I hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail right after I got out of the Army years ago. Half the people were like me: early 20's, either taking time off from college or just out of the military and looking for a thing to do before joining the rat race. The other half were 65 and older, retired people who finally had time to indulge their pass times.

And then there was one dude, mid-40's, who just shrugged and said, "I was on the highway, about to take the exit ramp to my job and I ended up here instead."