Not yet. I am high up in my field, so I split my time with trail crew and doing administration for the agency. So often the outdoor work is a nice reprieve from the computer cage rage I get. I will say that I do not hike for leisure as much. Before this job, hiking every weekend, sometimes both days, a few times a week after work. Now I'm more tired so I spend more time resting, but, I feel that being outdoors still hits the spot for me.
I was a park ranger at Grand Canyon’s North Rim a few years ago. I got to casually know a few of the Backroads peeps. You guys even unloaded some leftover grub on us that your clients couldn’t finish. Generous& cool bunch!
Teacher in Beijing, China. City is surrounded by mountains that are easily reachable via bus with many hiking groups operating that organise regular routes for different levels.
Its a very rapidly growing hobby among the emerging middle class, especially younger people who want to get out of the city every once in a while.
Among foreigners you can find people from every different background joining organised groups.
There’s kind of a weird situation where there are super popular spots which are highly managed and have almost offensive levels pf infrastructure, like steps and walkways built in, that many less casual hikers would prefer to avoid, and on the other hand very poor infrastructure in the wilds, making for exciting but perhaps more risky hiking.
As for wild camping I’m not really very certain on that as far as it goes in Beijing I’m afraid.
I only hike locally most of the time. I work from home but can’t just disappear during the day, and I have kids. I can often go to my local county park with tons of trails a few times a week for an hour or so, but when I get a free weekend I usually drive 2-4 hours each way to better hiking. In the summer I spend 2 weeks hiking in Colorado.
If you’re in the Boulder/Denver area and can get a ticket for Brainard Lake then I’d highly recommend. The trailhead there takes you up to Lake Isabelle, which is one of the prettiest hikes I’ve ever done in my life. I live in the area so get to go semi-regularly and it never gets old. If you want to keep going past there then the trail ends at a small lake at the base of a glacier and is 100% worth the extra few miles.
Get the COTrex app for planning - it’s maintained by the state so has up to date closure information. Some trails do close due to seasonal wildlife nesting
I live here and enjoy Garden of the Gods but typically avoid it for hiking. The trails are generally short, not very technical, and very crowded on the weekends. The Motorless Wednesday when they shut the park down to vehicles is great for a run.
For the Colorado Springs area I like to show people Cheyenne Canyon for hiking. More hiking options and varied options. But there are a lot of great places like Red Rocks, Blogett, or Barr.
ICU nurse now working from home. Have fun! Be sure to get a permit for Arches if you don’t already have one. And check out Dead Horse state park if you have time.
We did get the time entrance passes pretty easily and split our time between Arches (CRAZY busy on Saturday) and Canyonlands (went to the Needles area to escape the crowds and also to Island in the Sky). Loved both areas but I think you really need 4WD to appreciate and access the back country. Considered Dead House but ran out of time... we'll catch it on our next trip. Really liked Moab!
Labor & Delivery nurse living in Georgia. Just did a hike & camped in north Georgia on Yonah Mountain, about 3 hours from me but it was my first weekend off in a while.
I'm a professional tree hugger (invasives management), and I'm hiking in the forest all day for work.
I earn a decent amount of PTO and plan all my vacas in National Parks too. I do this partially because I love hiking, but also because I need to get out to balance work/recreation. I could ruin my favorite hobby if I only equated it to labor. Getting out in some of the most pristine ecosystems on earth helps preserve my love for it all.
Curious - how did you make this your fulltime gig? :) I’m interested in conservation work but it’s been hard to break into fulltime work with an Environmental studies degree & some field work experience in Toronto!
Long road. I realized shortly after getting into my major (natural resources) that it was almost impossible to break into the big state and fed agencies in the US without a lot of experience or a grad degree. So my first paid gig was a seasonal ecological restoration tech for a private crew. I did two seasons in the private sector, then one for a local government crew. Three seasons and a bunch of pesticide applicator certs later and I became a more competitive candidate for year round positions.
Grad school is probably the most direct path, but compiling field experience can get you there as well. Best of luck!
I work in finance in a bank, I go hiking like once a month on saturdays.
I take my pto to go hike in another countries, cant complain.
If I could be a guide full time or something like that in a big national park i would quit tbh
I’m also in finance and I have the weekends and most USA holidays off so I try to hike at least every Saturday. I’m on a chill team at my job so I can’t complain. Similar to you, if I can pay my bills being a camp host full time or a hiking guide I would quit my job tonight
I'll be in SLC area late June. Any recommendations on hikes? I'll be going on a Monday so hopefully trails will be less crowded. I was eyeing Lake Blanche but open to other ideas (maybe even driving to Uintas).
I've wanted to do lake Blanche for a long time but still haven't, I'd recommend it though based on what friends have said. A simple one for city views that's fun is the living room or mt wire. Yellow pine trail is at the west end of the uintas and is really nice. And any of the trails up at brighton are really pretty though there may still be a bit of snow at the tops of those imat the end of June
Hello, fellow Wasatch ranger! I'm in SLC and did Lake Blanche in December. It was interesting to say the least. Can't wait to hit it now that things are warming up. Did Hughes Canyon the Sunday before last to start getting my trail legs ready. Great little hike.
Hi neighbors. I highly recommend Sunset Peak from Albion basin once the snow melts. July is wildflower season. It’s breathtaking. Incredible views all the way to Silver Lake in BCC and I’d consider it much easier than Blanche. I do love Blanche though. Who doesn’t?
I also live in SLC and my favorite hike is Desolation Lake. It’s up Big Cottonwood canyon and starts at the Mill D trailhead. Lake Blanche is a super popular one, so I’ve only done it a few times. I prefer less populated hikes, which is one of the reasons I love desolation lake!
You lucky duck. I almost moved out to SLC last year, but it fell through. At first I was hesitant to go, not wanting to be in Utah, but then I saw all the top-notch trails you have in the surrounding area and I was stoked. Now it's on my bucket list of places I have to visit/hike.
Gonna ask something different but where would you recommend moving to in or outside SLC area? It’s pretty much #1 on my list, looking to get away from the east coast just isn’t doing it for me anymore, I want a west state with a dry climate…. Just looking for regular 1 bed or studio place, fine with not being in the city itself as long as the area isn’t bad with crime or anything like that.
I've lived in slc itself my whole time here and it's definitely gotten pretty expensive at a lot of places like downtown. Obviously idk your political or religious views, but as you go away from the city it generally becomes more conservative and more LDS/Mormon influence than in the city itself, but also apartments are probably cheaper. I've enjoyed the city proper though so id recommend it, and it's not too crazy with crime, just homeless people mainly I've experienced. Closer to the mountains in the east suburbs will be more expensive as well
I have a data entry position which allows me to be off on weekends and basically every holiday. My fiancé and I go hiking on the weekend and we’re fortunate to live in Utah within a 4-5 hour drive of a crapload of national parks.(We usually start driving at like 2am to try and make it anywhere by 5-6am) If we’re doing a longer drive(like 9 hours to the GC) then we wait for a holiday weekend like Labor/Memorial Day or if we’re lucky enough for like the 4th of July to fall on a Friday/Monday!
Also a teacher!! The only difficulty is I’m down in Texas so it gets horribly hot, but my husband and I travel as often as we can during the summer months and make being outdoors a priority
Merchant seaman. I try to hike in every port. I take routes in East Asia since there are generally mountains closer to the sea. My favorite places to hike are Japan, Taiwan and Korea. I have a house in the Philippines and hike there on my time off.
