Depending on who you ask though, it can be seen as a bit of a taboo to give one's self a trail name and thus should hold off and let other hikers they interact with along the way christen them.
Of course, by doing so you run the risk of getting a shitty name. Maybe it'll be jokey when you want something more serious, or vice versa. Maybe you get named based on an embarassing experience you'd rather forget. ("Hey Mr Brown Pants, come sit over by the fire and tell them about the time you forgot your Immodium!")
For some, having a name that reflects the person we aspire to become on our trip can be an issue as well.
That being said, I can see how easy it would be to come across as a pretentious, self important douchebag by naming myself something overly dramatic like Wind in his Hair, or Soaring Phoenix or some shit like that.
And let's be real.... if left to my own devices, I'll go straight up my own ass trying to find the right epic or clever name that would just wind up coming across as hokey. (have you seen the title of my blog?)
Hence, I'm going to hold off on choosing a Trail Name for now and see what others may have in store for me. If they give me a shitty name, I suppose at worst I can ignore it and not answer to it when used, and then give myself a name.
I mean... it's not like there's a law that says you have to get your name a certain way.
I think I may be overly concerned with breaking some sort of trail taboos, but really... only the biggest assholes are going to care all that much over petty little things like this. For the average thru hiker though... I think I just need to follow two simple concepts and the rest should fall into place:
- Practice "Leave No Trace"
- Don't be a Dick
Outside of that, I'm going to try my best to stop being too concerned with what other people think. Why work so hard to win over people I wouldn't want to spend much time around to begin with?
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