Have you ever found yourself scrolling through your favorite backpacker’s Instagram And going from Admiring their adventures Into slowly Wondering how on earth they even afford this? Or maybe even do they even work? Or even worse. Must be nice to take six Months off work whenever you feel like It. Maybe, you’ve even found yourself on my page thinking those things.
And I don’t blame you because I used to do the same thing. And if I’m being totally honest, I still sometimes fall into it. It is a less frequent occurrence for me these days, though, because I’ve started to kind of figure things out for myself, and I plan to share them with you as well. I also plan to share how I personally afford to take six months off work for things like hiking and long backpacking trips and hopefully shed a little bit of light on how other people might as well.
Spoiler.
I unfortunately do not have a trust fund, although I am definitely privileged in other ways.
I think in most cases, the never ending envy-inducing exotic travel feed is partly a facade.
Most influencers and creators or whoever you follow probably aren’t actually traveling all the time. More likely that they are doing what we refer to in the creative industry as batching content. I have a background in advertising and this basically means that you shoot a bunch of content at once maybe on your one week trip and then you post it for one or two months.
So that you have all of those photos to keep posting. But it doesn’t mean that you’ve been in Bali or whatever for two straight months. Also, these beautiful feeds are kind of exactly what social media is designed for anyway, right? It’s important to keep things real, but at the same time, I’m not really going to Instagram to see people’s office setups or to check on the ham sandwich they had for lunch that day.
And that’s also not the kind of content that the creators of social media are pushing out for you to see.
I’ve spent enough time on social media at this point to realize that most feeds are a highlight reel. And not exactly a realistic or healthy measuring stick for me to compare my own day to day life to. Of course, there are people who have figured out how to make money on social media and traveling and truly are traveling all the time. But I think that’s a pretty small minority. And it’s not to say that that doesn’t take a lot of work in and of Itself.
There is a subset of people, especially in the thru-hiking world who seem like they’re hiking all the time because they are! In my personal experience, From the people I’ve talked to, that subset breaks down into three categories. First is people that work seasonally and save a ton of money in the off season so that they can hike every summer.
But keep in mind, they probably aren’t saving a ton for things like retirement. It’s sort of a save in the winter hike in the summer kind of cycle.
The second group is people who have already. retired and can’t afford to go and hike all the time. And the third group is people who are probably in a lot of debt, and they’re okay with that for now.
Obviously making some assumptions here. But a lot of the assumptions are based on real conversations I’ve had with thru-hikers and just kind of Being part of the community for going on four years now.
So where does that leave us if we don’t fit into the aforementioned categories? We’re not yet making money off traveling maybe one day, hopefully. Not working seasonally or not able to make enough money in the off season to feel like we can hike comfortably every year or we also want to save for retirement while we’re saving for thru-hikes. We want to through hike a few times before we retire, we don’t necessarily want to wait until After we’ve retired to comfortably thru-hike. Is that even possible?
I think it is. And I personally have been Able to make it work so far, but not without sacrifice. I also want to acknowledge that while I firmly believe most people can make a thru-hike work financially if it’s a priority for them, The sacrifices you might have to make might look very different from The ones that I have to make.
They might be much more significant and might be more than what you’re willing to make in order to make a through hike happen. And that’s okay.
I’m not here to convince you to Ship your dog away for six Months and sell your house just so you can walk from Georgia To Maine. But if that’s what you want to do, I’m happy to share my experiences so that you may be able to extrapolate them and apply them to your own life. I personally have a few things working in my favor that I want to make clear because I think that context is important when we are talking about life changing financial decisions, I don’t want anyone to compare their journey to mine without having a clear full picture. First, I am lucky enough to not have any student loan debt. I was able to get a full academic scholarship to college.
My parents helped me out with room and board and then I also worked during school to cover the rest of my expenses. Second, I don’t have any other forms of debt either.
I have been blessed with good health, continuous employment, and kind of a side hobby of financial independence. I have also put off buying a new car or a house. Knowing that through Hiking is a priority.
For me. Third, and this is a big one, I don’t have any pets or kids. Not to imply that these are all the same thing, but they both certainly have huge implications When you’re planning for something Like a six month thru hike, both financially and practically. There are plenty of people who have debt, houses, pets, kids and still make thru- Hiking happen.
I just am not the person.