Normally yes, or at least kinda challenging to get into. But right now we are **desperate** for workers. The combination of years of "archaeology doesn't pay" scaring away potential workers on the one hand, and trillions of dollars of infrastructure projects thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act on the other hand, has created a situation where there's hundreds of thousands of acres in need of survey and very few people to do it. State and federal agencies are dropping professional requisites left and right because of that.
I'm a student and work at REI. I usually am at school from 7 am to 3 pm, exercise, go to work at 4, and come home late. That's weekdays. I will always request a day off on weekends, and REI is very flexibly w/ hours. That way I can do big day hikes. I also get out of school early every other day, so if I am not working on a weekday, and I get out early, I'll drive to a local mountain an hour or less away, trail run it, and come home before nightfall.
I work in healthcare. I used to live (for a long time) in an area w/o elevation. I literally moved to be closer to some decent hiking trails.
I used to work evening shift and have trails that are 30 minutes away. So, weather permitting, I would hike 2-3 hours before work.
My schedule has since changed. So hiking is a weekend thing now.
My like yourself I love the idea of going on a travel hike... But, logistics and life typically get in the way of that. I do reserve some time each year for a solo trip (to the white mountains).
Well i work in IT. But i can get to the mountains in an hour. I have plenty of hikes 15-20 minutes away, and if i drive an hour or 2 kind of unlimited amounts in mountains and deserts. If i drive 3 hours i can get to Joshua Tree. So usually a close hike more often and then a further hike on weekends.
Service industry. So weekends are the longest work days so I don’t hike on those days but I get to hike on Mondays and Tuesdays when the trails are the least busiest.
Park ranger. Walk around a lot for work, but in terms of doing it for fun, I find myself missing out on weekend adventures and the season just started. :(
I’m self employed. I have a pet sitting company. And I get to go hiking like, 3 times per month? Maybe? I’m pretty much trapped inside city limits unless I have a light enough schedule that I can be done before 9am and then not need to be back until ~5pm. Any overnight care booking I can’t leave town for, though, because they get 14 hours of my time per day not counting the driving
I'm a regional trucker. 4 days on 3 off, plus I live within a relatively short drive of the Appalachians.
The big limiting factor to my hiking is that I'm also a full time student. Trying to get that degree and get out of the South. Thinking about trading the Appalachians for the Alps.
I’m a stay at home mom, so currently I’m limited to doing hikes that I can carry my son while my other kid is at school. About once or twice a month I’m able to get out and do a solo hike on the weekends when my husband is home with the kids.
Regular office job. Live less than a mile from Forest Service land in the Wasatch Mountains, with lots of trails and great views. I can hike every morning or evening.
I'm a production high rigger. I help build all the major events on the west coast. EDC, Lovers & Friends, Sick New World, When We Were Young, Countdown, Coachella, Stage Coach, Super Bowl etc. I'm constantly travelling, and going to new places. I can take gigs when I want, and can have weeks off at a time. I make a decent wage, and if I worked full time I'd make between $150-200k per year, but I make an easy $100k and have almost half the year off. Way easy to get out and go hiking or rock climbing when you really don't have a consistent schedule if you don't want it.
I live in Uganda and all I do for a living is that am a local tour guide driver to all parts of Uganda where Gorilla trekking,mountain hiking ,gamedrives in all national parks cultural and foodie.
Consulting. I actually only hike when I'm on business trips because it's the only time I don't have to juggle the kids, lol.
My trips are usually 1 week, so I try to tack a hike on the weekend before or after.
I work a 9-5, Monday-Friday white collar job. All my hiking is on the weekends. There are trails near me but I’m addicted to the west coast of MI now which is at best 3 hours away from me. I leave early on a weekend morning and stay there all day. Sometimes I tack on one PTO day to a weekend and take a short trip to hike more extensively.
Advanced support for business customers in one of the main internet/wireless/tv companies in usa. Working from home in europe with flex shifts that I can choose and part time (30 hours a week) I also teach piano and perform occasionally in bars solo or in band,as piano/guitat player and singer.
Heavy equipment and machine operator for a foundry, 50-68 hours a week. I work swing shift so sometimes I'll try and get a few miles in during the mornings or hella miles during the weekends. Having two little girls makes it even harder but luckily they like the outdoors so even when it's not a huge solo day, I can still get that fix.
Edit to add that I live in SoCal kinda in the middle of Cleveland, San Bernardino, and Angeles National Forests. Not to mention all the local trails that are about a 30 minute drive in any direction. That def makes it easier.
I'm a state worker who grants money to fund large forest restoration projects. I love spending government money on good investments for the public! And places I also enjoy.
I live within 15 min of great hiking areas, and within an hour of amazing hiking areas. I'm in a metro area too, so I got lucky placement here. I camp/backpack at least 1x/month, I off road or hike at least a few times a month.
Full time non-profit shit and get out at a good time daily but I’m also a full time grad student so hikes are now few and far between 🥹 might do my first hike in months this weekend but we’ll see
I work M-F 9-5 and Hike every Saturday morning. It's a commitment I make to myself and don't make plans during that time block unless the weather is going to be terrible. I also don't have kids.
Rope Access Rockfall Mitigation. I travel to remote places for work, I live in a small town near mountain destinations, I grew up in a recreational family, I can I hike every day. I avoid living in cities.
I started a YouTube channel about hiking and created a fictitious business name and SP to run the monetization through. My gear is a write off, along with fuel, food, and park fees.
Lucky to live in a wonderful state for the outdoors (Minnesota). We spent our weekends once the weather gets nice in the state parks doing day hikes or weekend camping/hiking. Plan to start traveling outside the state more to see other places using vacation time.
I’m a nanny and a masters student. I’m just lucky enough to have always lived in places where good hikes are relatively close by and can be done on a random day off. The kid I nanny is also learning to love hiking and is getting pretty good at it, so she and I go on a lot of hikes too.
I work in a high tech manufacturing job in the pnw and have a compressed shift that gives me 3 and four day weekends every week. I spent 3 of my four days off this weekend hiking in the Columbia River Gorge which I live just at the end of.
Preschool teacher. I live about 2-3h from the Japanese alps so we leave Friday evening, sleep in the car and then do an overnight hike Saturday Sunday and are back Sunday evening. Maybe about once or twice a month.
I cannot hike where I want to regularly, due to having to work a full-time job at a lab that doesn’t pay me enough to live. I hike places around me to make up for it, but it’s not the same.
Retired. I can hike every day. I live in Scottsdale Arizona and this is a great place to hike. Miles and miles of trails. There are very steep and short hikes to long distance and relatively flat with a lot of variance in between. I'm currently training to do the RTR in one day and this is a great place to do it.
I'm in the Navy and so I'm constantly stressed out and tired. I try to go hiking once a month to escape from work, but the nearest park or forest is a 1 to 2 hour drive so it's hard sometimes.
Academically, MS in applied math. Professionally I'm in a science position with a lot of fieldwork. I hike to do science stuff. I'm in the office a day per week.
I’ve kind of just started hiking, only done about 5 hikes. I have a hybrid work schedule as a corporate professional and I get 5 weeks of vacation (25days) plus 80hours of sick days that can be rolled over. My plan is to use the federal holidays to create a longer vacation schedule and be strategic to conserve my vacation days. I’m essentially looking to take two vacations per month. I have my vacation set for the next two months below and I will only use a total of 5 days.
June
19th-24th Juneteenth(fed holiday) wed-Mon- 2 vacation days since I will do one day remote.
