The Power of Working Longer - Hiking side discussion

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CyclingDuo
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The Power of Working Longer - Hiking side discussion

Post by CyclingDuo »

[Moved into a new thread from: The Power of Working Longer --admin LadyGeek]
willthrill81 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:33 am Sounds like fun! 8-)

Unfortunately, a 2k mile thru hike takes most 20-somethings a good 5 months. That pretty much requires a sabbatical in my profession, and that would only delay the time until I retire. Right now, I'm trying to make as much hay as I can while the sun is still shining. There are already dark clouds on the horizon of higher ed, as you know better than most.
:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.

Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo
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smitcat
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by smitcat »

CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am
willthrill81 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:33 am Sounds like fun! 8-)

Unfortunately, a 2k mile thru hike takes most 20-somethings a good 5 months. That pretty much requires a sabbatical in my profession, and that would only delay the time until I retire. Right now, I'm trying to make as much hay as I can while the sun is still shining. There are already dark clouds on the horizon of higher ed, as you know better than most.
:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.

Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo


"Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it"

Great ideas and all things that we did similarly while working ....
Congtrats on your new path.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by TN_Boy »

smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 7:39 am
CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am
willthrill81 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:33 am Sounds like fun! 8-)

Unfortunately, a 2k mile thru hike takes most 20-somethings a good 5 months. That pretty much requires a sabbatical in my profession, and that would only delay the time until I retire. Right now, I'm trying to make as much hay as I can while the sun is still shining. There are already dark clouds on the horizon of higher ed, as you know better than most.
:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.

Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo


"Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it"

Great ideas and all things that we did similarly while working ....
Congtrats on your new path.
Many people, of course, section hike the AT, a week or two at a time. It's a very good strategy.

That said, for those not in academia (and many of the people I know who teach at the college level do research and such during the summer and wind up with less long vacation slots than you'd think) vacation time is still pretty precious. My vacation time for most of my later working years was five weeks, more than a lot of people have. And with family visits, a few shorter trips, etc this time gets eaten up pretty fast. It did for us, anyway.

I agree there is zero need to wait until retirement to do fun things -- we have had a lot of excellent trips -- but being actually retired is ... actually different :-)
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am
willthrill81 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:33 am Sounds like fun! 8-)

Unfortunately, a 2k mile thru hike takes most 20-somethings a good 5 months. That pretty much requires a sabbatical in my profession, and that would only delay the time until I retire. Right now, I'm trying to make as much hay as I can while the sun is still shining. There are already dark clouds on the horizon of higher ed, as you know better than most.
:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.
I'm thankful that you've been able to pivot so well. :beer
CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo
Don't get me wrong; we do lots of fun stuff right now. We've got a 3 week trip to the Columbia River gorge, Crater Lake NP, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and Olympic NP. My DW and I will be spending a few days hiking in the North Cascades NP, and we'll be taking my MiL to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs at the end of the summer. Having a relatively small motorhome should enable us to affordably do a lot of traveling with our young daughter, especially when I'm not teaching in the summers.

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by sailaway »

willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 am

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
I am all for doing it your own way, but am also amused that section hikes are cheating, while sleeping in a motorhome every night isn't....
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by TN_Boy »

sailaway wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:49 am
willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 am

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
I am all for doing it your own way, but am also amused that section hikes are cheating, while sleeping in a motorhome every night isn't....
Not to pile onto willthrill81, but +1000.

I know some AT hikers. The hard part is having to carry food, set up camp, get and purify water ..... this requires a pack weighing 30 lbs or more, if you know how to organize good quality gear. If one could skip having to carry cooking and camping equipment (tent, etc), only carry minimal food, etc you could greatly reduce the pack weight and thus the effort required.

It's having to do real backpacking with a full pack that makes doing the AT hard ...... you won't get much trail credit from through hikers (or section hikers for that matter) with an RV to crash in most nights :D It's still a lot of walking, but it's not actually a through hike experience as most people think of it.

But we digress .....
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

TN_Boy wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 10:04 am
sailaway wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:49 am
willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 am

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
I am all for doing it your own way, but am also amused that section hikes are cheating, while sleeping in a motorhome every night isn't....
Not to pile onto willthrill81, but +1000.

I know some AT hikers. The hard part is having to carry food, set up camp, get and purify water ..... this requires a pack weighing 30 lbs or more, if you know how to organize good quality gear. If one could skip having to carry cooking and camping equipment (tent, etc), only carry minimal food, etc you could greatly reduce the pack weight and thus the effort required.

