akratic's ERE journal

[jennypenny]

Dealer would be taken the wrong way 100% of the time considering the amount of pot being smoked on the trail.

I didn't think of that, although it might get you some more interesting conversation. At least you wouldn't be lonely. Same if you went with a nickname like All Fours. Or Slam. Or One-Way. Or Screw Your Neighbor.

Maybe you should just go with Deck.

[C40]

If you want to make it even more challenging to talk to people: "WALL STREET". I bet that after a while you'll get used to the other hikers and figure out the kind of things to discuss in order to have fairly good conversations with them.

I'm curious to hear about if/when you start sleeping better. I was out camping over the weekend and sleeping in the back of an SUV. I woke up many times at night, and one night had trouble getting to sleep. I'm thinking that if I had a more comfortable bed and week or two to get used to sleeping in the vehicle, I'd sleep better.

[jacob]

Of the people I know well enough to guess a Myers Briggs type, the people I've met so far would be: ~25 SP, 2 XTP, 1 NF (quit with a sprained ankle), 0 NT, 0 SJ.

Could that be because of Spring Break?

[tommytebco]

It sounds like you're doing great.

Sore feet. Your shoe size will probably increase. Mine went up a full size (lifelong 9 1/2 to 10 1/2) With the larger size, the soreness went down markedly. To treat aches and minor pains, I would start ibuprofen at mid morning, as soon as the aching feet began. Lots of help.

Once you settle into a pack of equal mileage hikers, you'll get a name. Or, just pick Akratic and go with it. I ,myself, have no idea what it means, but you're "Akratic" to me.

[arrrrgon]

Nickname yourself ace if you want them to play cards with you

It's hard enough to find interesting and intelligent conversation anywhere, let alone in a small group of random strangers.

Good luck out there.

[mxlr650]

I still don't have a trail name, and I'm getting a bit worried that I won't get one at all, or that it will be terrible. If anyone has any suggested trail names for me, I'd love to hear them!

you are from MIT, so how come your list has no recursive acronyms? How about MIT (MIT Is-my Trailname) or better yet MITT (MITT Is-my Trail Tag)? Mitt is great because right away it weeds out two groups of annoying people (bookish-liberals and christians), and you are left with a pragmatic folks that you can converse with Good Luck!

[tommytebco]

the cat tweaked me and I did look up your "handle". What an interesting name.
If you claimed it on the Trail, a one line answer "It means "one who is acting against one's better judgement" could lead to many discussions deeper than 'Do you like your sleeping bag? or what does your base weight work out to? etc".

[Ricky]

I'm struggling to connect with my fellow thru-hikers. I'm surrounded by so many conversations that are of such low quality that it kind of feels like I'm back in high school. I've asked about 20 people to play cards, and only got one enthusiastic yes, which just blows my mind considering the alternative seems to be talking about absolutely nothing. There are some small groups of people playing games like Rummy, but just with their clique.

Of the people I know well enough to guess a Myers Briggs type, the people I've met so far would be: ~25 SP, 2 XTP, 1 NF (quit with a sprained ankle), 0 NT, 0 SJ. The only good conversations that I've had are the three people that I isolated and hiked with for a few hours each. I was hoping to find a small community of people to hike with for the first couple of months, but it seems unlikely at the moment.

Maybe you need to lower your expectations? To be fair, the AT is the most recognized trail in the USA. It sounds like you're romanticizing it a little too extensively. Let's be honest, you're going to survive it, and there are very few unknowns. That said, it's a great accomplishment to finish the entire thing to be sure. You just have to realize that there are going to be many people who set out to complete it that were never going to from the start, on top of the many "casuals" who are just backpacking for a week or so.

That said, you definitely sound a lot like me. I tend to judge people too much based on their personality and try to dig too deep into their thought processes. Then I wonder what's better - to think philosophically all the time and ultimately end up depressed when everything ends up as "it's all pointless" or to live carefree and simply. I've come to learn to appreciate everyone for who they are, thinkers or not. I know you're yearning for more, but give some of these people a chance, they'll probably surprise you.

Good luck! Completing the AT is definitely a lifetime goal of mine.

[akratic]

I'm at mile 700 now, in Virginia, almost a 1/3 of the way. At my worst I fell five days behind schedule dealing with injuries, but I'm recently on pace to erase the deficit entirely. The terrain has gotten easier here in VA, and I've been averaging 18 miles per day recently.

