The 30-Somethings

Surprisingly enough, the majority of people I've gotten to know here haven't been 22-24 year olds just out of college, or retirees giving the trail their best shot once they have all the time in the world.  Instead, I have met a great number of 30-somethings having third-life crisises.

The first one I met bounced around from Michigan to Austin, TX.  His story seems to be close to mine in that he's looking for something to do, he doesn't have a lot holding him back, and he likes hiking and all so this seemed like a great adventure.  I chatted with him for a while in the beginning as we were hiking, and he is interested in Buddhism and things like that, and this is a good place for him to think about simplicity and such.

The next guy I met has really bounced around, from Seattle to Texas to Summit County, CO.  He waits tables for expensive conferences, and rakes in the money so that he can do what he wants to do and not worry about having a house, career, anything like that.  It's like living paycheck to paycheck, but months or so at a time.  When his wife ran into some problems, she had to recover on her own, and one thing led to another, and he ended up homeless in Texas for a while.  I thought this trip would give perspective on life, but being homeless really would.  After some months, he finally got a chance to dig himself out, and pounced on it.  He's hiking with his dog on the trail, and will slow down in VA when his girlfriend joins him for a bit.

The next of the 30-something GA hiking crew is an ex-paratrooper, and currently a hunter/trapper in Maine.  He mostly was raised by his mother in Maine, and still lives there (he tells people he's walking home).  He worked as a guide for people who wanted to track and hunt animals (nothing lame like baiting them) and he arranged for the proper registration of the kills.  He said he could tell if some of us were ahead of him by the way we walk, especially after a rain.  I guess his impetus for getting out here was to do something big and get away for a bit.  A lot of these folks seem to be feeling a "I've been doing this job for 5-9 years, I'm sick of it already, what does that mean?  I have to get away, just do something else entirely" sort of thing.

The last of the GA crew is a 33-year old married woman from Holland.  She's a Ph.D in immunology, and gave me a 20-minute immunology lesson during the flats or downhills.  She grew up in the States, in NH, but met him doing some internship in Florida, and went back with him to Holland.  In the Netherlands you typically just live with someone for a while, and then get married as a matter of fact more than anything, so she's only been married a couple years.  It's hard for her to be away (though she jokes about it so much) and of course it's even harder for him (found out today that "he didn't realize how much she meant to him").  When she told him she had to go on this trip, she asked if he was coming or not - he declined, so she up-and-left.  It is a good rediscovering of America for her, though her primary observation is that Americans are fat!  (We're still in the South, keep that in mind when you judge us!).

There are several other 30-somethings I've hung out with lately, including a guy who majored in general arts, then went back to grad school to get something better tailored to making money, though he doesn't know what to do with it yet and is taking a mental absence; a professional chef who is tired of 60-hr work weeks and hectic kitchens - he's been "Chef Glenn" all his life, so his trail name is "Just Glenn" - and he went from married to divorced, though he currently has a girlfriend again; a man who is a bit of a manchild, never really growing up, never wanting to pick a profession or permanent hobby - he's 38, and this is just his current activity in the line of doing whatever.

Beyond that there are a few kids around my age who are sprinting through, maybe getting caught up in the "miles" talk, and perhaps forgetting their reasons for doing the trail?  Some people might want a physical challenge to overcome, but a lot of folks who know say that these people often drop out.  It's a mental game as much as anything, and you have to be up for the challenge every day - even if your legs are in good shape, your head can get sick of 20mi days back to back every day.  Then there are older men who move pretty much slowly but surely.  I'm not sure but this 30-something crowd (along with a 21yr old hippie I'm travelling with occationally (Tom, he's right up your alley)) seem to have the surest mindset for this.  A friend of mine used to say "Do it or screw it" about worrying about homework... and a similar mindset applies - put in your 12-16 miles when you can, and move along at a tolerable pace, and when you are at a nice town or you need a break, then take a break - don't kill yourself over not "making the miles".  This group is mature enough to make it, and young enough to make it.  And just having completed the next 10 numerical years of my life, I'm in a prime position to learn a few things if I keep my ears open.

- Sudoku