It's having to do real backpacking with a full pack that makes doing the AT hard ...... you won't get much trail credit from through hikers (or section hikers for that matter) with an RV to crash in most nights :D It's still a lot of walking, but it's not actually a through hike experience as most people think of it.

But we digress .....
Well, I'm not too interested in trail cred from a bunch of 20-somethings now, and I don't think that will change when I'm in my 50s. Hiking 2k miles, even assisted, is still quite a feat, but I'm far more interested in the experience than bragging about how hard it was.

I don't want to derail this thread though, so I won't continue this discussion here.
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The Power of Working Longer

Post by smitcat »

TN_Boy wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 8:42 am
smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 7:39 am
CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am
willthrill81 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:33 am Sounds like fun! 8-)

Unfortunately, a 2k mile thru hike takes most 20-somethings a good 5 months. That pretty much requires a sabbatical in my profession, and that would only delay the time until I retire. Right now, I'm trying to make as much hay as I can while the sun is still shining. There are already dark clouds on the horizon of higher ed, as you know better than most.
:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.

Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo


"Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it"

Great ideas and all things that we did similarly while working ....
Congtrats on your new path.
Many people, of course, section hike the AT, a week or two at a time. It's a very good strategy.

That said, for those not in academia (and many of the people I know who teach at the college level do research and such during the summer and wind up with less long vacation slots than you'd think) vacation time is still pretty precious. My vacation time for most of my later working years was five weeks, more than a lot of people have. And with family visits, a few shorter trips, etc this time gets eaten up pretty fast. It did for us, anyway.

I agree there is zero need to wait until retirement to do fun things -- we have had a lot of excellent trips -- but being actually retired is ... actually different :-)
We are not in academia either - we are/were small business owners.
We did some of these travels with our daughter and fiance - they are not in academia either but they can get many weeks a year concurrently off.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by H-Town »

willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 am
Don't get me wrong; we do lots of fun stuff right now. We've got a 3 week trip to the Columbia River gorge, Crater Lake NP, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and Olympic NP. My DW and I will be spending a few days hiking in the North Cascades NP, and we'll be taking my MiL to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs at the end of the summer. Having a relatively small motorhome should enable us to affordably do a lot of traveling with our young daughter, especially when I'm not teaching in the summers.
Olympic NP and North Cascades NP are beautiful. If you can take more days to explores the trails, it's totally worth it.
Time is the ultimate currency.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

H-Town wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 11:11 am
willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 am
Don't get me wrong; we do lots of fun stuff right now. We've got a 3 week trip to the Columbia River gorge, Crater Lake NP, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and Olympic NP. My DW and I will be spending a few days hiking in the North Cascades NP, and we'll be taking my MiL to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs at the end of the summer. Having a relatively small motorhome should enable us to affordably do a lot of traveling with our young daughter, especially when I'm not teaching in the summers.
Olympic NP and North Cascades NP are beautiful. If you can take more days to explores the trails, it's totally worth it.
We've already been to both and love the parks. We'll be limited in what we can do in Olympic on this trip since my parents and our young daughter will be with us, but I want to go back at some point and hike the section of the Pacific Northwest Trail that goes across the park. My DW and I will be doing a lot of hiking in the North Cascades in July though.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by TN_Boy »

smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 11:02 am
TN_Boy wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 8:42 am
smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 7:39 am
CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am
willthrill81 wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 10:33 am Sounds like fun! 8-)

Unfortunately, a 2k mile thru hike takes most 20-somethings a good 5 months. That pretty much requires a sabbatical in my profession, and that would only delay the time until I retire. Right now, I'm trying to make as much hay as I can while the sun is still shining. There are already dark clouds on the horizon of higher ed, as you know better than most.
:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.

Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo


"Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it"

Great ideas and all things that we did similarly while working ....
Congtrats on your new path.
Many people, of course, section hike the AT, a week or two at a time. It's a very good strategy.

That said, for those not in academia (and many of the people I know who teach at the college level do research and such during the summer and wind up with less long vacation slots than you'd think) vacation time is still pretty precious. My vacation time for most of my later working years was five weeks, more than a lot of people have. And with family visits, a few shorter trips, etc this time gets eaten up pretty fast. It did for us, anyway.