To come to if you want advice for that situation. Since roughly 2018, I have essentially designed my life around through hiking. I decided I wanted to hike the PCT and basically every decision I’ve made since then has made it financially and logistically easier for me to be able to go on another through hike. It might not be the most ideal way to set up your life in general but for me it’s worked really well.
So that I was able to not only hike the PCT in 2019, but also the VDT in 2022.
A few ways that designing my life around thru hiking has manifested is one lining up my leases with thru hiking seasons. Or at the very least making sure that I can have subleasers if I need to. Second, I have not gotten a dog even though I really want one because I know that I won’t really have a way to take care of the dog if I go on a thru hike.
Third, I have not bought a new car even though I really could use one. I drive a 2010 with 226,000 miles on it.
And I live in a mountain town and it doesn’t have Four wheel drive. That actually really needs to change soon and has become more of a priority. But it’s something that I’ve put off for a long time, knowing I don’t want a car payment while I’m on a hike. When it comes to consumption I’m pretty Conscious of not consuming more items That I’ll eventually have to pack up and move.
I also don’t want to accumulate so much that I have to rent a storage unit.
Which I would then have to pay for. While I’m on trail. Right Now, when I move, all my stuff fits in my four door hatchback car and so it’s really easy for me to pack it all up, drive it home. And luckily my parents are kind enough to let me store it in my childhood bedroom.
Another thing to consider is I’ve had some amazing.
Friends who have Offered to keep some. Of my stuff as well, and I’ve definitely taken them up on that other decision that I’ve made that might have been. Different if I weren’t making it With thru- Hiking in mind is choosing a better paying job over maybe one that I have more passion for? For me, opting for a steady job with better pay and a good work life balance is definitley my priority over, say, working in an industry that I’m very passionate about, at least for now. Another habit that I’ve picked up with thru-hiking in mind is tracking all of my expenses and income.
This really became a hobby for me in 2020 when the pandemic hit for some reason, I dove headfirst into Financial independence and it was A really great way for me To track how Close or far I was for my thru-hiking Hiking goal. It was also really rewarding to see my progress, which helped me stay motivated, stay the course and keep. Saving for my thru-hike.
Hike. Another thing that I started to do a lot when saving.
For thru hikes was starting to opt for free Activities instead of paid ones in as many instances as I could or as it made sense. For example, when friends wanted to meet up instead of going to lunch, I would ask if they wanted to go on a walk and grab a coffee instead of going on expensive, all inclusive vacations. I often just. Camp or drive somewhere. I don’t do it all the time, but shifting from paid activities.
To free or cheaper. Activities can make a difference, even if you only do it like half the time. Another thing that I do that is a little different than some of the through hiking community is.
I personally. Haven’t been able to through hike back-to-back.
Not that it can’t be done. It’s just for. Me. Personally, I also really want to. Be saving for retirement.
And some of my bigger financial goals. So for me, it doesn’t really make sense to only. Work for six months before going on another through hike. Unfortunately, I worked full time for two years before.
The BCT.
And for another two and a half years before the. CDC agreed to this EDT, I was also.
Working at jobs that required a little bit more of a. Commitment. They weren’t seasonal.
It was expected that you stayed at them. For at least a year. I work in advertising. And. I started freelancing.
To eliminate that problem. But prior to now. I didn’t feel I had. Enough experience to only work at a job for like a year and be. Okay to move on to something else.
Sitting at a job for about two years has allowed me to do several things, including. Save through hikes. Gaming experience I needed in my industry. And also I’m in an.
Industry.
Where that is kind. Of standard. It’s really not that weird to move jobs every two years.
And it’s kind of the best way to get a. Pay increase.
I know certain industries. That’s definitely not the case and it would definitely be frowned upon to move that much. Or might not. Even be possible. But for my job, it works for me in a.
Lot of ways. Prioritizing through hiking can mean. Putting a lot of other areas. Of your life on hold. It’s not something that I take lightly, but it’s something that I am happy to do right now, in addition to sort of designing my life around through hiking.
Another thing that I’ve done that has allowed me to go on both of my career highs is living below my means. When I’m not through hiking. A huge part of saving for.
Anything is obviously living below. Your means through.
Hiking is no exception. Having the two-year gap between three hikes does mean I can.
Afford to spend a little bit. More in between, but I still have to obviously save more than I make. Some ways that I have opted to live below my means include renting.