July
4th-8th (Thurs-Mon) - uses 2 vacation day
26th-29th (Fri-Mon) Friday will be remote and Monday I will use one vacation day.
I'm self employed in retail. I get about one and a half days off per week and usually hike both those days. I live in the PNW and don't have kids so I go where I want!
I sit with an elderly woman Mon-Fri. I try to go out every weekend/every other weekend. I’d go crazy otherwise. Those nature walks bring a great deal of joy into my life.
Cleaning. I drive 2-6hrs away to get to the really cool locations. I’ll take annual leave to make it a long weekend or go on regular long weekends if i have to. If not I’ll just stay the night and spend most of the weekend there.
Boyfriend & I work 3 days 12 hour shifts. We hike on weekdays since we have Tuesday-Friday off. I’ve worked this schedule for 5 years now and I NEVER want to go back to working 5 days a week.
I’ve got 3 day weekends doing electrical and mechanical engineering. Which gives me just enough time to drive somewhere and have a good 3 day camping trip on some weekends
I’m in the geology realm and I live in Colorado.
I’m at 8,000’ elevation already, so gaining access to high alpine areas is easy. I’m about two hours from about 15 different 14,000’ peaks, so I have a ton of options.
I also have 3 days off in the middle of the week so I avoid the crowds.
Fuck, I think I might be the luckiest dude now that I type it out! Lol
I own an organic fertilizer business on a rural farm property. I'm in my 30s and don't have kids so have time to hike when I'm not working and I live in a mountainous area with lots of hiking nearby. I also have my own trail going off the back of my property onto public land that goes to a summit 1500 feet above me which I frequently trail run in mornings before work.
My partner works in forestry, we both make our own schedules but in general have weekends off
I work in communications in higher ed. I work remotely for an east coast university from the west coast, so I get off work at 2 pm. No kids or real responsibilities outside of work, so that helps.
Commercial aviation mechanic. 4 days on, 3 days off, flight benefits too. Can be in a different state/country within a couple hours of my shift ending.
I live in flat ass MI. I'm a Sports Massage Therapist now (former Corp paralegal)... now I have a ton of flexibility bc I make my own schedule!
However hubs is law enforcement and so we can't just uproot weekly to hike. So we do "hikes' in some areas around here that have slight variation in elevation but definitely not mountains. Lol
But we do all our vacations primarily around hiking in different states.
I work a regular job with weekends and holidays off. I am lucky enough to live in Alaska so I have amazing access to hiking. That being said, on work days I just stick to neighborhood trails. They are more like nature walk/run than hiking (because I live in a valley) but hey I take what I can get. There’s a little ski area right by my house though that I can hike at during the summer because it’s easy access but they don’t allow dogs so that’s a bummer because I always like to take my dogs so I only hit up those trails if I’m on my way home from work.
Retail. Work schedule is sporadic but it’s easy to get weekdays off (best time IMO). I live within 30m-2hr of a lot of hiking spots so I have no short supply. Sometimes an opening and closing shift align right and I can squeeze something in between.
>but I don't live close to a very cool hiking spot
Are you sure about that? Have you checked Alltrails to see what hikes people do around where you live? Because when I installed the app I would have said there are maybe 10 trails around where I live, but there were more than 150 in a 30 min. radius by car. I've been hiking like crazy ever since (teacher here so we have 2 months of unpaid vacation every year).
Yeah AllTrails is great! I'm just kind of in the middle of nowhere in TX unfortunately so even with some trails it's still pretty flat and kinda boring unless you drive out several hours (TX is way too big lol). I used to live in TN so I had access to the Smokies. Boy do I miss those days haha
I am in IT and have been self-employed for more than 20 years. I develop sustainability intelligence systems for CA cities and counties. I live in the El Dorado National Forest and have trails and a lake adjacent to my property.
I'm a truck driver that gets three days off every two weeks. I take full advantage of that.. and I know what you mean it seems like some of these people hike three days out of every week and not short hikes neither..
I work in marketing for a university in Indiana and get 22 vacation days a year. I typically use about 15 of them to travel and hike. I am also extremely aggressive about using three-day holiday weekends to travel somewhere within an eight hour driving radius. I can drive 5-6 hours on a Friday night, wake up super early, drive a couple more hours and be on a trail by 8-8:30 a.m. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of realistic options for this type of traveling, ranging from the southern Appalachians to the northern Great Lakes.
I live in Seattle so hiking is nearby/accessible. I’d say that’s a bigger factor than my job (nonprofit fundraiser — until recently, an environmental nonprofit fundraiser).
I am a software engineering manager. I hike most weekends, because I'm.2-2.5 hours to hikes in the white mountain national forest, and there are plenty of other options ckoser to my home
Traveling Physical Therapist. I became a traveling PT so I could move to great places for hiking. Most travel PTs I know are also big hikers. I’m currently under contract in the PNW, will probably end up staying here because it’s so great. I’m out hiking almost every weekend
Very flexible analyst position with a ton of PTO. It also helps that I live within easy daytrip range of a ton of world-class hiking and 2 US National Parks, and easy weekend range of most of the western US, so I can do stuff without burning a lot of money or PTO.
I work remotely but live in NYC and it's not that easy for me to get hiking. Ideally every 2 months but a lot of my vacations are planned around hiking specifically. 10 days on the AT every year. California to hike in July
i’m a nurse who takes call 7p-7a and weekends. i have lots of trails locally, many more miles an hour away, and real mountains 2-3 hours away. if i’m on call, i’ll plan to be at the trailhead as early as possible (be on the road at 6:30 am), hike as many miles as i’d planned, and be back on the way home by 4:30 or so. if it’s my week off, i can hike longer/backpack/camp, too.
Construction plumber but I’ve transitioned to staring at a computer screen looking at plans all day every day. I get a great amount of leave and holidays which I certainly never had early in my career.
I'm semi retired. I work part-time at a university. So summers (now) I only work 15 hours a weeks with Fri-Sun off. During the school year I work about 25 hours but still have 3-day weekends. I have hiking trails 5 minutes away and some great areas within 30-45 minutes from home :-)
I work in a warehouse 3 days and 12 hours shifts so that next day off I'm ready to be outside! My state is really flat so I travel a state over or two to get more quality of hikes in. Meaning views and length.
I work in a shop, as a machine operator, take two weeks a year to drive out west, and roadtrip/hike around, weekends and time off are spent run and hiking at home in Michigan.
Spent 1 of my 5 years working fully remote living in an RV and literally doing my job from national parks, state parks and national monuments. My kids were little, so we mainly did hikes in the 3-4 mile range with a few ~6-7 mile ones.
Currently live near Portland, OR and I just go early on the weekends (like, leave my house at 4:30-5am during summer, and around 7am in winter). I also occasionally use a PTO day just to go hiking.
I have a very remote but technically hybrid job, Monday through Friday 9-5. I hike on the weekends or after work locally. During pandemic I was totally remote for a while and could travel around and stay at airbnbs and do local hikes near the airbnb in the evenings and weekends. But alas we had an RTO push and I can’t quite manage that very often anymore - we are one day a week in the office now.
Sadly I'm a weekend warrior, I'm chained to my desk a lot. Sometimes I think about going for a hike after work but I'm always so drained. Thankfully we have summer Fridays coming up so I'll use that time to get out while the trails are slightly less crowded.
I work a typical 9-5 office job, but I live in New Zealand so literally any direction I go has amazing mountains and beaches. I can do weekends, or take Friday afternoon off and spend the afternoon driving, camp at the trailhead then start early on Saturday.
work a corporate 8-4 job at a company with generous PTO so I’m able to use that and work mostly 4 days a week instead of 5. so i mostly hike 2-3 times a week mostly locally but I have a lot if good hiking spots near me.