I agree there is zero need to wait until retirement to do fun things -- we have had a lot of excellent trips -- but being actually retired is ... actually different :-)
We are not in academia either - we are/were small business owners.
We did some of these travels with our daughter and fiance - they are not in academia either but they can get many weeks a year concurrently off.
Excellent.

But it is really hard for many people to get large chunks of time off during their working years. I could usually get a couple of weeks without too much trouble.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by smitcat »

TN_Boy wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:24 pm
smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 11:02 am
TN_Boy wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 8:42 am
smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 7:39 am
CyclingDuo wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 6:48 am

:beer As of the end of April (and the final grades I just submitted this week), I am now fully out from under those clouds and working under what are, for the moment, sunnier skies.

Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it. Don't know your academic schedule, but where I was working classes are completed by the end of April which provides the month of May (good time to hike a section of the AT) to do it in segments.

CyclingDuo


"Regarding hiking, I meant, are there not shorter hikes you could be doing during your downtime (summer, spring break, weekends) each and every year? Perhaps you already do this, but was just thinking about all the recreation one could be enjoying while still working. Ditto on the option of renting a recreational vehicle to do some month or two month long summer trips such as your longer term travel plans in retirement. Again, maybe you already do this, but was simply casting my vote to enjoy some of that now while you can.

Or for that matter, is it considered sacrilege to break up the 5 month, 2190 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail into a few shorter hikes where you could spend your next few summers doing that? If the odds say only 1 in 4 make it all the way on a single hike through attempt, why not play the odds and do a section this summer, another section next year, a third section in 2023 and if that doesn't take care of it, use a fourth summer to complete it"

Great ideas and all things that we did similarly while working ....
Congtrats on your new path.
Many people, of course, section hike the AT, a week or two at a time. It's a very good strategy.

That said, for those not in academia (and many of the people I know who teach at the college level do research and such during the summer and wind up with less long vacation slots than you'd think) vacation time is still pretty precious. My vacation time for most of my later working years was five weeks, more than a lot of people have. And with family visits, a few shorter trips, etc this time gets eaten up pretty fast. It did for us, anyway.

I agree there is zero need to wait until retirement to do fun things -- we have had a lot of excellent trips -- but being actually retired is ... actually different :-)
We are not in academia either - we are/were small business owners.
We did some of these travels with our daughter and fiance - they are not in academia either but they can get many weeks a year concurrently off.
Excellent.

But it is really hard for many people to get large chunks of time off during their working years. I could usually get a couple of weeks without too much trouble.
People we have seen who can 'adjust' their schedules to pool more consecutive days off include ...
Drs, police, firefighters, nurse, municipal town worker, SLP, many seasonal jobs, OT, county workers, etc.
I think the best way is to be in a small business.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:35 pm People we have seen who can 'adjust' their schedules to pool more consecutive days off include ...
Drs, police, firefighters, nurse, municipal town worker, SLP, many seasonal jobs, OT, county workers, etc.
I think the best way is to be in a small business.
Yes, a number of professions allow for significant time off. Those who work in the oil fields also frequently work 2-3 weeks on and the same time off.

I think that small business ownership can go either way. I worked for a small business owner for several years, and he rarely felt that he could take more than two consecutive days off. Only once in a three year period was he gone for a full week.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by Ependytis »

It’s like the Goldilocks paradox, you don’t want to save so much that you run out of health or life to enjoy it. On the other hand, you don’t want to save so little you run out of health or employability to retire. Like in all things there is a balance. If you love what you do and have free time to enjoy things you can’t do while working, all things being equal, it probably makes sense to work longer even if you don’t have to. Of course, the reverse is true as well.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by smitcat »

willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:44 pm
smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:35 pm People we have seen who can 'adjust' their schedules to pool more consecutive days off include ...
Drs, police, firefighters, nurse, municipal town worker, SLP, many seasonal jobs, OT, county workers, etc.
I think the best way is to be in a small business.
Yes, a number of professions allow for significant time off. Those who work in the oil fields also frequently work 2-3 weeks on and the same time off.

I think that small business ownership can go either way. I worked for a small business owner for several years, and he rarely felt that he could take more than two consecutive days off. Only once in a three year period was he gone for a full week.
"Only once in a three year period was he gone for a full week."
He should have complained to his boss or quit.