A cheaper apartment. Having roommates. After the PDT, I lived in literally the cheapest studio I could find in Denver. Another thing I did to save money was walking places instead of driving bonus points because it actually helps you stay in shape. I walked to work a lot.
In 2020 and 2021. Very obvious, but. Looking more and eating. Out less has also allowed me to save a lot of money. There is also a.
Year where I gave up shopping for. New things entirely and only allowed myself to drive to is kind of a fun challenge and it’s also good for the environment, which is nice to try to really minimize my subscriptions.
So there are subscriptions that are totally worth the investment. Like the ones that I had for my hot yoga studio in Denver. But there are.
Others that just kind of add up sneakily, and you don’t realize how much of a suck they can. Be on. Your finances sort of touched on this, but there are a lot of resources in the financial independence community that have really helped.
Me figure out. How to better save money, practically speaking, and also how to better save money from a motivational standpoint.
Overall, I know that keeping my budget in check is essential if I want to. Continue to through hike. Something that also helps me is thinking. Of purchases. In context of.
Trail. Expenses. So, for example. A $50 meal out could be the equivalent of a cheap night in a hotel. And for me, that.
Night in the hotel is always going to win. Another thing. That I’ve worked hard at. Since deciding that I want to through hike, is increasing my income. Living below my means can only go so far, and increasing my income is an essential part of the equation when it comes to being able to save.
For a long period of time off work like a through hike. And my first. Job out of college, I was making about $45,000 a year and honestly. Barely scraping by. Before.
I was also really not managing my money well, but I knew that I couldn’t live. On that forever. When I got. Serious about wanting to hike the PCT. I knew.
I needed to start making more. Money. I successfully campaigned for a raise a few months before I left that job and started putting the extra income toward my PCT fund as I picked up as I did during that time, teaching at a portfolio school.
And all of that money went directly to my real savings as well. When I came back from the PCT, switching jobs actually allowed me to ask for about $10,000.
More per year to get me up to market rate. I also worked for and received two. Raises during my time in my next job after the. In addition to my full time. Salary, I also worked part time for a podcast.
Some of you may be. Familiar with backpacker radio. And I had other freelance gigs on the side as well. In order to save more for whatever, the next through hike. Would be.
At the time I didn’t necessarily know what all of that combined though, allowed me to save for the CD and 2022. Now I’m freelancing and working to increase my client load so. That I can save for whatever thru hike. Happens to be next. Another important financial.
Aspect of being able to. Afford a through hike is reducing your expenses for a while.
You’re actually. Going to be. On trail serving.
Life expenses that you don’t even think about when you’re saving. For a through hike. But the fact that they’re. Ongoing means that you have. To budget for them or try to.
Eliminate them if you can. Things you can do is cancel any monthly subscriptions that you won’t be using while you’re on trial. So even. If you are going to want. Them when you get back, you can cancel them for.
The time while you’re hiking.
Another thing to think about is. Downgrading your car insurance. When I left for the PCT, I. Know in Georgia.
Something about the laws there. It didn’t make sense to. Eliminate my car insurance. Completely. That’s something you might want to look.
Into for your state. I think a lapse in insurance can actually be more expensive sometimes, but you can. Downgrade your car insurance. And have it said that essentially. You’re not driving your car, but in case anything was to happen.
To it while it’s still sitting. You’re still insured for that. And also, you wouldn’t have that lapse in insurance. Another thing you can always do is if you still have months of rent that you’ll be. Responsible for while you’re on the trail.
Is getting a sublease. There or potentially buying out your lease early, if that would be cheaper. Than paying the additional months of rent. You own a house you can rent out your house while you’re gone. I think you can even rent.
Out your car. I don’t. Know if I would be comfortable with that, but that’s something that you can.
Consider. It might be worth trying to.
Pay off things like. Car loans early before you go. On a hike so that you’re not having that ongoing. Payment while you’re on. Trail and also looking into things.
Like cheaper. Cell phone services, etc. I hope this video. Offered a little.
Bit of insight into how. I afford a thru. Hike and helps you the next time. You’re doomscrolling and wondering. How the heck anyone.
Affords to live. Like that. Maybe it’ll even inspire you to make a plan to start. Saving for your next thru hike. Please leave any questions that you have for me in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer and consider subscribing.
If you enjoyed this video and that way you won’t miss any of me.
Future through hiking. Videos. Thanks so much and happy hiking.
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