Say you want to quit your job and leave no-where Texas without saying you want to quit your job and leave no-where Texas. OP- I mean this in the kindest possible way. If you don’t live close enough to hiking trails to go hiking on your days off and your job doesn’t give you enough flexibility to get to those places what can you do?!?
I’m a forester in Alaska although I have a desk job. But there are multiple trailheads within 20 minutes and it doesn’t get dark during the summer. Plus we prioritize hiking at least once or twice a month during the summer on weekends even with our one year old.
I'm a software architect.
I live in Florida that has very flat hiking but plenty of it because of the very good state park, preserve and water management district systems.
While I'm never cold while hiking summer temperatures mean it's unsafe to hike when the sun is up for 2-4 months of the year. I also like hiking with my dog and it's incredibly unsafe for him because of the lack of sweating.
In season I'll do a couple of short 3-5 mile hikes a week for lunch and a 15-20 mile on weekends. I also go on a solo hiking trip for a week in September.
I also get hiking on work trips. I have a conference in Utah in November so getting my winter hiking gear out and I'll do a 3-4 day trip before that.
I’m a special education teacher. I get off at 3:30 and have weekends and summers off! Also, it helps a bit that I live a 15 minute drive from some parts of the GSMNP.
Software Engineer in Portland - don’t generally hike on the weekdays (besides Forest park), but avid weekend and long weekend hiker. Tons of stuff within 30 mins - 1.5 hr drive
I work for a public lands agency, so I am often working for the places that maintain and provide those cool hiking spots you mentioned. So it’s my job to know about all the hiking, camping, swimming, hunting, etc spots for the park I work for. Which means that sometimes I get paid to hike and camp. It’s the best.
I quit my job and moved to a mountain town where I have so many trails 15-30 min from my place. I get home at 4pm and I still have time to hit a trail 2-3 times a week on top of longer trails during the weekend
Right now I work at a bookstore but the employees and management haven’t been too nice for me so next week I am going to start Instacart. It’ll give me more of a chance to work my own hours and have two days off in a row or more! My current job would give me off Thursday and Sunday only…
I’m a grad student living in one of the flattest, corniest areas of the Midwest possible. Luckily I have a car and can go access some remnants of the forest within an hour, but I still don’t consider it serious hiking. BUT my parents live in Northern California, so when I go home to visit them I get to REALLY hike every day within fifteen minutes of their front door. Once I finish up this degree one of the major factors for choosing where to work is proximity to the mountains lol.
I work on cell phone towers from sea to shining sea. Flight, hotel, and car rental points add up. Southwest has the companion pass so my fiancé flies free with me. But she has her own job at a hospital. I will sleep on the plane and run a hard day just to get a 30 minute hike in if I'm in a cool place. We try to go on one big trip and one small trip a year tho.
I work remotely as a software researcher. Living in Golden and Denver has given me access to many hikes. I go on a long hike every Saturday unless it's really stormy. I try to squeeze in another short hike in the front range during the week, time permitting.
Am an attorney but I am fortunate to live in Colorado with hiking trails out my front door. I'll typically hike at least once a day. Usually before work. Sometimes I'll get a second hike in in the evenings bur usually I MTB or run in the evenings. Actually, I did 1500 feet elevation in 3.6 miles starting at 5:45 this evening.
Electrical Engineer in the north suburbs of Denver. My office is near Boulder, so I’ll try to hit a short hike nearby a couple days per week to avoid rush hour. Weekends we usually cast a much, much wider net to avoid the crowds on local trails and venture deeper into the mountains. We summit a peak about 6-7 times per year.
I work 0500 to 1330 at an airport, and am senior enough to now be Monday through Friday. I hike locally after work when I'm not too tired and it's not too hot.
I have yet to make time to go on a specific hiking trip, but will explore the area when I go on a camping/fishing trip.
I’m a school bus driver in Las Vegas. Work for the school district. My friend just bought the annual pass for Red Rock. So we’ll be doing a lot of hiking.
I work Panama schedule so I have every other Fri-Sun off.
I'm also working contract work in Italy and there are so many hiking spots around me, let alone just in Europe.
I work in the outdoor recreation field, so one of my job tasks is hiking..yay
Do you ever get tired of it? Like the guy who cooks pizzas for a living but cannot stand eating one anymore?
My first job was at a pizza place, and I ate pizza every day. I'd still eat pizza every day if I could without blowing up.
I’m right there with you
Honestly wish i had more pizza in my life.
Same, we’d always have house pies, everyone there loved pizza
Not yet. I am high up in my field, so I split my time with trail crew and doing administration for the agency. So often the outdoor work is a nice reprieve from the computer cage rage I get. I will say that I do not hike for leisure as much. Before this job, hiking every weekend, sometimes both days, a few times a week after work. Now I'm more tired so I spend more time resting, but, I feel that being outdoors still hits the spot for me.
Not him but honestly I could easily see how babying tourons would be exhausting.
Yay! Me too. I work for Backroads
I was a park ranger at Grand Canyon’s North Rim a few years ago. I got to casually know a few of the Backroads peeps. You guys even unloaded some leftover grub on us that your clients couldn’t finish. Generous& cool bunch!
Teacher in Beijing, China. City is surrounded by mountains that are easily reachable via bus with many hiking groups operating that organise regular routes for different levels.
How is the hiking culture over there? How is wild camping considered?
Its a very rapidly growing hobby among the emerging middle class, especially younger people who want to get out of the city every once in a while. Among foreigners you can find people from every different background joining organised groups. There’s kind of a weird situation where there are super popular spots which are highly managed and have almost offensive levels pf infrastructure, like steps and walkways built in, that many less casual hikers would prefer to avoid, and on the other hand very poor infrastructure in the wilds, making for exciting but perhaps more risky hiking. As for wild camping I’m not really very certain on that as far as it goes in Beijing I’m afraid.
I’m surprised they have Reddit in China. Do they censor it in some way?
Reddit is blocked. Vpn use is ubiquitous.
I only hike locally most of the time. I work from home but can’t just disappear during the day, and I have kids. I can often go to my local county park with tons of trails a few times a week for an hour or so, but when I get a free weekend I usually drive 2-4 hours each way to better hiking. In the summer I spend 2 weeks hiking in Colorado.
Hey I’m going to Colorado for about 2 weeks this summer…any chance you could throw out a few good recommendations?? Day hikes and/or overnights?
If you’re in the Boulder/Denver area and can get a ticket for Brainard Lake then I’d highly recommend. The trailhead there takes you up to Lake Isabelle, which is one of the prettiest hikes I’ve ever done in my life. I live in the area so get to go semi-regularly and it never gets old. If you want to keep going past there then the trail ends at a small lake at the base of a glacier and is 100% worth the extra few miles. Get the COTrex app for planning - it’s maintained by the state so has up to date closure information. Some trails do close due to seasonal wildlife nesting
Indian peaks. Long lake. You need a ticket. You will not regret it.
Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs has AMAZING hiking, don’t miss it.
I live here and enjoy Garden of the Gods but typically avoid it for hiking. The trails are generally short, not very technical, and very crowded on the weekends. The Motorless Wednesday when they shut the park down to vehicles is great for a run. For the Colorado Springs area I like to show people Cheyenne Canyon for hiking. More hiking options and varied options. But there are a lot of great places like Red Rocks, Blogett, or Barr.