"Yes, a number of professions allow for significant time off."
With many we know its not so much that they have a lot of time off just that they can trade and move shifts to open up a week or more at a time without vacation/sick/no pay time.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 4:29 pm
willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:44 pm
smitcat wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 12:35 pm People we have seen who can 'adjust' their schedules to pool more consecutive days off include ...
Drs, police, firefighters, nurse, municipal town worker, SLP, many seasonal jobs, OT, county workers, etc.
I think the best way is to be in a small business.
Yes, a number of professions allow for significant time off. Those who work in the oil fields also frequently work 2-3 weeks on and the same time off.

I think that small business ownership can go either way. I worked for a small business owner for several years, and he rarely felt that he could take more than two consecutive days off. Only once in a three year period was he gone for a full week.
"Only once in a three year period was he gone for a full week."
He should have complained to his boss or quit.
He was the owner, so it was his choice. I remember him half jokingly telling someone that the business owned him. Eventually, he shut the doors, auctioned off the assets, and started another business, one that he much preferred and which eventually allowed him to feel that he could take time off from.

A family member of mine is a decamillionaire who's owned his own business for decades. It's exceedingly rare for him to take time off; he certainly could, but at this point, his net worth is nothing more than a scorecard. It's really sad.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by CyclingDuo »

willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 amDon't get me wrong; we do lots of fun stuff right now. We've got a 3 week trip to the Columbia River gorge, Crater Lake NP, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and Olympic NP. My DW and I will be spending a few days hiking in the North Cascades NP, and we'll be taking my MiL to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs at the end of the summer. Having a relatively small motorhome should enable us to affordably do a lot of traveling with our young daughter, especially when I'm not teaching in the summers.

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
Got it!

I understand your quest of taking it on in one fell swoop when you can, and in the manner you describe. Sounds like our wives have a similar distaste for tent camping. :beer

If it weren't for the bears in the opening sections, I would consider doing the entire 3100 mile Continental Divide/Great Divide trail on my mountain bike. Not as a race like many people attempt via the GDMBR with the record being 13 days and change, but just as an adventure that would span weeks. I need plenty of recovery time for my knees and back between long effort days on the bike. I've got a former colleague who retired at 63 and did that in 2019 with his brother and had a blast. Took them about 2 months at the pace they went, and all the stops they made along the way. I've been chipping away for a few years at trying to convince my wife that a couple of months on the mountain bike tandem would be fine as we would stay in lodgings along the way on the nights that didn't involve the tent. I've got a ways to go yet in swaying her.

Image

Anyway, glad to hear you've got plenty of other trips and hikes in the meantime and have a plan for the AT that will work for you come retirement.

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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by ad2007 »

revhappy wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 10:12 pm I think many people here are assuming, by default
Working -> You are miserable
Retirement -> You are having fun

I agree with you in that it's not black and white. Unless the job was truly miserable and possibly hazardous to one's health, retirement is not the panacea people claim it to be.

FI allows you to pick and choose what you really want to do: whether it's PT, FT or retirement (no work). But even in full retirement, there will be plenty of challenges to kick your butt or pique your interest and give you great satisfaction. No different from working.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by revhappy »

AlwaysLearningMore wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 7:40 am For a well-heeled investor on the precipice of retirement, there is no "financial" need to work longer. Those who do so garner non-financial benefits (e.g., maintain the prestige of their position, wish to continue formally contributing to society in their current capacity, intellectual stimulation of the field in which they work, enjoy the social interaction of co-workers, enjoy their work, etc.). Entrepreneurs and other business owners often work past traditional retirement age.

But the litany of posts debating 3% vs 3.5% vs 4% withdrawal rate, and "can I retire now?" seems to indicate that not all Bogleheads are such sure financial footing. For them, considering working a bit longer makes sense.

For those who hate their jobs so much they'd rather risk a financial shortfall, and would prefer to dial back consumption, they have that choice, too.
Very well said. I agree with you, especially the risk of corpus not lasting the full retirement tenure, increases with how early you retire. I am a 41 year old and my corpus is 60X my expenses. So I could contemplate early retirement, but if I could just carry on working for another 10 years, in a job with very low responsibilities and low stress levels while not depleting my corpus and hopefully adding to it. The equation becomes a whole lot favorable.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by ad2007 »

willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 10:17 am ...difficulties of teaching ethics these days.
Did not know that it could be taught, ethics. Just like the military has a tough time with integrity. They stressed integrity, but I saw how it not taking for some folks.

