be challenging (but by no means "impossible").

From a "practical" perspective--doing this would be VERY inconvenient. (Basically, it would be a PITA--"Pain In the Assets" --to do this). You would have to retrieve your bounce box in each "work town". You need to keep the computer dry and secure. You have to locate a good internet connection. When you are done working, you have to get the computer repacked and sent on to the next "work town". And, you have to do all of this around the U.S. Postal Service's reduced schedule. (Plus, you have to hike, set up camp, prepare meals, shower, do laundry, obtain resupply, and also cover over 2,100 miles while hiking).

From a "social" perspective, you would not be able to build much of a relationship with any other hikers--as you would constantly be falling into different groups of hikers every few days. Then, on your days in town you would be working and not spending much time with other hikers or enjoying the town.

From a purely "emotional" perspective, it would be hard to set the "trail life" aside every 1-2 weeks to work for one (or more) FULL EIGHT HOUR DAYS. (Datto hits the nail on the head).

I say "DON'T DO IT!"