Professor: The Strategy That’s Helped Me Afford 6 Years, 15K Miles of Thru-Hiking (Jobs, Budgeting Tips, and More)

Ever since my first thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail in 2018, my life has revolved around the trail. By the halfway point of that first hike, I was already daydreaming about spending the next summer on the Pacific Crest Trail. Things didn’t exactly stop after that, either.

At first I thought I was just getting these experiences in before I settled down. I had left my former career to begin my first thru-hike and had no plans of returning to it, anyway. But as I continued to accumulate miles, all I wanted to do was spend more time on trail. So for the last six years, that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to.

I’ve been refining my own path with the goal of living in full-time hiker-trash mode as much as reasonably possible. At the same time, I’m still juggling my involvement with my family, my relationships, and of course, figuring out how to fund it all.

This is by no means a universal “how to” on all of this. I recognize that a great deal of privilege and good fortune have allowed me to maintain this lifestyle. Even so, it can be helpful to see how this dream came together for one person. I hope that at least parts of my experience can help other folks string together a few more walks in the woods.

The hike that started it all: AT 2018

All the Jobs / Housing Arrangements I’ve Had (Before and After Becoming a Hiker)

Over the years, I’ve worked all over the country in a variety of jobs. Some have been fun and within my skill set, while others have been just for quick money. I have lived with both friends and family members for stints of time to save on living expenses. Some jobs provided housing. Here is a “resume” of all the traditional jobs I have worked since graduating college in the summer of 2015.

Uniform for working in a fish processing facility, fish scales and all.

Tall Timber Ranch Program Director | Leavenworth, WA | June 2015 – December 2017

• Housing Provided, Summer Job Turned Full-Time Salary Position

Burlington Stocker | Nashville, TN | February – April 2018

• Lived with my high school best friend for 2 months to save some extra money for the AT

AT Thru Hike | April – August 2018

Alabama Outdoors Sales Associate | Huntsville, AL | November 2018 – May 2019

• Lived with Aunt and Uncle

Das Stahl Bierhaus Beertender | Huntsville, AL | January – May 2019

• Second job while living in Huntsville
• Typically worked 6-7 days a week between both jobs

PCT Thru Hike | May-October 2019

Alabama Outdoors Manager | Birmingham, AL | November 2019 – October 2021

• Initially returned to old job in Huntsville, but was offered management position in Birmingham
• Moved into an apartment for the first time in my life in early March 2020
• Full-time salary position all the way through COVID era

Calendar Year Triple Crown + Thru-Hike | January-December 2022

Leader Creek Fish Processor | King Salmon, AK | July 2023

• 4 – 8 week gig pending availability
• Housing, food, AND transportation provided
• 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Intense work, excellent pay

The AT Hostel And Outfitters | Millinocket, Maine | June – October 2024

• Living and working at the northern terminus of the AT
• Housing provided

READ NEXT – Carl “Professor” Stanfield”: Reflections on the Calendar Year Triple Crown

Alabama Outdoors Career

Other “Work”

In addition to the variety of (relatively) traditional jobs I’ve had, I’ve also done a few other jobs behind a screen to pay for trail time.

The Trek

One of my first lucky breaks was getting onto the gear review team at the Trek. On my first thru-hike, I took meticulous notes of my experience. Being a numbers guy, I thought it would be neat to catalog all the stats of a thru-hike. I recorded everything from daily liters of water consumed and pees taken to the cumulative number of free beers and trail magic received. All of this information I compiled in an article after a summer of blogging for the site.

I followed that up with an article that precisely detailed all the changes in my gear over the course of that hike. The Trek team was smaller then, and these articles were enough to catch the eye of the editor at the time, landing me an invitation to review gear.

Since then, I have been fortunate enough to get to review gear regularly for over five years. In that time, I have logged 28 gear reviews, which have included pretty much the full list of backpacking gear: pots, satellite communicators, packs, quilts, tents, pads, base layers, everything. This gig has allowed me to stock up on quality gear, meaning that after my first thru-hike, I have purchased virtually no new gear myself, despite wearing out quite a bit of it.

Beertender Form

Sponsorships

This was another huge break for me, and it mostly came from one big hike. In 2022, I set out to attempt the record for most miles backpacked in a calendar year. My goal was 11,000 miles total, or 30 per day. I fell short of that goal but managed to put up 8,451.7 miles that year, with a successful run at the full Calendar Year Triple Crown as well as a lot of the Eastern Continental Trail in the US.

This flashy hike, combined with some good fortune on Instagram, led to a decent online following and ensuing sponsorship deals. This has obviously been a tremendous help, but I didn’t actually start making any money off of this until after that hike, beginning in early 2023.

Before that, I had sponsorships in the form of gear and discounts. The most significant sponsor of my 2022 hike was Alabama Outdoors, the store I had been working at for several years. In January of 2021, I sat down with my boss and put in a 10-month notice. I was extremely lucky and was met with a sponsorship offer on my way out. I collected a few more gear sponsors over my time on trail, and spent 12 months on trail that year without purchasing much gear.

