Crazy story. A few years ago, I did a month on the Appalachian Trail (the little states: NJ, NY, CT, MA, VT) and found the social aspect of thru-hiking to be unexpectedly bizarre. Everyone goes by “fake” trail names. And relationships formed on the trail are intimate and distant, deep and superficial, all at the same time. Few people talk about who they were or are in the “real” world. I can’t tell you how many people (men specifically) that I met on the trail that fit this guy’s character type to a T: lost, lonely, getting away from everything and everyone. There’s nothing inherently wrong with those feelings, but by the time you give up on wrangling with reality, you’re toast.
Crazy story. A few years ago, I did a month on the Appalachian Trail (the little states: NJ, NY, CT, MA, VT) and found the social aspect of thru-hiking to be unexpectedly bizarre. Everyone goes by “fake” trail names. And relationships formed on the trail are intimate and distant, deep and superficial, all at the same time. Few people talk about who they were or are in the “real” world. I can’t tell you how many people (men specifically) that I met on the trail that fit this guy’s character type to a T: lost, lonely, getting away from everything and everyone. There’s nothing inherently wrong with those feelings, but by the time you give up on wrangling with reality, you’re toast.