A friend of mine (retired Admiral and board member of a large firm) wisely told me that any organization like any organism, the primary goal is to survive and live. Anything that threatens it will be destroyed, even from within. Sounds good in theory, but we do see companies implode due to unethical management (fraud seems to be the quickest way die), while others thrive arguably due to lack of ethics.

You my friend have a tough job teaching future business leaders ethics. This was something we talked about ad nauseam at Air War College - from my Air Force days.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

CyclingDuo wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 8:54 am
willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 amDon't get me wrong; we do lots of fun stuff right now. We've got a 3 week trip to the Columbia River gorge, Crater Lake NP, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and Olympic NP. My DW and I will be spending a few days hiking in the North Cascades NP, and we'll be taking my MiL to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs at the end of the summer. Having a relatively small motorhome should enable us to affordably do a lot of traveling with our young daughter, especially when I'm not teaching in the summers.

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
Got it!

I understand your quest of taking it on in one fell swoop when you can, and in the manner you describe. Sounds like our wives have a similar distaste for tent camping. :beer

If it weren't for the bears in the opening sections, I would consider doing the entire 3100 mile Continental Divide/Great Divide trail on my mountain bike. Not as a race like many people attempt via the GDMBR with the record being 13 days and change, but just as an adventure that would span weeks. I need plenty of recovery time for my knees and back between long effort days on the bike. I've got a former colleague who retired at 63 and did that in 2019 with his brother and had a blast. Took them about 2 months at the pace they went, and all the stops they made along the way. I've been chipping away for a few years at trying to convince my wife that a couple of months on the mountain bike tandem would be fine as we would stay in lodgings along the way on the nights that didn't involve the tent. I've got a ways to go yet in swaying her.

Image

Anyway, glad to hear you've got plenty of other trips and hikes in the meantime and have a plan for the AT that will work for you come retirement.

CyclingDuo
In fairness to my DW, we've tried camping on several occasions, and the experiences ranged from 'not pleasant' to 'miserable'. I care far more about her than how much trail cred I might not get from people that I don't even know. 8-)

The CDT, while much less traveled by hikers at least than the AT and PCT, arguably has the most varied terrain of all three trails. My DW and I watched a YouTube video series of a girl named Jessica, trail name 'Dixie', on Homemade Wanderlust hike it three years ago, and sections of it were absolutely breathtaking. You're right that bears can be an issue, but I think that they are more of an issue on the PCT. Still, you would definitely want to use a bear canister for food. I hope that you get to cycle it and have a great time!
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by barberakb »

I plan to be able to retire by 50 but will probably work until I'm 55 as long as I don't hate my job.
Sure working longer would pad my retirement more but you never know how many days you have left.
55 seems like with a little luck you might get a good 20 yrs or more to actually enjoy.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by imflyboy »

CyclingDuo wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 8:54 am
willthrill81 wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 9:36 amDon't get me wrong; we do lots of fun stuff right now. We've got a 3 week trip to the Columbia River gorge, Crater Lake NP, the Oregon and Washington coasts, and Olympic NP. My DW and I will be spending a few days hiking in the North Cascades NP, and we'll be taking my MiL to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs at the end of the summer. Having a relatively small motorhome should enable us to affordably do a lot of traveling with our young daughter, especially when I'm not teaching in the summers.

While I really do appreciate the suggestion, and section hikes would be possible, there are a lot of reasons why I'm not personally interested in them for the AT or PCT. One is that it's a bit like breaking up a marathon into a dozen sections; yes, you've gone the total distance, but it's certainly not the same experience. Also, my DW does not do tent camping at all, and I don't want to leave her behind many times for 1-2 weeks at a time for a hike. So our plan is for to assist me in a thru hike via our motorhome right after I retire. She can roughly follow me, especially on the AT, so I can spend most nights sleeping in the motorhome, getting a hot shower and meal every night. That would be much more enjoyable for both of us and give me a big retirement goal to pursue over the next ~12 years.
Got it!

I understand your quest of taking it on in one fell swoop when you can, and in the manner you describe. Sounds like our wives have a similar distaste for tent camping. :beer

If it weren't for the bears in the opening sections, I would consider doing the entire 3100 mile Continental Divide/Great Divide trail on my mountain bike. Not as a race like many people attempt via the GDMBR with the record being 13 days and change, but just as an adventure that would span weeks. I need plenty of recovery time for my knees and back between long effort days on the bike. I've got a former colleague who retired at 63 and did that in 2019 with his brother and had a blast. Took them about 2 months at the pace they went, and all the stops they made along the way. I've been chipping away for a few years at trying to convince my wife that a couple of months on the mountain bike tandem would be fine as we would stay in lodgings along the way on the nights that didn't involve the tent. I've got a ways to go yet in swaying her.

