Post Hike Depression?

[MattC]

This is some thread. Hang in there Freddy. Balance is important-remember that what you do for a dayjob is pretty cool too. While you're not hiking, there's probably not much you can do about it, so maybe just pour yourself into your musical work during those times. Maybe write a song about hiking! I've really neglected music in this last year in favor of hiking, and sometimes when I actually do play these days, it's like "Oh yeah, this is something I used to be really into." But I digress...

Lotta people sharing some good stuff here. I'll add another vote for keeping a journal, looking at photos, and talking about your experiences w/ friends, family, colleagues, etc. All of that can help you "relive" your experience, and maybe even deepen the meaning of it. John Burroughs writes in an essay called "Spring Jottings" about this-he refers to a journal as "a sort of deposit account where one saves up bits and fragments of his life that would otherwise be lost to him." He also mentions a letter Thoreau wrote to a friend after climbing Monadnock where Thoreau says that it is not until he gets home that he really goes over the mountain.

In addition to keeping a journal, I like to read about outdoors stuff in between hikes. This could be adventure stuff like Joe Simpson, "literature" like Burroughs, or study-type stuff like an essay on orienteering, or a field guide on trees. I just ordered some stuff from my local library today. Sometimes just studying maps is fun. I don't know, maybe some of that kind of stuff might help w/ the between-hike blues...

Matt

P.S. If all else fails, you can always move out of the city and live in a yurt:
http://www.yurts.com/

 

[RGF1]

It's called..."Now i have to go back to work" depression!!!



generally experienced after any time off doing everything that you love...

That is a good way of putting it . Thankfully I work outdoors in a rural area ! But still it is good to get away and not have any set plans or having to deal with a " client" or "customer " I wouild call it the Now I have to go back to work blues .
Freddy, I still think you might want to move out of NYC to a place where you can have a yard and maybe build a pond and have chiminea sort of like being away with out going far . Hey Send me a PM I know about building that stuff, and land scaping it . Not only Freddy but any one who wants to know about it ah make that a email . I just made a small pond for and suggested surrounding plants and achiminea , for some one who liked hiking and camping . Note they liked what I made and and the love the chiminea . sort of like camping in your back yard
If all else fails go west about 2,000 miles .

 

[slamdog]

Freddy, you're far from alone.

And that says a lot. This has been a great thread to read. I'll bet for many people there's a big deja vu in here. A week and a half ago, we finished our 46. You would think that we'd be on cloud 9, but not the case. Now when we head to camp this weekend (Speculator), we always say we're home again! In the interim, I try to do as much as I can outside regardless of the weather.

 

[ajtiv]

I am on a high for a few days to a week after a weekend of hiking then by the second week on Flat Island my coworkers tell me to go hiking; they can tell when i need to decompress.

I have a great idea....

Fred lets go hiking this weekend
Seriously