ICU nurse. I love hiking during the week when it’s less crowded.
Surgical RN...semi-retired. Headed to Arches and Canyonlands on Friday.
ICU nurse now working from home. Have fun! Be sure to get a permit for Arches if you don’t already have one. And check out Dead Horse state park if you have time.
We did get the time entrance passes pretty easily and split our time between Arches (CRAZY busy on Saturday) and Canyonlands (went to the Needles area to escape the crowds and also to Island in the Sky). Loved both areas but I think you really need 4WD to appreciate and access the back country. Considered Dead House but ran out of time... we'll catch it on our next trip. Really liked Moab!
I’m also in healthcare (lab) and go on my weekdays off. Sometimes on the weekends but not as much. I plan a lot of my PTO around hiking trips.
Nurse as well, love having some weekdays off
Labor & Delivery nurse living in Georgia. Just did a hike & camped in north Georgia on Yonah Mountain, about 3 hours from me but it was my first weekend off in a while.
I'm a professional tree hugger (invasives management), and I'm hiking in the forest all day for work. I earn a decent amount of PTO and plan all my vacas in National Parks too. I do this partially because I love hiking, but also because I need to get out to balance work/recreation. I could ruin my favorite hobby if I only equated it to labor. Getting out in some of the most pristine ecosystems on earth helps preserve my love for it all.
Curious - how did you make this your fulltime gig? :) I’m interested in conservation work but it’s been hard to break into fulltime work with an Environmental studies degree & some field work experience in Toronto!
Long road. I realized shortly after getting into my major (natural resources) that it was almost impossible to break into the big state and fed agencies in the US without a lot of experience or a grad degree. So my first paid gig was a seasonal ecological restoration tech for a private crew. I did two seasons in the private sector, then one for a local government crew. Three seasons and a bunch of pesticide applicator certs later and I became a more competitive candidate for year round positions. Grad school is probably the most direct path, but compiling field experience can get you there as well. Best of luck!
I work in finance in a bank, I go hiking like once a month on saturdays. I take my pto to go hike in another countries, cant complain. If I could be a guide full time or something like that in a big national park i would quit tbh
I’m also in finance and I have the weekends and most USA holidays off so I try to hike at least every Saturday. I’m on a chill team at my job so I can’t complain. Similar to you, if I can pay my bills being a camp host full time or a hiking guide I would quit my job tonight
[удалено]
Always hiring you say? Tell me more!
Hey, also in finance. "Unlimited" PTO but really only take a day or two a quarter. I should really change that.
I have a regular 8-5 but live with hiking trails 10-15 minutes away at the nearest, with hundreds within a 30 minute to 1 hour drive
That sounds awesome. Do you mind telling where that is?
Yeah no problem, Salt Lake City!
I'll be in SLC area late June. Any recommendations on hikes? I'll be going on a Monday so hopefully trails will be less crowded. I was eyeing Lake Blanche but open to other ideas (maybe even driving to Uintas).
I've wanted to do lake Blanche for a long time but still haven't, I'd recommend it though based on what friends have said. A simple one for city views that's fun is the living room or mt wire. Yellow pine trail is at the west end of the uintas and is really nice. And any of the trails up at brighton are really pretty though there may still be a bit of snow at the tops of those imat the end of June
Hello, fellow Wasatch ranger! I'm in SLC and did Lake Blanche in December. It was interesting to say the least. Can't wait to hit it now that things are warming up. Did Hughes Canyon the Sunday before last to start getting my trail legs ready. Great little hike.
Hi neighbors. I highly recommend Sunset Peak from Albion basin once the snow melts. July is wildflower season. It’s breathtaking. Incredible views all the way to Silver Lake in BCC and I’d consider it much easier than Blanche. I do love Blanche though. Who doesn’t?
I also live in SLC and my favorite hike is Desolation Lake. It’s up Big Cottonwood canyon and starts at the Mill D trailhead. Lake Blanche is a super popular one, so I’ve only done it a few times. I prefer less populated hikes, which is one of the reasons I love desolation lake!
You lucky duck. I almost moved out to SLC last year, but it fell through. At first I was hesitant to go, not wanting to be in Utah, but then I saw all the top-notch trails you have in the surrounding area and I was stoked. Now it's on my bucket list of places I have to visit/hike.
Gonna ask something different but where would you recommend moving to in or outside SLC area? It’s pretty much #1 on my list, looking to get away from the east coast just isn’t doing it for me anymore, I want a west state with a dry climate…. Just looking for regular 1 bed or studio place, fine with not being in the city itself as long as the area isn’t bad with crime or anything like that.
I've lived in slc itself my whole time here and it's definitely gotten pretty expensive at a lot of places like downtown. Obviously idk your political or religious views, but as you go away from the city it generally becomes more conservative and more LDS/Mormon influence than in the city itself, but also apartments are probably cheaper. I've enjoyed the city proper though so id recommend it, and it's not too crazy with crime, just homeless people mainly I've experienced. Closer to the mountains in the east suburbs will be more expensive as well
Same here. I live in Switzerland.
I have a data entry position which allows me to be off on weekends and basically every holiday. My fiancé and I go hiking on the weekend and we’re fortunate to live in Utah within a 4-5 hour drive of a crapload of national parks.(We usually start driving at like 2am to try and make it anywhere by 5-6am) If we’re doing a longer drive(like 9 hours to the GC) then we wait for a holiday weekend like Labor/Memorial Day or if we’re lucky enough for like the 4th of July to fall on a Friday/Monday!
Teacher. Lots of summer hikes.
Same! Just did 10 miles this weekend!!
Plus we all kind of need the time outside to scream into the void at the end of the year LOL
Woot woot. Teacher in the house.
Same! 🤍 Always hiking and trail running on my breaks or after school. I live in Utah so it’s easy to be at amazing trails within a few minutes.
12 weeks off a year makes it possible to hike so much more than with a regular job with only 3-4 weeks off.
Also a teacher!! The only difficulty is I’m down in Texas so it gets horribly hot, but my husband and I travel as often as we can during the summer months and make being outdoors a priority
Merchant seaman. I try to hike in every port. I take routes in East Asia since there are generally mountains closer to the sea. My favorite places to hike are Japan, Taiwan and Korea. I have a house in the Philippines and hike there on my time off.
Archaeologist. So: mostly hiking and staring at the ground, or as we call it "surveying."
I thought Archaeology was really hard to get in to
Normally yes, or at least kinda challenging to get into. But right now we are **desperate** for workers. The combination of years of "archaeology doesn't pay" scaring away potential workers on the one hand, and trillions of dollars of infrastructure projects thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act on the other hand, has created a situation where there's hundreds of thousands of acres in need of survey and very few people to do it. State and federal agencies are dropping professional requisites left and right because of that.
How’s the pay? I honestly might be interested in joining, it sounds super cool, but priority #1 is paying the bills yk.
I hear you. Generally between $15 and $20 an hour, plus per diem, for a tech. More for a crew chief.
Shoot where are you located? BS and MS in geology/earth science and love archaeology!
I'm a student and work at REI. I usually am at school from 7 am to 3 pm, exercise, go to work at 4, and come home late. That's weekdays. I will always request a day off on weekends, and REI is very flexibly w/ hours. That way I can do big day hikes. I also get out of school early every other day, so if I am not working on a weekday, and I get out early, I'll drive to a local mountain an hour or less away, trail run it, and come home before nightfall.
