You know what I’m dying to say right?
Wait for it . . .
So not actually the whole thing, DUCY?
Don’t @ me, I couldn’t resist taking the shot. And yes, I’ve hiked 0% so I have zero legs to stand on. 
In all seriousness, that’s a huge accomplishment and I’m super impressed. It’s an epic logistical, physical and mental accomplishment!
It never bothered me that I didn’t walk every inch. I had to finish by a certain date and towards the end I was just fucking tired. So I took maybe three or four days off and we hitchiked ahead 20 miles or so.
So physical and mental accomplishment, eh, I don’t know. I like backpacking, mostly it was fun but certain parts were kind of a drag. Vermont, Pennsylvania. New Hampshire and Maine are amazing. Logistical accomplishment? lol I actually didn’t plan it out at all or mail myself food at all. Just hitched into town and bought groceries. Everyone who meticulously planned out all their meals ends up wishing they had done the same thing. They get so sick of the food they bought, or it’s just not the right food. Everyone who planned mail drops ends up hitching to grocery stores almost as much as people who don’t plan at all. Although it’s been twenty years since I hitchhiked around the AT so I don’t know if it’s still easy. Everywhere but Pennsylvania was pretty easy to get rides.
I would do it the same way you did. Half the fun of distance hiking is hitting town, eating like a fool, and drinking 6 to 8 pints. Not as easy on the PCT or CDT but the AT is perfect for it.
Yea when I did SM to CD, I didn’t even bring a burner or fuel. I carried cheddar cheese, crackers, granola bars, salami, and pop tarts. I ate hot food in towns which were 1-2x a week. I always laughed at people carrying protane tanks so they could heat up Ramen noodles. One dude I met was carrying a 80 lb pack lol. I remember he had an axe and like 20 D batteries so he could fill up his air mattress every night. I kept mine under 25 pounds and I was constantly trying to lighten it.
I carried a tiny unpressurized alcohol stove and a 20 oz soda bottle full of denatured alcohol. Only cooked once a day at night, went with lipton noodles or lipton rice, can of tuna, added in a packet of ramen if I was real hungry. Then topped with parmesan cheese out of the green can. Then throughout the day it was pop tarts, bagels, tuna, cheese, sausage, pepperoni, snickers. If I was doing it again I’d pack similar stuff but I think I’d add like sardines instead of tuna and carry around olive oil to add to dinner. Not carrying oil is a big leak, twice as dense as the high carb stuff I was lugging around.
I ate so much, probably like 6000 calories a day. I remember somewhere in Virginia, forget the town, I ate a footlong subway and then a pint of ben and jerries. Like a solid 2000 calories. Still hungry and ate another footlong right after that. Insane.
Uh…you rule.
I did a 21 day bike trip and also ate insane amounts. It was almost impossible to get full.
I took the RV out this weekend to a campground in Northern Indiana. For 2 days it was like living in a pre-COVID world. The pools were open and kids were at the playground. It was pretty irresponsible, but probably important for my kids mental health. We were outside the whole time, and my wife and I did a good job avoiding other adults.
The wife is talking about doing a seasonal at this place. It’s far enough from home (1.5 hrs) that it feels like a vacation, but close enough you can easily go for a weekend. I’m not 100% opposed. I do feel that we don’t use the camper enough to justify the payments, and half the cost of every trip is the 8MPG to get it out of storage, haul it to the site, haul it home, then back to storage.
It’s Indiana, and campgrounds tend to be deplorable central, but it’s more for the kids than me. Hell, pre-COVID this campground had a Saturday NL tourney. So I can win $10 off some deplorable olds when we are back in action I guess.
Is a seasonal like a time-share?
Up in NH it means you leave your camper for the entire season. And often you maintain the same campsite year-after-year. It’s a reasonably priced way to have a vacation “home” on the water, etc. Plus, golf cart racing!
Yep, this. Basically $3Kish for a campsite for 6 months. Most of them are metered so you pay utilities as well. I’m not 100% sold on the idea yet, as I do like the exploration nature of camping, where we stay in different towns. I suppose we could still do that.
And yes, many residents also bring a golf cart. This campground is not even a square mile. I’m not that lazy yet.
$3K for 6 months? That’s insane unless you there the entire 6 months. Why not just go to state parks or places that aren’t full and pay $40 a night or whatever?
Or join Thousand Trails. It’s $600 a year.
? That would be twice as expensive.
I must be misunderstanding. He would rent a campsite for 6 months but not use it the entire 6 months.
Oh, I see what you’re saying. If you could pick and choose and pay only for the days you use it then it would be cheaper.
I can see the value in having a “set” place and using it over and over again. You might be able to leave some gear if not a whole camper up there. It is quite a bit of work to pack up. I think especially in pre-Covid times being able to leave work on Friday and just head off to the camp would be pretty convenient.
People build screen houses, do landscaping, etc. A lot of people have a dock with a boat. It’s a real bargain imo as compared to owning a vacation condo or house.
The main reason to have the seasonal for me would be not to have to haul the camper in and out on a regular basis (the fuel price may add up for this). Also we wouldn’t be constantly prepping the camper in between travel and storage. Plus you guarantee your spot any weekend you want to go.
Cheaper state parks and places that aren’t full are fine when it’s just me and the wife. But this isn’t just about having a place to park and sleep. I want places that my kids enjoy and have fun stuff around.
Seems like campsites with seasonals would be nice too as you get to know the regulars, but also it’s not always packed. What % of the campsite you are looking at are these semi-permanent residents?
It varies campground to campground. Ones in more touristy places tend to have fewer residents. This one was sort of off the beaten path, and was probably 75% seasonal residents.
So there is one chain of campgrounds here called “Outdoor Adventures” that has 10 or so places in Michigan, and they definitely use the timeshare model. You pay a one time membership fee, yearly rate, and then you can reserve spots at their campgrounds. I think the caveat is you can’t stay at any one place for more than a week. I have a co-worker who’s in it, and he seems to like it, but he also has a history of questionable financial decisions, so…
They definitely use traditional timeshare sales tactics. They try to draw you by being entered in a raffle to win prizes, offering you a free trial weekend, and doing a bunch of fuzzy math to try and make it seem like a better deal than it is. It’s no surprise they are now facing a class action lawsuit from customers who feel they were misled.
I’ve always been amazed by places like that. I’ve never thought there was anything inherently unethical with timeshares or MLM businesses, it’s just another way of doing things that might work for some people. But they all seem to use the same shitty clickbait style tactics to woo you in and then try and trick you into making a bad decision. One of the only timeshare calls I listened to for more than 4 seconds was about some of the places in Vegas. I go there just often enough that I was curious if it made any sense. It didn’t take long to realize it was a laughably horrible deal. I showed her the math that showed it was better to just pay the full rental rate than it was to buy into the timeshare and she called me a liar and hung up on me. Those places suck.
These were aluminum poles.
Still using the tent, 25 years later.