The Google gods suggests it costs between $5-8K to hike the Appalachian Trail, for instance. This includes food, lodging, and gear. It can cost a lot more or maybe less, but let’s use $6K for the sake of this discussion.
It's important to know that this $6K is just the tip of the iceberg. It does not include a much more significant factor: income opportunity loss. That is, the income you would have realized if you were not hiking.
Opportunity loss is a standard factor in business and risk management calculations. It’s not something you would put on your card or write a check for, but it is unrealized income. It's something you would have had if you made a different choice.
Six months away is, obviously, half of an annual salary. The average annual salary in the U.S. is around $65K.
So, the real cost of doing a 6-month hike for the average person in the U.S. is more like $39K. That’s unrealized wages at $33K, PLUS the cost of the hike, $6K. And if you are paid more – obviously this number increases. For instance, at an annual salary of $100K, the real cost is $56K - maybe more.
That’s an expensive hike.
I know there are all kinds of people in all kinds of situations out on trail. And so, the numbers I just ran through will be different for everyone. It’s not about the precise math – it’s about being fair when considering the real cost of whatever situation you’re in.
The Three Primary Groups on Trail
This financial hit is partly why the trail is mostly populated with three kinds of people:
For the first two, the financial loss for them doesn’t feel as real. But, make no mistake, just because you are not employed at the moment you intend on starting the trail doesn’t mean you shouldn’t count the loss, because, unless you’re career plans are to be homeless and jobless, there’s income to consider. This is a good time to be reminded of the entire picture and not be blinded by the romance of the adventure.
But the last one is really the best time, financially, to hike a long trail. In retirement, there is no income opportunity loss. Of course, a long trail requires a physically capable person, which is riskier to wait and hope you can do this by the time you retire.
To make this less risky, one can significantly increase the odds by committing early to an active lifestyle, eating well, and getting their finances in order. Doing hard things is tougher or different as we age. But it’s not a disqualifier. Not at all. I’m more active now in my 60's than I ever was.
The Case of the Young Adventurer.
Let’s play out the scenario in the case of the young adventurer who graduates university but wants to do several long trails while they are still young.
This person would need to find some employment between hikes to finance them, which takes time. So, realistically this person wouldn’t enter the work force until they were 30-ish years old. They have no steady work experience, no notable employer commitment, no use of the degree they earned, which is old now, especially the way technology is advancing. The starting salary for this 30 year old will be that of a 22 year old. When those 8 years of investment and savings are compounded, that's a significant number, a significant loss.
And now this person will need to work well into their seventies – maybe 80 - if they can still walk and they are healthy. And those last 10 years are when people make the most money. But companies don’t keep old people around. Ask me about that. And I’m not even that old. So, there's another significant financial loss.
I’ve heard the phase “I’m spending my retirement when I’m young” – which is another way of saying: “I’ve decided I want to work until I’m 80, hope that I'm healthy enough to work until then, and be financially dependent on my fixed income”.
The Shorter Hike Option
Let’s look at what the numbers would be if a person did shorter hikes instead? Would would one every year or every few years look like?
One could calculate that many shorter hikes could, over the long run, cost more than one long hike. This is because transportation costs accumulate, maybe more gear replacement over time, etc. So it might be a larger sum, but it would be spread over years, which is more financially manageable.
It's About More Than Money
Of course, the “cost” isn’t just a financial thing. For instance, there’s an emotional cost to missing out on a great thing. There also may be an opportunity cost to a lost experience.
This is not insignificant. And these might be more valuable to some people than the financial loss. That’s something for each of us to figure out.
The cost and the value of life experiences is often underestimated. Many people have said in their later years that they wish they would have spent more of their money on experiences rather than things. That is a wisdom speaking.
So, although Google may give you a number, don't settle on that. Think it through and count ALL costs.