It's said that the first test on the trail is physical with rugged terrain to start the trail, and then the next test is mental with the state of Virginia lasting over 600 miles with monotonous views but easier hiking. I'm more mentally strong than physically strong, so this should be to my advantage.

== Body ==

I've dealt with quite a few foot problems at this point between my Achilles, my shins, my arches, and my knees. I've changed my shoes, my insoles, my mileage, my trekking pole technique, the size of my steps, and keeping the back of my heel on the ground on inclines. I also got a $10 electric watch and stretch every hour on the hour now.

I've lost 25 pounds so far, almost all fat. In another 10 pounds or so all fat will be gone, and I'll switch to maintenance eating. (I gained 20 pounds or so in the year leading up to the hike, mostly out of laziness and knowing that I'd just lose it while hiking anyway.)

I've been through so much pain without giving up that I'm feeling increasingly confident that I'll be able to finish the thru-hike (barring major injury).

== Mind ==

The biggest thing on my mind is homeschool. I've met 14 homeschooled kids on the trail, and I'm shocked at how cool and capable they all are. With homeschool as a real possibility for my hypothetical kids, the locations we can consider living change dramatically!

I'm also feeling more confident about my entrepreneurship ventures after the trail. Getting up every day and hiking for nine hours rain or shine is fucking hard - but I'm doing it! Starting a company should be easier.

I've read 9 more books as well, the best ones being Survival+ (via jacob), The Happiness Project (self-help) and Accelerando (sci-fi)

== Interpersonal ==

Things have gotten so much better for me socially on the trail. The two big changes are 1) a lot of the lame people have quit and 2) there was a huge party called Trail Days where 30,000 hikers clustered in a small 1,000 person town for a weekend of being drunk/high. I skipped the party and finally have some distance from those people. I respect their right to party and hike their own hike, but gosh is it dull and alienating to watch them get drunk every single night that they're close to town and high every single other night.

Anyway, with the crowd thinned out, I've met some much more interesting people recently. There is a resilience to the hikers that have thru-hiked this far that I find inspiring. With their help I've started to master some outdoors skills, like I've learned a DIY bug repellant recipe that is more effective than DEET, and also I'm getting legit good with knots.

I've also found a lot more takers for cards recently, and the cliquey highschool-esque feeling is gone for now.

== Misc ==

I did get a trail name, but I think I'll keep it to myself and avoid cross-pollination. Thanks for the suggestions.

The gear changes I've made include buying a warmer sleeping bag, bigger shoes, new insoles, gaiters, lighter clothing, an OP Sak, a watch, and a new mp3 player. Still, my costs are quite low, as food is pretty much the only other expense I've I have, plus splitting occasional motel rooms.

I'm mostly just focusing on finishing my thru-hike for now, but the planner in me is already starting to toss around a few ideas for afterwards:
1) ski bum redux: west coast edition
2) fix up my uncle's distressed yacht (or buy something), get it to the Bahamas or equivalent, and live there for a bit
3) pick a US city to settle in for a few years and get serious about entrepreneurship and also building a community there

[George the original one]

To use a mixmaster on metaphors, the man emerges from the woods!

[C40]

Great to hear about your progress and about finding better hiking / camping companions.

Don't just leave us hanging on the bug repellent recipe! What is it?

And the yacht/Bahamas options sounds wonderful!

[jacob]

It makes sense that the AT would sort in the same way as a long race does. If everybody starts at more or less the same time, eventually, you leave the party crowd and beer drinkers behind unless you're one of them while the speedsters are up ahead unless you're one of them. In other words, in the long run you get the crowd you "deserve". Another word for this is ergodicity. One potential downside which might not hold on the trail is that once you reach a "stable distribution", you no longer see many or any new people. This could also be an upside allowing for deeper relations

Question: Have you gone lighter or heavier in terms of packing since you started?

[theanimal]

Good to see an update! You've certainly made it through the hardest part mentally. The first few hundred miles is where most of the people do quit (as you've found out). I'll be looking forward to reading about your update from Maine in a few months!

Besides your clothes and shoes, how has the rest of your gear fared?

[akratic]

@George: Nice

@C40: this link after substitutions looks to be the closest thing I found with a quick google search: http://backwoods.blog.com/gear-reviews/ ... repellent/

@jacob: Cool word: ergodicity. Your race example is spot on.

To answer your question: roughly the same. I quickly cut the stove, fuel, pot, camp shoes, bottom of convertible pants, gloves and injini toe socks but added an mp3 player, kindle case, watch, gaiters, extra darn tough socks and heavier sleeping bag. Soon I'll cut a bunch of cold weather stuff such as thermal underwear and long sleeve hoodie.

