Interview with Ethan

Ethan is a 26 year old who works for General Motors in Detroit. He grew up in Cambridge and graduated from Yale with a degree in engineering. This interview took place at  Shaw's Hiker Hostel in Monson, Maine. 

What was your motivation for starting to hike the AT?

I grew up hiking around the green and white mountains a lot. And I knew about the Appalachian Trail, you know, in that microcosm, but I didn't really know about the through hiking culture or that that was a possibility until I was doing a orientation tour my freshman year of college at Yale. And we were doing 10 days out in the Berkshires, in the Western Mass area. And it just happened that one night, at of the shelters we met a through hiker. She was doing the whole trail and that was eye opening to me at that time about what was possible. So I actually initially meant to do the trail after graduating college, because I had a bit of a delay for my job started. But I graduated in 2020, during the initial onset of COVID. And they were urging folks not to hike the trail at that point. And so I decided it wasn't the right time. And therefore, it was more of a goal oriented thing. I'm a runner, I'm a rock climber. I like hiking, I like pushing myself, I kind of wanted just to do it as a an achievement in that sense. I tabled it for a long time. And then I just hit a point in my career in the past, you know, six months or a year where I needed a real break. I don't really know where I want to go next in my career. I didn’t really have time to step back and think and reflect about it. So I wanted a space where I could fully step away and just think things through and I thought this would be a great time to hike the trail and have time to sit back and do that.

What have you enjoyed the most in your hike? 

I’ve only been on the trail for nine days over 100 miles. But I'd say it's a mixture of a few things. Obviously, the views are great, but I think a lot of it comes down to the serenity you can have and the calmness of being out at your own pace, kind of doing what you want to do. There's no external influences on you. You're at the mercy of your own decisions. And of course, nature. But it's nice to just have that flexibility and calmness around you.