Image

Anyway, glad to hear you've got plenty of other trips and hikes in the meantime and have a plan for the AT that will work for you come retirement.

CyclingDuo
Whoa! I actually haven’t seen a tandem mountain bike! There are tons of great cycling adventures! A couple years ago I did London to Paris with a buddy and I’d recommend it! 4 days, great scenery, hotels to sleep and the last day riding into Paris was pretty awesome😁
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by CyclingDuo »

imflyboy wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 10:18 amWhoa! I actually haven’t seen a tandem mountain bike! There are tons of great cycling adventures! A couple years ago I did London to Paris with a buddy and I’d recommend it! 4 days, great scenery, hotels to sleep and the last day riding into Paris was pretty awesome😁
Sounds fun. We enjoy week long cycling trips in Italy, Austria, Germany, etc..., but always have plans for future routes. Thanks for the suggestion as we have heard of the scenic beauty of the London <----> Paris route. We spent a month just driving around France one summer when we lived in Europe and enjoyed the terrain and scenic beauty of the parts we covered. Took the train to London and back from Paris for a few days side trip with the kids, but had never thought of cycling that route. Now you've got me doing some web searches....

This year's planned route will be a week's road ride here in the US as we decided not to travel overseas due to the pandemic when we were making our plans a few months ago. I've only got about 6 more weeks to get my cycling legs and lungs in better shape for that trip, so need to get some more hours in on the bike.

Do a web search for tandem mountain bikes. You'd be surprised what is out there. :beer

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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by halfnine »

willthrill81 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 10:18 am ...The CDT, while much less traveled by hikers at least than the AT and PCT, arguably has the most varied terrain of all three trails. My DW and I watched a YouTube video series of a girl named Jessica, trail name 'Dixie', on Homemade Wanderlust hike it three years ago, and sections of it were absolutely breathtaking. You're right that bears can be an issue, but I think that they are more of an issue on the PCT. Still, you would definitely want to use a bear canister for food. I hope that you get to cycle it and have a great time!...
That depends on what your issues with bears are. If the issue is encountering them at all, then, yes the PCT probably will be a bigger concern. But, in all probability, the bears you encounter will be black bears. I have encountered many black bears in and around the PCT. I have come across them mostly while trekking but on a few occasions I have chased a bear away in the middle of night while they were looking for my food. All and all it really isn't much of an issue. However, my understanding of the nothern reaches of the CDT is that you will encounter brown bears. If they are anything like the bears I have come across (but not close in proximity) in Alaska than I would be much more wary.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

halfnine wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 6:17 am
willthrill81 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 10:18 am ...The CDT, while much less traveled by hikers at least than the AT and PCT, arguably has the most varied terrain of all three trails. My DW and I watched a YouTube video series of a girl named Jessica, trail name 'Dixie', on Homemade Wanderlust hike it three years ago, and sections of it were absolutely breathtaking. You're right that bears can be an issue, but I think that they are more of an issue on the PCT. Still, you would definitely want to use a bear canister for food. I hope that you get to cycle it and have a great time!...
That depends on what your issues with bears are. If the issue is encountering them at all, then, yes the PCT probably will be a bigger concern. But, in all probability, the bears you encounter will be black bears. I have encountered many black bears in and around the PCT. I have come across them mostly while trekking but on a few occasions I have chased a bear away in the middle of night while they were looking for my food. All and all it really isn't much of an issue. However, my understanding of the nothern reaches of the CDT is that you will encounter brown bears. If they are anything like the bears I have come across (but not close in proximity) in Alaska than I would be much more wary.
Good point. Hikers who are inclined to do so can potentially legally carry arms while hiking through the Montana section of the CDT. Short of that, bear spray is a must.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by halfnine »