@ffj: haven't seen that guy, but I did hear about it on the trail.

@theanimal:
- tent: Tarptent Notch: 7/10. Great tent all around, but if I did it over again I'd probably 1) trade away some vestibule space for more room immediately above my head and 2) pay up for a zpacks tent or possibly a hammock.
- backpack: Zpacks Arc Blast 52L (Orange): 10/10. This is the best backpack. It gets uncomfortable above 25 lbs though.
- quilt: MLD Spirit 28: 2/10. This is the only major gear I hated so much that I swapped out on the trail. As a restless and picky sleeper, I found the quilt to be super annoying. It's so much nicer to simply zip or unzip a sleeping bag to adjust temperature rather than to fiddle with clasps and buckles or sticking body parts out. I would have liked the EE Quilt that you recommended slightly more (everyone on the trail with a quilt has EE).
- sleeping bag: Brooks Range Drift 15: 5/10. This bag is perfect size/shape for me and is so much more comfortable than the quilt. The main thing I don't like about it is the hydrophobic down, which I believe to be causing the down to clump and lose loft much faster than normal. Basically I paid a price premium for a feature -- hydrophobic down -- the hurts more than it helps. If I could do it over again I'd probably get the Zpacks 20 degree bag or the Brooks Range Alpini 15.
- sleeping pad: NeoAir XLite: 9/10. This is hands down the best option in a tent. In a shelter it's too noisy. I sleep 90% tent and 10% shelter, so I'd pick this again.
- water treatment: Sawyer Mini: 9/10. This thing rocks. Arguably the full size one is better because the faster flow rate matters more than the extra 1oz. However, I'm engineering a gravity system for my mini (using just stuff I already have in my pack) that will make it superior once I work out the rest of the kinks.
- trekking poles: Black Diamond Trail Ergo Cork: 8/10. These are solid and I'd choose them again. However, I thought cork was supposed to mold to my hands and it isn't. Also Black Diamond tells thru-hikers with gear problems to go fuck themselves, whereas Leki fixes gear for free, so I wish Leki made this product.
- flip phone on Verizon: 9/10. I get way better service than other people with this combo. I'm just missing weather on the phone. Also other thru-hikers transform into cell phone zombies as soon as they get wifi, whereas I do not.
- Kindle Paperwhite: 10/10. The perfect luxury for the trail. Lighter than a single guide book and the battery lasts effectively forever. The Kindle Voyage is too brittle and the cheaper Kindle lacks the backlight. I've read 11 books so far.

[Matty]

Thanks for the detailed update Akratic. I’ve enjoyed reading about your trip so far! I’d love to do a long distance thru-hike like the AT at some point!

[thrifty++]

I'm truly amazed at how quickly and how young you have become FI.
How did you end up having $46k in assets after travelling and before starting work? Didn't you have student loan debts and other debts etc?

[akratic]

Hmm, thrifty++, I did work before traveling. My work/travel history following undergrad is something like:
a) 1 year masters (free plus I got a stipend that I probably saved $5k of)
b) 2 years working
c) 1.5 years travel
d) 3 years working with extreme mindset
e) 2.5 years travel

Before b) the initial 2 years of work I already had some decent personal finance knowledge, having read Your Money or Your Life, Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Millionaire Next Door and some basic Bogglehead style investing books. In 2 years of work I maxed 3 years worth of 401ks and wiped out all $15k worth of undergrad debt (MIT gave me grants for everything else) and my car debt and saved up the cash that I'd travel on during c). At this point I thought I was doing pretty good living on $25k/yr and having around a 60%-70% savings rate.

At the end of c) -- when the travel cash was close to running out -- I found the ERE blog and then became more badass during d) and e).

I'm headed back to the trail in another 30 minutes. See you guys in a month or so.

[thrifty++]

Wow you really have been diligent. That's awesome. I have been taking longer than you to get my shit together. But I am happy it is happening at least. I am sure you will be able to apply similar strategies to buy that house in Boston if you decide to do so. Have fun on the trail

[learning]

from your May 28th post:

== Mind ==

The biggest thing on my mind is homeschool. I've met 14 homeschooled kids on the trail, and I'm shocked at how cool and capable they all are. With homeschool as a real possibility for my hypothetical kids, the locations we can consider living change dramatically!

