Raising Money as I continue on the Trail

For fun, I decided to start calculating how much the trail has cost me thus far, and while these are calculations I made on the back of scratch paper in a public library (and this, there is definitely human error in them and I rounded them to the closest $5), it is still eye opening.

• Cost groceries/resupply thus far: $1,560
• Gear costs for repair/new items while on trail: $920
• Gear purchased before leaving for the trail: $1,905
• Cost of mailing items: $125
• Lodging costs: $145
• Transportation Costs (primary expense thus far is the cost of getting myself to the trail from CA, and getting from ME back to Harpers Ferry): $650

As you can see, the primary costs on the trail for me so far have been gear, food, and travel. I have tried saving money by avoiding hotels/hostels as much as possible and staying with Trail angels, doing work-for-stay, or simply camping on trail, but things still can really add up!

As a result, I have been trying to think of a way I can raise money to keep funding myself along this trail. Many of you have kindly already donated out of the goodness of your hearts, but if I want to really raise money, I want to give something back.

So moving forward I will do the following:

• For a donation of any amount: Once I finish the trail, I will send you my AT Trail postcard to say thank you! So please include a mailing address for me when you donate.
• For a donation of $5: I will send you a post card from the very next trail town I hike through, and include on the postcard a little story of what I am up to at the moment. This will also require me to have your mailing address 🙂
• For any donation of $10 or more: you may pose a “challenge” for me to do while on the trail. I will video tape myself completing your challenge and post it here for you to see. Don’t forget you still get my end-of-Appalachian-Trail postcard, so include an address!
  • For this: I hope you all have some fun. I love a good dare/challenge and I am happy to embarress myself if that’s what it takes. Challenge me to sign a song loudly in a public place or do a polar plunge
  • Since I still have to spend most of my day hiking, and I *hope* to receive a lot of these challenges, please try and keep your date to something that takes a reasonable amount of time 🙂 I recognize this is relative but please be kind
    
  • As long as it is fairly reasonable I promise to give it a go! If I view them as unreasonable, I’ll contact you for an alternative. Please keep challenges appropriate. If a challenge is blatantly inappropriate, I will not do it nor reach out for an alternative.
  • Challenges may be location based (moving forward, I will be hiking south from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Springer Mountain, Georgia. So any “location based” challenges need to be in between these two locations on the trail.)
  • If you have already donated, these retroactively apply to you! So feel free to email me with an address for my postcard or a challenge you have for me! My email is: the.rambling.rover.blog@gmail.com
  • Videos of me completing the challenges will be uploaded here, a google drive.

Donations may be sent to:

• PayPal: dakotachurchill13@gmail.com
• Venmo: @DChurchill

Thank you to all who have, are, and will help me make this dream of mine a reality by helping fund me along this trail. I really am so grateful at all the generosity I have experienced this far.