willthrill81 wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 9:56 am
halfnine wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 6:17 am
willthrill81 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 10:18 am ...The CDT, while much less traveled by hikers at least than the AT and PCT, arguably has the most varied terrain of all three trails. My DW and I watched a YouTube video series of a girl named Jessica, trail name 'Dixie', on Homemade Wanderlust hike it three years ago, and sections of it were absolutely breathtaking. You're right that bears can be an issue, but I think that they are more of an issue on the PCT. Still, you would definitely want to use a bear canister for food. I hope that you get to cycle it and have a great time!...
That depends on what your issues with bears are. If the issue is encountering them at all, then, yes the PCT probably will be a bigger concern. But, in all probability, the bears you encounter will be black bears. I have encountered many black bears in and around the PCT. I have come across them mostly while trekking but on a few occasions I have chased a bear away in the middle of night while they were looking for my food. All and all it really isn't much of an issue. However, my understanding of the nothern reaches of the CDT is that you will encounter brown bears. If they are anything like the bears I have come across (but not close in proximity) in Alaska than I would be much more wary.
Good point. Hikers who are inclined to do so can potentially legally carry arms while hiking through the Montana section of the CDT. Short of that, bear spray is a must.
Yes, and as the story goes, you can then shoot one of your hiking partners in the leg and then safely run away. :D
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by H-Town »

halfnine wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 12:00 pm
willthrill81 wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 9:56 am
halfnine wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 6:17 am
willthrill81 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 10:18 am ...The CDT, while much less traveled by hikers at least than the AT and PCT, arguably has the most varied terrain of all three trails. My DW and I watched a YouTube video series of a girl named Jessica, trail name 'Dixie', on Homemade Wanderlust hike it three years ago, and sections of it were absolutely breathtaking. You're right that bears can be an issue, but I think that they are more of an issue on the PCT. Still, you would definitely want to use a bear canister for food. I hope that you get to cycle it and have a great time!...
That depends on what your issues with bears are. If the issue is encountering them at all, then, yes the PCT probably will be a bigger concern. But, in all probability, the bears you encounter will be black bears. I have encountered many black bears in and around the PCT. I have come across them mostly while trekking but on a few occasions I have chased a bear away in the middle of night while they were looking for my food. All and all it really isn't much of an issue. However, my understanding of the nothern reaches of the CDT is that you will encounter brown bears. If they are anything like the bears I have come across (but not close in proximity) in Alaska than I would be much more wary.
Good point. Hikers who are inclined to do so can potentially legally carry arms while hiking through the Montana section of the CDT. Short of that, bear spray is a must.
Yes, and as the story goes, you can then shoot one of your hiking partners in the leg and then safely run away. :D
We run into black bears on numerous occasions. I like bears and I'm generally not afraid of bears, unless it's a full size grizzly bear that means to kill me. I keep my distance and enjoy my run-in with bears.

On the other hand, my wife is afraid of bear. Her preference is not running into bears at all. So there's a push and pull there when we pick a trail and area to hike together.
Time is the ultimate currency.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer

Post by willthrill81 »

ad2007 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 9:53 am You my friend have a tough job teaching future business leaders ethics. This was something we talked about ad nauseam at Air War College - from my Air Force days.
As I noted above, the big problem that I and many others see is that separating ethics from religion quickly devolves into 'here's what I/you/someone else thinks, but it's no more valid than what anyone else thinks' and/or 'what the majority of one's culture believes is ethically right', even though both perspectives can be very easily shown to be completely untenable. I'm convinced that this separation is one of the big factors explaining why teaching ethics to students doesn't lead to them making behavioral changes.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer - Hiking side discussion

Post by averagedude »

A few years back, I decided to hike the state of Virginia (AT) by doing day hikes, slackpacking, and section backpacking. Took me about 4 years to do the 600 miles and I extremely enjoyed it, although it was a bit logistically challenging. Their is a saying in the hiking community that states "hike your own hike". It basically translates to find out what works for you, put it into practice, and don't tell others how to do their hike.
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Re: The Power of Working Longer - Hiking side discussion

Post by Taz »

averagedude wrote: Mon May 10, 2021 7:00 pm A few years back, I decided to hike the state of Virginia (AT) by doing day hikes, slackpacking, and section backpacking. Took me about 4 years to do the 600 miles and I extremely enjoyed it, although it was a bit logistically challenging. Their is a saying in the hiking community that states "hike your own hike". It basically translates to find out what works for you, put it into practice, and don't tell others how to do their hike.
As a couple who planning to spend more time day hiking as we travel, we appreciate this thought. It's great to learn from the hard core but for us, it isn't the extreme challenge but being outdoors, active, spending time together, and seeing the world. Tent or rooftop tent camping for a couple of nights while hiking an area then cleaning up in a motel is more our style -- and our fitness level. We certainly weren't the ones trail running up the mountain at 10,000ft in the RMNP!
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