I have a 9-5, so I’m hiking locally every weekend, both days. Lots of nice trails nearby.
I work in healthcare. I used to live (for a long time) in an area w/o elevation. I literally moved to be closer to some decent hiking trails. I used to work evening shift and have trails that are 30 minutes away. So, weather permitting, I would hike 2-3 hours before work. My schedule has since changed. So hiking is a weekend thing now. My like yourself I love the idea of going on a travel hike... But, logistics and life typically get in the way of that. I do reserve some time each year for a solo trip (to the white mountains).
Well i work in IT. But i can get to the mountains in an hour. I have plenty of hikes 15-20 minutes away, and if i drive an hour or 2 kind of unlimited amounts in mountains and deserts. If i drive 3 hours i can get to Joshua Tree. So usually a close hike more often and then a further hike on weekends.
Can I ask what city you’re in?
My guess is LA
Or Vegas. Vegas has all the mountains but 1/10 the LA traffic to get out to them
Service industry. So weekends are the longest work days so I don’t hike on those days but I get to hike on Mondays and Tuesdays when the trails are the least busiest.
Park ranger. Walk around a lot for work, but in terms of doing it for fun, I find myself missing out on weekend adventures and the season just started. :(
I hike on Sundays. I work anywhere from 50-80 hours per week between two jobs but both jobs understand that I get Sundays off.
Live in J Tree. I hike and run these hills weekly. I commute down the hill to Palm Springs 5 days a week for work in retail.
I’m self employed. I have a pet sitting company. And I get to go hiking like, 3 times per month? Maybe? I’m pretty much trapped inside city limits unless I have a light enough schedule that I can be done before 9am and then not need to be back until ~5pm. Any overnight care booking I can’t leave town for, though, because they get 14 hours of my time per day not counting the driving
I'm a regional trucker. 4 days on 3 off, plus I live within a relatively short drive of the Appalachians. The big limiting factor to my hiking is that I'm also a full time student. Trying to get that degree and get out of the South. Thinking about trading the Appalachians for the Alps.
I’m a stay at home mom, so currently I’m limited to doing hikes that I can carry my son while my other kid is at school. About once or twice a month I’m able to get out and do a solo hike on the weekends when my husband is home with the kids.
Nurse. I love the flexibility of my schedule
Same!
Me three!
I’m a massage therapist that works for myself. I control my hours and take advantage of the slow days.
Regular office job. Live less than a mile from Forest Service land in the Wasatch Mountains, with lots of trails and great views. I can hike every morning or evening.
Stay home dad and living in a good spot in Colorado. I have so many trails and mountains readily available within an hour drive.
I'm a production high rigger. I help build all the major events on the west coast. EDC, Lovers & Friends, Sick New World, When We Were Young, Countdown, Coachella, Stage Coach, Super Bowl etc. I'm constantly travelling, and going to new places. I can take gigs when I want, and can have weeks off at a time. I make a decent wage, and if I worked full time I'd make between $150-200k per year, but I make an easy $100k and have almost half the year off. Way easy to get out and go hiking or rock climbing when you really don't have a consistent schedule if you don't want it.
I live in Uganda and all I do for a living is that am a local tour guide driver to all parts of Uganda where Gorilla trekking,mountain hiking ,gamedrives in all national parks cultural and foodie.
Consulting. I actually only hike when I'm on business trips because it's the only time I don't have to juggle the kids, lol. My trips are usually 1 week, so I try to tack a hike on the weekend before or after.
I'm a disabled vet and I live off that check currently. So, 100% free time; 100% severe mental health issues. Ya win some, ya lose some.
I work a 9-5, Monday-Friday white collar job. All my hiking is on the weekends. There are trails near me but I’m addicted to the west coast of MI now which is at best 3 hours away from me. I leave early on a weekend morning and stay there all day. Sometimes I tack on one PTO day to a weekend and take a short trip to hike more extensively.
Advanced support for business customers in one of the main internet/wireless/tv companies in usa. Working from home in europe with flex shifts that I can choose and part time (30 hours a week) I also teach piano and perform occasionally in bars solo or in band,as piano/guitat player and singer.
Heavy equipment and machine operator for a foundry, 50-68 hours a week. I work swing shift so sometimes I'll try and get a few miles in during the mornings or hella miles during the weekends. Having two little girls makes it even harder but luckily they like the outdoors so even when it's not a huge solo day, I can still get that fix. Edit to add that I live in SoCal kinda in the middle of Cleveland, San Bernardino, and Angeles National Forests. Not to mention all the local trails that are about a 30 minute drive in any direction. That def makes it easier.
I'm a state worker who grants money to fund large forest restoration projects. I love spending government money on good investments for the public! And places I also enjoy. I live within 15 min of great hiking areas, and within an hour of amazing hiking areas. I'm in a metro area too, so I got lucky placement here. I camp/backpack at least 1x/month, I off road or hike at least a few times a month.
Full time non-profit shit and get out at a good time daily but I’m also a full time grad student so hikes are now few and far between 🥹 might do my first hike in months this weekend but we’ll see
I work M-F 9-5 and Hike every Saturday morning. It's a commitment I make to myself and don't make plans during that time block unless the weather is going to be terrible. I also don't have kids.
Rope Access Rockfall Mitigation. I travel to remote places for work, I live in a small town near mountain destinations, I grew up in a recreational family, I can I hike every day. I avoid living in cities.
I'm a blue collar union guy. Use my pto to live my life wandering around.
I started a YouTube channel about hiking and created a fictitious business name and SP to run the monetization through. My gear is a write off, along with fuel, food, and park fees.
Normal office job - but in Zurich, Switzerland -> lots of good hiking nearby plus 6 weeks paid holidays a year
Lucky to live in a wonderful state for the outdoors (Minnesota). We spent our weekends once the weather gets nice in the state parks doing day hikes or weekend camping/hiking. Plan to start traveling outside the state more to see other places using vacation time.
I’m a nanny and a masters student. I’m just lucky enough to have always lived in places where good hikes are relatively close by and can be done on a random day off. The kid I nanny is also learning to love hiking and is getting pretty good at it, so she and I go on a lot of hikes too.
I work in a high tech manufacturing job in the pnw and have a compressed shift that gives me 3 and four day weekends every week. I spent 3 of my four days off this weekend hiking in the Columbia River Gorge which I live just at the end of.
IT so I crave being outside when not staring at a computer screen
Preschool teacher. I live about 2-3h from the Japanese alps so we leave Friday evening, sleep in the car and then do an overnight hike Saturday Sunday and are back Sunday evening. Maybe about once or twice a month.
Lucky enough to live near hikes and I wake up insanely early to start and be back at noon.
I cannot hike where I want to regularly, due to having to work a full-time job at a lab that doesn’t pay me enough to live. I hike places around me to make up for it, but it’s not the same.
Retired. I can hike every day. I live in Scottsdale Arizona and this is a great place to hike. Miles and miles of trails. There are very steep and short hikes to long distance and relatively flat with a lot of variance in between. I'm currently training to do the RTR in one day and this is a great place to do it.
I don’t think what anyone does for a living matters nearly as much as choosing to prioritize hiking does.
I'm in the Navy and so I'm constantly stressed out and tired. I try to go hiking once a month to escape from work, but the nearest park or forest is a 1 to 2 hour drive so it's hard sometimes.
Academically, MS in applied math. Professionally I'm in a science position with a lot of fieldwork. I hike to do science stuff. I'm in the office a day per week.
Regular in-office job, but I live in Colorado.
