A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that if anyone had any questions about this idea of hiking the PCT this year, to ask.
Twice this week I was asked “so does this mean that you’re going to be homeless?”
In the traditional sense, yes.
We will turn over the keys to the house that we’ve been renting for the last couple of years. All of our stuff, well the stuff that hasn’t been donated, recycled or thrown away, will be in storage.
Once we put the car in storage and step off from the southern terminus of the trail at Campo, California, everything we have or need will be on our backs.
I will carry the shelter, Jennifer will carry the kitchen and we’ll each carry the stuff that we each need for the hike.
That’s it – we will have a house and we’ll be together.
That’s home.
We’ll just have a different view out front every morning.
After the hike? We don’t know right now. That’s part of the fun of the hike. We’ll figure out where it takes us.
The picture at the top is the view of one home. It was the last morning of a long hitch of trail work down in California. It was the middle of summer, August 5th to be exact.
It looks like snow on the ground, doesn’t it?
It wasn’t. That’s the remnants of the hail storm we had overnight. By 2am there were several inches of hailstones blanketing the entire area, but most of it had melted in the summer warmth by sunrise. The evaporational cooling created quite a thick layer of fog over the area by the time we broke camp.
That little tent did a fine job of protecting that young man through the worst of the rain, the hail and the runoff. It was extremely loud inside my tent, which was protected by trees. I still can’t imagine how loud it was for him out in that meadow. But he emerged in the morning with a big smile on his face.
That was a fine home.
Do you have any questions about this journey of ours? Let me know and I’ll talk about it.
Thanks for reading.
Bill Anders' Rambling, Photos & Beating Feet 
Fantastic! I can’t tell you the depths of envy your impending “homelessness” is creating in me. I am so excited for you both and can’t wait to follow your journey. I can’t think of any specific questions right now, but am intrigued by the original question.
It’s interesting how are society views stability of living arrangements as a necessity to the extent we can’t fathom that a nomadic or transient lifestyle would possibly be a choice that someone would make. Modern Western society highly values putting down roots, which kind of explains the underlying disdain with which we hold for the homeless. It’s incredible we don’t do more to ensure that it is only ever a choice. I’d love to explore this topic further, but I have to go to school so I can eventually get a job that will sufficiently accommodate my lavish, rooted lifestyle — uh, I mean pay my bills.
It’s interesting to see how different Western cultures approach the same issue. Here in the states, the roaming isn’t an accepted lifestyle, unless it is in pursuit of a career. In the Commonwealth countries and a large portion of Europe, it’s considered normal to spend the better part of one’s early adult years being a nomad. Sure, the expectation is for one to eventually settle down, but those that don’t aren’t typically looked at as if they have something wrong with them.
I believe most are jealous of our up and coming living situations. I looked up the definition of a “home” and found some relevant explanations.
Home: a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household.
or
the place in which one’s domestic affections are centered.
But my favorite one is: the dwelling place or retreat of an animal.
We are animals! Returning to our natural habitats! Can’t wait, see you out there hopefully.
Anthony – I don’t think that jealous is correct in most cases. Perhaps a tinge of that related to letting go of one’s perceived responsibilities, but overall? Jealousy isn’t quite right.
I think that it’s really an existence that is outside the comfort bubble of most people. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it’s what society creates and expects. For so many generations, we in the US have learned that success is measured by the accumulation of stuff. You can’t have a lot of stuff to show your success unless you have a large house, often with a large garage and, in some cases, a large storage facility in which to store your stuff.