The first few days after a thru-hike seem to be a bit more organized and settled than the week after. When you first get off the trail, you still have a bit of a journey to get clean, fed, and back to some location, be it your own home or the home of friends and family. There are many hikers who continue exploring, this time in the cities, hoping to find the perfect place to settle.
After you get back to civilization and settled, then what? Reading various thru-hiker blogs and from my own personal experience, there is a frustrating and listless adjustment period back in civilization. You just spent the last five months with relatively simple and direct goals. Find the next water source, make it to the next resupply, continue hiking.
The frontcountry is not like that, at all. It is complicated, messy, noisy, indirect, and far less picturesque. Your activity level also just went from 10-12 hours a day to zero, so your endorphine levels tank. Frankly, part of me feels like post-trail life is a directionless, monotonous, tedious mess and that I would be far better off surviving out there on the trail than back in civilization.
Alas, that is not an option. One must rejoin society, at least for a time, and address all of those niggling little issues like money, job, and the nebulous "future plans".
My current plan is to work until I head back to school to finish my pre-medicine prerequisites. My intention was to take Organic Chemistry next summer, which would allow me to tackle Biochemistry, Physics, Genetics, and perhaps a bit of Physiology that next school year. Seems that most businesses or organizations do not really want to hear that you might only be with them for a year (or two if it is a really great job). That's frustrating. As if they have a guarantee from the rest of their employees that they will most assuredly be there for years to come. I am willing to commit fully to a really hard worked, challenging year of work. Given my skills and experience, I can only hope some organization realizes that that is a good deal.
In the meantime, I am trying to address all of the physical complications of the hike. Without a continuous source of moisture, my dog-esque foot pads have started cracking (lotion to the rescue!). The muscles have finally ceased to ache upon rising from a sitting position though and my heels are thinking about no longer being sore in the morning. Progress.
A new pair of running shoes just arrived from Amazon yesterday and I unpacked my duffel to find my running/biking clothing. Thinking my first trail run may be tomorrow. The constant rain and wind on the island makes me think biking will have to wait until a weather window opens up; do not feel mentally ready for biking in shitty conditions near traffic. I also need to stop eating so much junk food. Sure there are complex salads and healthy drinks back in my diet, but in less than 24 hours I have finished off a container of Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Cups. Boredom will do that to a former thru-hiker.
The most important thing is patience and a sense of direction. Not everything will be resolved overnight or even over the next couple weeks. Taking a deep breath and learning to accept that is probably the best step to adjusting to being off trail.