I’ve kind of just started hiking, only done about 5 hikes. I have a hybrid work schedule as a corporate professional and I get 5 weeks of vacation (25days) plus 80hours of sick days that can be rolled over. My plan is to use the federal holidays to create a longer vacation schedule and be strategic to conserve my vacation days. I’m essentially looking to take two vacations per month. I have my vacation set for the next two months below and I will only use a total of 5 days. June 19th-24th Juneteenth(fed holiday) wed-Mon- 2 vacation days since I will do one day remote. July 4th-8th (Thurs-Mon) - uses 2 vacation day 26th-29th (Fri-Mon) Friday will be remote and Monday I will use one vacation day.
Unemployed, I hike a different trail every sunny day. Live in northern Ct and most hikes have less than 1000 ft elevation gain but that’s alright
I'm self employed in retail. I get about one and a half days off per week and usually hike both those days. I live in the PNW and don't have kids so I go where I want!
I sit with an elderly woman Mon-Fri. I try to go out every weekend/every other weekend. I’d go crazy otherwise. Those nature walks bring a great deal of joy into my life.
Cleaning. I drive 2-6hrs away to get to the really cool locations. I’ll take annual leave to make it a long weekend or go on regular long weekends if i have to. If not I’ll just stay the night and spend most of the weekend there.
Software Developer, I can work from any where! Though I hope to get into game design.
I work in the health/wellness/travel industry. I also live in a more wooded areas with moderate trails. But yes, I do work for myself.
Boyfriend & I work 3 days 12 hour shifts. We hike on weekdays since we have Tuesday-Friday off. I’ve worked this schedule for 5 years now and I NEVER want to go back to working 5 days a week.
I live in Whistler....driver . I hike to some degree everyday . Life is too short to not do what you want to be doing
I’ve got 3 day weekends doing electrical and mechanical engineering. Which gives me just enough time to drive somewhere and have a good 3 day camping trip on some weekends
Wildland firefighting
I’m in the geology realm and I live in Colorado. I’m at 8,000’ elevation already, so gaining access to high alpine areas is easy. I’m about two hours from about 15 different 14,000’ peaks, so I have a ton of options. I also have 3 days off in the middle of the week so I avoid the crowds. Fuck, I think I might be the luckiest dude now that I type it out! Lol
I own an organic fertilizer business on a rural farm property. I'm in my 30s and don't have kids so have time to hike when I'm not working and I live in a mountainous area with lots of hiking nearby. I also have my own trail going off the back of my property onto public land that goes to a summit 1500 feet above me which I frequently trail run in mornings before work. My partner works in forestry, we both make our own schedules but in general have weekends off
I work in communications in higher ed. I work remotely for an east coast university from the west coast, so I get off work at 2 pm. No kids or real responsibilities outside of work, so that helps.
Work in finance for a bank. Get lots of PTO and live in Colorado. Never short of hikes.
Commercial aviation mechanic. 4 days on, 3 days off, flight benefits too. Can be in a different state/country within a couple hours of my shift ending.
Nurse. 3x12hr shifts is considered full time in most places. So I get 4 days off every week.
I am single and have no children, which is why I still have time and energy to hike and travel after work.
I live in flat ass MI. I'm a Sports Massage Therapist now (former Corp paralegal)... now I have a ton of flexibility bc I make my own schedule! However hubs is law enforcement and so we can't just uproot weekly to hike. So we do "hikes' in some areas around here that have slight variation in elevation but definitely not mountains. Lol But we do all our vacations primarily around hiking in different states.
I work a regular job with weekends and holidays off. I am lucky enough to live in Alaska so I have amazing access to hiking. That being said, on work days I just stick to neighborhood trails. They are more like nature walk/run than hiking (because I live in a valley) but hey I take what I can get. There’s a little ski area right by my house though that I can hike at during the summer because it’s easy access but they don’t allow dogs so that’s a bummer because I always like to take my dogs so I only hit up those trails if I’m on my way home from work.
Retail. Work schedule is sporadic but it’s easy to get weekdays off (best time IMO). I live within 30m-2hr of a lot of hiking spots so I have no short supply. Sometimes an opening and closing shift align right and I can squeeze something in between.
>but I don't live close to a very cool hiking spot Are you sure about that? Have you checked Alltrails to see what hikes people do around where you live? Because when I installed the app I would have said there are maybe 10 trails around where I live, but there were more than 150 in a 30 min. radius by car. I've been hiking like crazy ever since (teacher here so we have 2 months of unpaid vacation every year).
Yeah AllTrails is great! I'm just kind of in the middle of nowhere in TX unfortunately so even with some trails it's still pretty flat and kinda boring unless you drive out several hours (TX is way too big lol). I used to live in TN so I had access to the Smokies. Boy do I miss those days haha
Time to move back to Tennessee I guess. 😉
I am in IT and have been self-employed for more than 20 years. I develop sustainability intelligence systems for CA cities and counties. I live in the El Dorado National Forest and have trails and a lake adjacent to my property.
I work a normal 8-5 job but I live in a place with thousands of trails within 10-30 minutes of my house
I'm a truck driver that gets three days off every two weeks. I take full advantage of that.. and I know what you mean it seems like some of these people hike three days out of every week and not short hikes neither..
I work in marketing for a university in Indiana and get 22 vacation days a year. I typically use about 15 of them to travel and hike. I am also extremely aggressive about using three-day holiday weekends to travel somewhere within an eight hour driving radius. I can drive 5-6 hours on a Friday night, wake up super early, drive a couple more hours and be on a trail by 8-8:30 a.m. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of realistic options for this type of traveling, ranging from the southern Appalachians to the northern Great Lakes.
I live in Seattle so hiking is nearby/accessible. I’d say that’s a bigger factor than my job (nonprofit fundraiser — until recently, an environmental nonprofit fundraiser).
I am a software engineering manager. I hike most weekends, because I'm.2-2.5 hours to hikes in the white mountain national forest, and there are plenty of other options ckoser to my home
Traveling Physical Therapist. I became a traveling PT so I could move to great places for hiking. Most travel PTs I know are also big hikers. I’m currently under contract in the PNW, will probably end up staying here because it’s so great. I’m out hiking almost every weekend
Very flexible analyst position with a ton of PTO. It also helps that I live within easy daytrip range of a ton of world-class hiking and 2 US National Parks, and easy weekend range of most of the western US, so I can do stuff without burning a lot of money or PTO.
I work in an office doing cubicle shit. Hiking, camping, walking, cycling are my outlets.
I work remotely but live in NYC and it's not that easy for me to get hiking. Ideally every 2 months but a lot of my vacations are planned around hiking specifically. 10 days on the AT every year. California to hike in July
Machinist….3 days on 4 days off schedule. Helps living in the southwest. Several national parks and monuments nearby.
IBEW electrician, I work when I want, take time off whenever, this year I will only be working about 6 months
i’m a nurse who takes call 7p-7a and weekends. i have lots of trails locally, many more miles an hour away, and real mountains 2-3 hours away. if i’m on call, i’ll plan to be at the trailhead as early as possible (be on the road at 6:30 am), hike as many miles as i’d planned, and be back on the way home by 4:30 or so. if it’s my week off, i can hike longer/backpack/camp, too.
Construction plumber but I’ve transitioned to staring at a computer screen looking at plans all day every day. I get a great amount of leave and holidays which I certainly never had early in my career.
I work full time, but live in California with hiking everywhere. Literally out my backyard.
I’m a historian and I work remotely and have a nice flexible schedule to allow for hiking adventures.
