So February 1st I'm informing my employers that my last day will be the last of the month. The question is, do I tell them that I'm leaving to Thru-Hike the AT or make up some other scenario? I don't want to sound like a crazy or irresponsible (knowing them they'd probably think so), but I also don't know if I'd feel comfortable saying anything else because, well, I'm not leaving to do anything else.

I'm not planning to return to my position (in fact I can't due to a planned relocation the end of this year), but I would like to use my current employers as a reference for future jobs.

What is everyone else doing job-wise?