Leave No Trace Trainers Leave Behind Awareness

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Camp out more than 200 nights a year. Get outfitted with gear and apparel. Drive around the country. Educate and inspire thousands of fellow outdoor enthusiasts on responsible outdoor recreation. This is a real job?

Full article at http://www.trailspace.com/articles/2012/08/30/lnt-traveling-trainers.html

Once you spend 200 nights a year camping it becomes a job.  It is not refreshing, and charming, it becomes tedious and uncomfortable.  I had an outdoor career with long periods of time in the field working.  I know it is hard for some people to believe, but it became tiresome and confusing.  My vocation and recreational interests overlapped too much.  I got time off and wanted to stay home.

ppine said:

Once you spend 200 nights a year camping it becomes a job.  It is not refreshing, and charming, it becomes tedious and uncomfortable.

This is solely dependent upon one's perspective. Many find such a journey rewarding in so many different ways. Of course this varies from person to person, objectives, etc, etc.

Also I would like to make a statement in regards to the first 2 words in your post... "Once you."

I personally do not feel it is fair of you to state what others like/and or dislike based on just your own personal experiences. 

How can one speak for the masses?

If I wasn't married or had the responsibilities I do(mortgage, etc.) I would completely go Jeremiah Johnson and live in a tent year round... Seriously. 

  I had an outdoor career with long periods of time in the field working.

Notice your keywords here "career/working." So yes under these circumstances one may most certainly deem extended time periods of being out in the backcountry as work because for you it was exactly that. Your career.

  I know it is hard for some people to believe, but it became tiresome and confusing.  My vocation and recreational interests overlapped too much.  I got time off and wanted to stay home.

You have to look at it with an open mind. Just because you at one time did not find being outdoors enjoyable for the reasons stated above there are those out there that may very well be glued behind a monitor, or on an assembly line and may very well dream of partaking in such a journey.

I personally commend these ladies as well as the others that are involved in teaching people who love the backcountry like myself the proper way to leave about as minimal an impact in my/our wake as humanly possible.

While you may have viewed being out there as a job I would be willing to place a wager to say that these trainers find what they are doing quite rewarding...

Its all about perspective.

I worked outside in college on a wildland fire crew.  Sleeping outside just became the new normal, people adapt to whatever comes along. 

I understand the point that making a job from a hobby is a great way to ruin a perfectly good hobby.  I can only imagine what certian types of doctors go through. 

Sounds like a fun job though.  I can't see it becomming a career but it could be a fun way to spend a year or two.  I have found that the "Fun" jobs (rewarding if you prefer) don't tend to compenssate really well so they are obviously doing it for the experience.  These kinds of jobs, like fire lookout jobs and park ranger jobs, though they pay poorly usually recceive thousands of applicants because of the fun factor that applicants see as being rewarding.  But really though does LNT apply that well to the state and national park car-camping or is it better applied to backcountry? Parks hire people to clean up garbage.  Car camping and LNT, to me, don't go as well together as LNT and backcountry camping. 

Neat article though.  I am glad that LNT exists.

ppine said:

Once you spend 200 nights a year camping it becomes a job.  It is not refreshing, and charming, it becomes tedious and uncomfortable.

Rick then replied:

You have to look at it with an open mind. Just because you at one time did not find being outdoors enjoyable for the reasons stated above there are those out there that may very well be glued behind a monitor, or on an assembly line and may very well dream of partaking in such a journey.

I have to agree with ppine, even the most fascinating pursuit becomes a routine if you spend enough time on that activity, especially if that activity takes a physical toll.  The Lyrics of Tony Banks, in the Genesis tune, Mad Man Moon, so eloquently addresses the realization that the grass is always greener elsewhere.

"Within the valley of shadowless death
They pray for thunderclouds and rain,
But to the multitude who stand in the rain
Heaven is where the sun shines."

My life long personal bane is pizza; I will Jones for it, then pig out on pie until I can't stand it, only to repeat the cycle when the memory of the experience needs a refresher course.  I used to be that way with camping and mountaineering, too, when the free ways of youth allowed me to indulge months on a single adventure.  Much as I enjoyed climbing high peaks, and covering geography on protracted treks, it seemed I always ended up enjoying all I could stand of the outdoors on those trips, and was all too glad to be back home when they concluded. 

Rick, you may be an exception to the rule, but most everyone who makes their living outside eventually grows weary of the hard labor and harsh conditions of this lifestyle.  It is probably a huge reason why homes and all that civilization stuff exists in the first place.

Ed

Once upon a time I went to school to learn to be a professional photographer.

I loved it - the creativity and the unique lifestyle. But one of my instructors told me that one day I would realize I was only taking a photograph when someone paid me to do it, and when that happened it was time to quit. That day came after about ten years, and it was a relief when I stopped. It was a valuable lesson.

Now I spend some of my time in an office, but every weekend out on the trails somewhere. For the time being, I don't have to take people up to the mountains just to make a living - I do it because I want to. I worry though, about how to stop my hobby from becoming just another job. If I can't figure it out, I could find myself losing much of the joy I now find on the trails. It's a hard one to solve.

Interesting conversation.

I met a fellow on the trail last year that had previously thru-hiked the AT. When I asked about the experience the first thing he said was “well, it’s a job”. He went on to explain that he found it very much like having a job; having to get up each day and keep trekking (lack of resupply will force a person to move eventually right?).

That being said, I still want to do it. Of course, I pull lots and lots of short backpacking trips and have never actually done a long trip; so maybe I’m in for a rude awakening? In any case, I desire to find out for myself. And despite what that fellow told me last year, it doesn’t necessarily follow that my thru-hike would be perceived the same way by me (to Ricks point).

 I’ve played guitar professionally, on and off  for my entire adult life. I did in fact find that playing in a “working” band wasn’t really what I thought it might be like. At one point I became quite disillusioned with it. The tedium of setting up, tearing down, rehearsals, dealing with drunks, dealing with crooked club owners, dealing with attitudes in the band, etc… eventually wore on me and outweighed the small “performance high” you get from the endeavor.

I still love music and playing guitar (I play every day that I can), but am not so eager to make it my livelihood as I once was.

Again, good topic and points made all around.

I am a big fan of awareness in general.  Outdoors awareness is something that has to be taught.  It has really only been around for 40 years or so, although conservation became a movement in the US by around 1900.  People in this country should be proud of our conservation and environmental achievements and make sure that young people (and newbies) understand the consequences of their actions.

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