How Much Does it Cost to Hike the Appalachian Trail - How Much I Spent on my AT Thru-Hike

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How Much Does it Cost to Hike the Appalachian Trail - How Much I Spent on my AT Thru-Hike

Рет қаралды 5,218

Күн бұрын

In 2022 I spent $5200 to thru-hike the appalachian trail sputhbound in 140 days. In this video I go through all my finances and break things down by month as well as spending category. I did not include spending on gear in this video since it's very personal and not really helpful to share as any sort of guide. That being said, if you want an idea of my cost for gear, check out my gear videos and links to my lighterpacks.

Пікірлер: 28

@chriskelly6559 9 ай бұрын

$1,000 a month for basics. $2,000 set aside for emergencies (sometimes "emergency" fun). Worked for me.

@jeevjagostudios Жыл бұрын

Thanks, Matt. Great breakdown of your thru-hike expenses and practical advice.

@richardross7219 Жыл бұрын

Very wise to have contingency money in your budget. Good video. Good Luck, Rick

@markcummings6856 Жыл бұрын

Superb overview. Practical, no nonsense yet middle of the road indulging. Thanks.

@RevBTB Жыл бұрын

you did great at making your trip breakdown.. yours is one of the cheapest expense reports i have seen. awesome!!

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I think the backpacking food is where I cut costs the most. If you dont get sick of ramen and oatmeal you can get by on a pretty cheap food budget.

@todgilmore3258 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the cost analysis for the hike. This should help hikers plan their hike.

@thomasconnors7511 Жыл бұрын

Matt $1000 dollars a month is respectable. It's a trip enjoy it with something to look forward to. When I was a ski bum in Aspen in 94-95 season I had $5000 in cash so I didn't have to work 2 jobs like my friends. I work worked 34 hours a week. I skied 3 days a week. Life was great!

@erins7059 Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for this overview. It was very helpful. I was trying to get an idea of what a thru hike would cost, and your breakdown and explanations were exactly what I was looking for.

@erics9214 9 ай бұрын

Informative and useful information. Maybe for some folks it wouldn't matter, but those hostel and motel stays can really help with morale, especially if there is a lot of rain. Matt doesn't mention it, but his cost per day was $37.20. Matt had a pretty fast hike at 140 days. It seems like more typical is 160-180 days. So, the cost might creep up toward $6,700 for a 180 day hike. I haven't done a through hike, my feet and knees like cycling better. My most recent two month cycle tour cost $65/day. Cycling puts you in town more often, with the temptation of restaurants, and there can also be fewer opportunities for free camping.

@mattmoves8890 9 ай бұрын

Yup the stays in hostels are 100% worth it and actually pretty cheap. Motels I tried to avoid since the cost was usually 3x a hostel, but I did stay in 2 during my trip. By far, the easiest way to keep costs down is shopping at food stores and figuring out a few cheap meals.

@wadeschwartz4677 Жыл бұрын

I did the trail last year I spent $10000 i used Amtrak for a flip flop and did mail drops I had a hard time with shuttles and had to use some taxis I spent 7 months on trail

@bensanders7392 Жыл бұрын

Inflation these days is crazy. 20 or 25 yrs ago the rule was a dollar a mile. Then as about 10 or 12 yrs ago it had just about doubled from previous conventional wisdom to 2 dollars a mile.

@baskets8429 Жыл бұрын

Great video

@Jan.harvey Жыл бұрын

Great breakdown. And I'm curious how your recovery has been- your toes? legs?

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

Legs feel fine. One toe still has a little loss of feeling that I'm hoping comes back soon lol. Foot soreness in the morning went away after about a week

@LiveWellUkraine Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@nicholasgeary2666 Жыл бұрын

Nice breakdown. I know it varies person to person do you have a number of how much you spent on replacement/fixing/updating gear while on the trail?

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

Hmm, it's hard cause I had a lot of stuff already purchased that I added halfway through. In terms of new additions, I bought the sun hoody, Shoes x 4, rain pants, and my air mattress was covered by warranty. You can probably fully outfit a light setup for 1k and maybe budget 300 or so for replacement stuff while on trail

@bensanders7392 Жыл бұрын

Imagine how this must sound to a college student who is maybe working in a restaurant or retail store for minimum wage. Must be daunting obstacle to overcome.

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

Yup, I completely agree. It's definitely something you need to save for and plan for years. I would say what I did was on the cheap end, then add another 1k+ for gear. It's not unreasonable to plan 10k just for the trip.

@BigCountryOutdoors325 Жыл бұрын

Hi Matt, thanks for the update about expenses. In your videos, I don’t recall every hearing you talk about getting food resupply boxes mailed to you. Did you ever get any? Or did you completely resupply on trail? I’m planning a LASH for my 55th birthday in 2025, and because of some dietary restrictions I’m gonna have to get some resupply boxes sent to me.

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

I never did resupply boxes, and I'm happy I didn't. I just never knew exactly when I would be in certain towns and it was easier to not have to worry about it and just resupply at stores or at the hostels. If you are doing supply boxes, I would suggest sending them to hostels instead of post offices.

@Rymbeld Жыл бұрын

Good info. How many hostel stays in total?

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

I think 17 nights total at hostels. The only ones I stayed multiple days at were Shaws in Maine and Standing Bear in TN

@philipbuckley759 Жыл бұрын

30 to 40 dollars per day, eh...

@mattmoves8890 Жыл бұрын

Yup, that's what it cost me, not including gear and not buying any freeze-dried or pre-made backpacking meals. Would have been even cheaper if I didn't have to get a motel for 3 days to avoid a hurricane!