Where does the money go? Food takes up a fair chunk of the budget. Thru hikers consume a massive amount of calories to fuel their bodies during the ~2,200 mile trek. Lodging, gear replacement, shuttles, and other smaller expenses make up the rest. In my case, I also need to factor in my car and health insurance and my monthly storage unit fees. I also wanted to save up enough money to live comfortably for a few months while I search for a job after I finish the trail. So how did I do it? Here a few ways I saved or earned money to fund my trip.
Moving in with the ‘Rents
This was a huge one. I am fortunate in that I moved back to my home town a few years ago and have a great relationship with my family. When my apartment lease expired, I put my stuff in a storage unit and moved back in with my parents. When I leave for the trail in March, I will have lived with them for about ten months. That’s about $10,000 saved that I would have been dumping into rent. Plus, I had the added perk of getting to spend some extra time with my family before I’m MIA for six months. Thanks, Mom and Dad!Selling My Stuff on eBay
This wasn’t a huge source of income, but every dollar counts. It also served double duty since I wanted to get rid of stuff I didn’t need before moving out of my apartment. Most of the funds raised from my eBay sales went to buying my gear. Buying gear is so addicting…Using Credit Card Rewards Points
I try to use my credit card for purchases whenever possible so that I can rack up rewards points. Most of the time, I forget I have these points so they really stack up! Last year, I was able to get $1,000 worth of Visa gift cards using my points. I used half for a trip to Hawaii and half to buy yet more gear. It’s like free money!I also signed up for an REI Visa card. I received a gift card for signing up and get a bigger dividend as a cardholder.
Shopping Sales
Because I decided to do a 2014 thru hike back in the summer of 2012, I had plenty of time to research purchases and search for good deals (shopping online is key here). I created a spreadsheet of all my purchases and marked how much I saved on each item. Also, because I started planning so early, I had two Christmases and two birthdays on which I could ask for gear as gifts. That helped me save money as well and allowed my family to feel like they were contributing to my journey.Because I was able to save up a good chunk of change for my hike, I’ve had the luxury during these past few weeks of swapping out prior purchases with newer, lighter weight options. I plan to sell my “old” gear and make some of that money back. Once I had all of my gear purchased and put it onto my back, I realized I wanted to shave another pound or two off of my base weight. I’ve recently replaced my puffy jacket, rain jacket, cookpot/mug, and sleeping pad. Altogether, that helped me shave approximately two pounds (or about 10%) from my base weight. Not too shabby!