Saving Money

In addition to making money, a huge way to help budget for full-time thru-hiking is not spending much of it. For this, I owe a great deal to my incredibly supportive friends and family. I have lived with loved ones for several months at a time free of charge, and have my stuff stored in extra bedrooms across three states. This is simply not something everybody has access to, and I recognize my excellent fortune here.

During the time I lived in an apartment, I was about as frugal as I’ve ever been. Again, luck played quite a factor here. I moved to a new city on March 13, 2020.

This era was a lot of things, but I was personally lucky in that it was an excellent time not to spend money. I did not have any friends in town, dining experiences were … different, and I was excited to have my own kitchen. I did virtually 100 percent of my own cooking for the year and a half I was there and didn’t really have friends to go out and do things with until I was almost gone.

A limited social life was extremely helpful for saving money, though obviously not something I’d recommend. This was the period when I saved up the most money by far, allowing me to spend the entirety of 2022 on trail and still be well enough off afterward.

Takeaway 

You can save a lot of money by going out less. Every meal you don’t go out for in regular life is a feast you’re treating yourself to on your next thru-hike, and every 4 – 5 outings skipped is a fancy hotel night on trail. These odds and ends add up significantly during off-trail life.

My last job before my first thru-hike

Hiking Expenses

I mentioned earlier that I have always kept a meticulous journal during my hikes, and that, of course, has included my expenses. I put together extensive accounts of each of my first few thru-hikes here on The Trek, and I am still in the process of compiling my 2022 data. This is just a quick glance at the expenses of my longer thru-hikes.

AT 2018: $3,163.33 | April 22-August 31 (132 days) | $23.96/day | $167.72/week | $718.80/month

PCT 2019: $4,964.57 | May 4-October 7 (157 days) | $31.62/day | $221.34/week | $948.60/month

CYTC+ 2022*: $18,000 | January 1-December 18 (350 days) | $51.43/day | $360.01/week | $1,542.90/month

*These expenses are a bit higher owing to transportation, single-person hotel nights, and inflation.

The Other Costs

It’s been awesome getting to spend so much of the prime of my life doing exactly what I’ve wanted to be doing. The back half of my twenties included significantly less time working than the vast majority of most people, and I have now spent roughly 6 percent of my entire life thru-hiking. I absolutely wouldn’t trade it for anything — truly anything.

All of that being said, there are definitely some non-monetary costs that come with this lifestyle.

Lack of Savings

I don’t have any extra money. I know how much money it takes me to thru-hike and to live comfortably, and I know how to make and save just more than that.

Mostly Single Life

Until recently, thru-hiking has consumed my life to such a degree that I haven’t had much time to pursue a relationship. One of the things I enjoy the most about thru-hiking is the complete sense of freedom on trail, and I have prioritized that over having a serious relationship.

It has also been much easier to find and take these odd jobs all over the country and snag a little living space in someone’s home when it’s been just me. All of that would have been more difficult if another person was part of the equation.

A one-week gig working in a kitchen at the camp I grew up going to in the spring after I finished the CYTC

No Career

At 31, I do not have any semblance of a career, at least not a traditional one. If the “whole hiking thing” doesn’t work out, I will be starting a career basically from scratch.

No Assets

To effectively live all over the place, it’s easiest (and pretty necessary) to not have much. I don’t have a home I’ve put money into, nor do I have much stuff. I have kept a car throughout everything except the year I was on trail for the CYTC+, and a recent revisit of my old hobby of Magic the Gathering has led me back to having a physical collection, but I haven’t accrued much other stuff.

Shallow Roots

It’s cheap to bounce around couch surfing and staying in guest bedrooms, but the amount of private space that’s fully mine is slim to none. I have plenty of comfortable places at relatives’ homes, but as much as I move around, I’m usually living out of a suitcase in these spaces. I don’t fully have roots anywhere.

Societally “A Bum”

Not everybody I talk to is as stoked about this lifestyle as I am. It can be awkward in social settings to explain what I do for work or where I live. My entire family and friends network is wonderfully on board, but I’ve found myself feeling a bit out of place more than once.

Finale of the PCT in 2019

Is It All Worth It?

I don’t think I was ever destined for a traditional path. At times I thought I was heading for one, but falling into the rabbit hole of thru-hiking completely changed everything. My values and dreams were completely recalibrated.

Maybe someday I will have a more traditional home and job setup. But at least today, pulling the thread of how deep I can go into complete thru-hiking obsession continues to open new and exciting doors for me.

I’ve loved all my unique jobs and the fascinating people I’ve met along the way. I’m extremely grateful for the amount of time in my youth I’ve gotten to spend walking around the planet. And to this day, the thrill of the next adventure continues to excite, inspire, and drive me. I love being Hiker Trash.

Featured image: Photo via Carl Stanfield. Graphic design by Zack Goldmann.