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. .