I heard about this book on one of the backpacking podcasts I listen to at work to drown out my noisy co-workers.

Hike Your Own Hike is basically a self-help book, but it uses AT thru-hiker jargon instead of the normal psycho-babble you might expect from a self help book.

The author seems to be a pretty cool guy from what I’ve seen and heard of him on the internets.

The book basically follows his 2001 Southbound Thru-Hike of the AT, and is interspersed with seven “Principles” for how to live your life in a way so as not to be a loser.

A southbound AT thru-hike is no small feat, but what is even more amazing is that he managed to convince his lady friend to come along for the whole thing. I suppose that is preferable to spanking one’s monkey behind a tree, or whatever other thru-hikers do when they get lonely out there.

Some of the self-help advice seems a little hokey, honestly. Some of it is good. One thing I liked was the chapter on how to manage your expenses / finances in such a way as not to be a wage slave, so you can go on crazy adventures, and not piss your life away in a cubicle.

There’s also a interesting section about how he didn’t know about 9/11 until he walked into a town to re-supply. He immediately ran back into the woods, because he felt that civilization had become hostile somehow.

Anyhow, even with the hokey advice, it was fun to read and only took 2 days to finish.
I give Hike Your Own Hike 4 Jihadis out of 5.

You can even download the first chapter for free (1.4MB pdf) if you want to check it out before shelling out the moolah for the whole book.