I´ve be thinking about this lately, too. Would you elaborate on what your observations were of the 14 homeschooled kids you met? In what ways were they cool or capable that would be different from similar people who have gone through the school system? Would you share any specific ideas that you may have had about homeschooling your kids, any specific developments in your thoughts on where you would live intead of that area in Boston you were concentrating on, and how these changes would impact your financial planning?

[akratic]

I’m at mile 1,500 now, in Massachusetts, over 2/3 of the way! I’ve being doing over 100 miles a week consistently, for at least the last eight weeks in a row. I’m now two days ahead of schedule.

== Body ==

I finally hit my stride and started feeling strong. My friends keeps telling me how skinny I am now, but it is a healthy weight, and the weight I was before the hike was unhealthy. My fitness is seriously improved, and I can charge up most mountains now without a break.

Admittedly, the terrain did get pretty easy there from the end of VA, through WV, MD, PA, NJ, and NY. Recently in CT and MA it has started getting difficult again, and the White Mountains of NH loom large.

I had thought I was done with being injured, but in the last week or two some earlier injuries — knee pain, Achilles tendonitis and shin splints — have started to resurface. However, I shall finish regardless.

== Mind ==

I’m still thinking about entrepreneurship, and my ideas there are increasingly refined. I’m also still excited about homeschooling my hypothetical kids, but that hinges on buy-in from my hypothetical wife.

I’ve read some good books recently, especially these:
- War and Peace by Tolstoy
- The Meaning of Human Existence by E. O. Wilson

I’ve also been thinking about the habits I want to choose after my hike is over. I will have a clean slate.

Although I eat 7 meals a day while hiking, my diet afterwards will be:
1) 500 calorie Vitamix breakfast smoothie with all vegetables and fruit needed for the day, plus oats and protein powder
2) 300? calories of Nuts (the only truly healthy portable food?)
3) 2,000 calorie dinner, one from a list of 15 and growing that we know how to cook, or a meal out occasionally.
You can probably see the Warrior Diet influence here, but I think this variation will be easier for me to stick to.

I want to keep the fitness thing going as well, and intend to buy both an erg and a weighted bar to hold while playing DDR, and then to combine that with regular weight lifting, occasional backpacking trips, and ideally some kind of pickup sport on the weekends.

Regarding computer usage, I’d like to be much more focused with my time spent online. I intend to accomplish this in a few ways. For one thing I will have new daily rules such as no time-wasting websites like reddit.com before 5pm and no internet whatsoever after 11pm. But also I will borrow the idea of the sabbath from religion or the “zero day” from hiking and institute one day every a week, probably Saturday, with no internet access whatsoever.

Regarding cell phone usage, I’m loving the flip phone I got for the hike. When I finish the hike I will probably cancel my Republic Wireless smart phone subscription and instead use a combination of Google Voice on my computer and the $75/yr Selectel Wireless plan on the phone.

== Interpersonal ==

The quantity of people that I’m meeting has dropped substantially, but the quality has risen. Here’s two of the more interesting ones:

An extreme hiker who has hiked almost 10,000 miles in the past few years. For him the 2,190 mile AT is but a section of a larger hike. Amazingly, his entire pack including food and water weighs just 7 lbs. He doesn’t have a stove or camping pad or tent or changes of clothes, of course. But even more shocking is his diet: 1-3 bars, such as Clif Builder Bars, per day, 300-900 calories total. That’s it, and he goes 30-50 miles a day. He trains in the offseason like a power lifter, adding tons of muscle and fat. Then while hiking he carries almost nothing but eats his own body. Either he’s a convincing liar, or nutritionists need to find this guy and study what’s going on inside his body. I’m pleased to have progressed far enough on the hiker Wheaton scale to appreciate the greatness of what he’s doing, rather than seeing him simply as insane.

An extreme father, with a staggering number of kids, all of which he expects to be millionaires by the time they’re 30. He's on the path to accomplishing this by encouraging them towards career choices that both fit their individual personality type while also maximizing ROI. Why get a four year engineering degree resulting in a $60k/yr career, he wonders, when you could get a two year dental hygienist degree and make $90k/yr. Then bust your ass from 20 to 30, spending little, investing almost all the income, and then be free to do meaningful work for the rest of your life after that. It’s hard to argue with him, and kind of surprising to find perspective like this in the middle of nowhere.

== Next ==

I’m fascinated by backpacking hammocks and want to experiment with hammocks both while backpacking and at home.

I intend to start a garden, in gallon buckets if necessary. This garden will be oriented towards utility, towards growing the things we regularly eat and seeing how that compares to going shopping.

And we’re still trying to decide where to live and what to do after my hike is over.