Comment by raddan
I sort of did the opposite of you. I hiked the AT before I started my career. The interesting thing is that it has always given me a reserve to draw on when I am feeling burned out or upset like the original poster. I can always say “you know what? I was my happiest when I was living in a tent.” It’s a reminder that I don’t actually need much to be happy, and that thought helps keep me centered on what goals I choose and whether my pursuits are worth it.
Like you, I was also massively burned out on tech after the pandemic. I had a very stressful work experience combined with some family medical crises. I ended up just taking some time off to do some woodworking. I understand that I was in a very privileged position to be able to do this. But after taking my mind off of daily tech worries and focusing on what I enjoyed doing, I found that my thoughts naturally gravitated back toward technology-related work. I have since come to understand that this is what burnout looks like. It’s a nice reminder that just because I hate my job right now does not mean that I want to throw in the towel forever.
The trail provides! Its wild how much of the peace and calm I brought back from the trail into my regular life. I live in a major US city and traffic used to drive me insane. Now, I could care less. I just chill and roll with it. I'm more tolerant of people. I'm never in rush to get anything done or get anywhere quickly. I appreciate all that I have and all that I don't need. It really was just what I needed.
Like you said, definitely privileged to be able to do this, but I also found that a lot of people hiked both the PCT and AT on a shoestring budget and made things work. Maybe not stopping in every town or not going out to eat as often. If a person is dedicated and there to get the experience, money only made it easier, but the experiences were all very much the same I found.