A lot of people ask this question, and going by the comments from the FaceBook group of 4,000 oddballs who will attempt the PCT this year there is no really good answer.
“For Charity” is an easy one, but it isn’t really true. With a very small number of exceptions people don’t climb Kilimanjaro, walk the Great Wall, run a marathon etc etc for charity. Charities often benefit, sometimes inspire, occasionally even coordinate these efforts. But people do them for personal reasons. We are no different. We do hope to inspire and inform people about the incredible work of the London Air Ambulance – and we love that occasionally people might be moved to donate on account of that. So that doesn’t explain why we are going in the first place.
Hiking like this flies in the face of everything we are told is safe and sensible. To paraphrase Yogi’s truly fabulous guide, we are essentially taught to get a comfortable home, find secure life-long employment, have children, and enjoy our occasional holidays whilst waiting patiently to die. Living in the wilderness for months on end is basically the opposite of that.
So, why? Everyone’s answer is different. For Sam and me, the trail is where we feel most alive. Other people have golf, or sunbathing, or netball, or fast cars, or nicer kitchens. For us it’s just being outside, travelling as simply as it is possible to do. But why not just take a week’s holiday like everyone else? For us the question is the other way around – why is everyone else willing to make do with just a week?