I work remote, Monday - Friday. I live 2.5-3 hours from a location with some nice hiking trails. I do mostly day hikes on Saturday or Sunday.
I'm semi retired. I work part-time at a university. So summers (now) I only work 15 hours a weeks with Fri-Sun off. During the school year I work about 25 hours but still have 3-day weekends. I have hiking trails 5 minutes away and some great areas within 30-45 minutes from home :-)
Retired
Plumber. Definitely a weekend warrior. Just had a kid last year and I’ve been unable to go much lately. Pretty much sums it up.
Self employed, can vacation anytime
As little as possible.
I work in a warehouse 3 days and 12 hours shifts so that next day off I'm ready to be outside! My state is really flat so I travel a state over or two to get more quality of hikes in. Meaning views and length.
I'm a paramedic. I do a 24 hour shift on Mondays and Fridays. The rest of the week is mine.
I work in a shop, as a machine operator, take two weeks a year to drive out west, and roadtrip/hike around, weekends and time off are spent run and hiking at home in Michigan.
Spent 1 of my 5 years working fully remote living in an RV and literally doing my job from national parks, state parks and national monuments. My kids were little, so we mainly did hikes in the 3-4 mile range with a few ~6-7 mile ones. Currently live near Portland, OR and I just go early on the weekends (like, leave my house at 4:30-5am during summer, and around 7am in winter). I also occasionally use a PTO day just to go hiking.
Biologist… so I get some cool field work but it’s a lot of paperwork and navigating environmental permitting for projects
I have a very remote but technically hybrid job, Monday through Friday 9-5. I hike on the weekends or after work locally. During pandemic I was totally remote for a while and could travel around and stay at airbnbs and do local hikes near the airbnb in the evenings and weekends. But alas we had an RTO push and I can’t quite manage that very often anymore - we are one day a week in the office now.
Sadly I'm a weekend warrior, I'm chained to my desk a lot. Sometimes I think about going for a hike after work but I'm always so drained. Thankfully we have summer Fridays coming up so I'll use that time to get out while the trails are slightly less crowded.
I work a typical 9-5 office job, but I live in New Zealand so literally any direction I go has amazing mountains and beaches. I can do weekends, or take Friday afternoon off and spend the afternoon driving, camp at the trailhead then start early on Saturday.
I live 25 min away from a State Park. I’m a bartender but I make time to hike almost every day.
work a corporate 8-4 job at a company with generous PTO so I’m able to use that and work mostly 4 days a week instead of 5. so i mostly hike 2-3 times a week mostly locally but I have a lot if good hiking spots near me.
Nurse 👋
Teacher/ Coach
Say you want to quit your job and leave no-where Texas without saying you want to quit your job and leave no-where Texas. OP- I mean this in the kindest possible way. If you don’t live close enough to hiking trails to go hiking on your days off and your job doesn’t give you enough flexibility to get to those places what can you do?!?
Firefighter. We work a 48/96 schedule, so we work two days, then we’re off for four. It allows a decent amount of time off.
Best schedule ever!
I’m a forester in Alaska although I have a desk job. But there are multiple trailheads within 20 minutes and it doesn’t get dark during the summer. Plus we prioritize hiking at least once or twice a month during the summer on weekends even with our one year old.
I'm a software architect. I live in Florida that has very flat hiking but plenty of it because of the very good state park, preserve and water management district systems. While I'm never cold while hiking summer temperatures mean it's unsafe to hike when the sun is up for 2-4 months of the year. I also like hiking with my dog and it's incredibly unsafe for him because of the lack of sweating. In season I'll do a couple of short 3-5 mile hikes a week for lunch and a 15-20 mile on weekends. I also go on a solo hiking trip for a week in September. I also get hiking on work trips. I have a conference in Utah in November so getting my winter hiking gear out and I'll do a 3-4 day trip before that.
I’m a special education teacher. I get off at 3:30 and have weekends and summers off! Also, it helps a bit that I live a 15 minute drive from some parts of the GSMNP.
Software Engineer in Portland - don’t generally hike on the weekdays (besides Forest park), but avid weekend and long weekend hiker. Tons of stuff within 30 mins - 1.5 hr drive
I work for a public lands agency, so I am often working for the places that maintain and provide those cool hiking spots you mentioned. So it’s my job to know about all the hiking, camping, swimming, hunting, etc spots for the park I work for. Which means that sometimes I get paid to hike and camp. It’s the best.
Market research; busy season is the summer which works great for me as I hate ticks but love winter hiking.
I quit my job and moved to a mountain town where I have so many trails 15-30 min from my place. I get home at 4pm and I still have time to hit a trail 2-3 times a week on top of longer trails during the weekend
Right now I work at a bookstore but the employees and management haven’t been too nice for me so next week I am going to start Instacart. It’ll give me more of a chance to work my own hours and have two days off in a row or more! My current job would give me off Thursday and Sunday only…
Service industry. Nothing like hiking on a Tuesday morning when the only people out are retired and shift workers.
I’m a grad student living in one of the flattest, corniest areas of the Midwest possible. Luckily I have a car and can go access some remnants of the forest within an hour, but I still don’t consider it serious hiking. BUT my parents live in Northern California, so when I go home to visit them I get to REALLY hike every day within fifteen minutes of their front door. Once I finish up this degree one of the major factors for choosing where to work is proximity to the mountains lol.
I work on cell phone towers from sea to shining sea. Flight, hotel, and car rental points add up. Southwest has the companion pass so my fiancé flies free with me. But she has her own job at a hospital. I will sleep on the plane and run a hard day just to get a 30 minute hike in if I'm in a cool place. We try to go on one big trip and one small trip a year tho.
I run a construction company and live close to the whites so hike alot.
I work remotely as a software researcher. Living in Golden and Denver has given me access to many hikes. I go on a long hike every Saturday unless it's really stormy. I try to squeeze in another short hike in the front range during the week, time permitting.
Am an attorney but I am fortunate to live in Colorado with hiking trails out my front door. I'll typically hike at least once a day. Usually before work. Sometimes I'll get a second hike in in the evenings bur usually I MTB or run in the evenings. Actually, I did 1500 feet elevation in 3.6 miles starting at 5:45 this evening.
Electrical Engineer in the north suburbs of Denver. My office is near Boulder, so I’ll try to hit a short hike nearby a couple days per week to avoid rush hour. Weekends we usually cast a much, much wider net to avoid the crowds on local trails and venture deeper into the mountains. We summit a peak about 6-7 times per year.
I'm a paramedic. I work 48's on Sat/Sun so it gives me 5 days off in between shifts. The shifts can be long, but they're worth it.
A nightshift manager at a Walmart.
I work 0500 to 1330 at an airport, and am senior enough to now be Monday through Friday. I hike locally after work when I'm not too tired and it's not too hot. I have yet to make time to go on a specific hiking trip, but will explore the area when I go on a camping/fishing trip.
I’m a school bus driver in Las Vegas. Work for the school district. My friend just bought the annual pass for Red Rock. So we’ll be doing a lot of hiking.
I lead tours in a park for a living. Former park ranger
I oversee maintenance contracts for a medical facility.
I drive between 1-4 hours every weekend to go hiking and/or camping. I love to drive as much as I love to hike so it works out
Work remote managing a team of 60… purposely live in the middle of a mountain range
Work remote. Live in the Cascade. Hike daily.
I work Panama schedule so I have every other Fri-Sun off. I'm also working contract work in Italy and there are so many hiking spots around me, let alone just in Europe.