[at-l] Longing

[nealb@midlandstech.com (William Neal)]

This thread brought to mind when I hit the trail in '92.  People asked me
"why" and "how can you".  Since I did not have a family, I was spared a lot
of the questions.  But people kept asking -- partly because I was friends,
neighbors, and kin with most of the county -- no hillbilly or poor white
Southern trash jokes. ;-)  

Usually I gave some kind of an answer like -- "Mom and Dad are dead and I
need to get my head clear."  "Mom and Dad wanted me to go back to college,
and the hike will help me make up my mind on what I want to do."  "I've got
to lose...."  Then one day, this fellow kept bugging me.  So I told him that
I had to do it before I went "POSTAL!!!".  And I said it in rather a loud
voice (I had a Migraine coming on) and it was in my favorite diner.  Few
people bothered me after that. :-)

I'm still not sure why I went or why I want to do it again.  And maybe
Again.  I've thought of half a dozen versions of a complete AT hike, and I
don't have a good reason.

Maybe hiking the AT is the American version of the Australian "walkabout".

William, The Turtle

-----Original Message-----
From: Orange Bug [mailto:orangebug74@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 6:08 AM
To: Jan Leitschuh
Cc: at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] Longing


Oh yes, there are lots of right and wrong answers on this one. This is 
a recurrent theme of how to deal with choices, relationships and the
selfishness inherent in hiking for long distances. Selfishness is not
necessarily a bad thing, as it can provide one the opportunity to learn
more about themself and consequently about how they interact with
others. 

One needs to evaluate if the choice for a long distance hike is simply
a binge, or is the path less traveled. Is it like the difficult choice
of disciples or an easy way for someone abandoning other
responsibilities? If only the choice was as clearly defined as that,
but I suspect for all of us it is quite faded into the gray regions.

Bill...

--- Jan Leitschuh <janl2@mindspring.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Clearly, there is no right or wrong answer here:
> 

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