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There is one thing you should be very careful with: Public announcementsbefore you depart!

So far I observedone tendency: As more ambitious the announcement was and as more attention-grabbing the web page with this announcement appeared as less the loud-mouth was actually archived. There are a few positive exceptions to this generalization but "low noise" hikers were generally more successful and appreciated the trail more compared to ambitious people that published challenging "mission statements" before they left.  Let me share the most hilarious example: One loud-mouth and would-be thru-hiker grabbed the name "Greater Patagonia" that I coined in 2014 for the trail and he used it without asking to create a web domain. He actually had the cockiness to introduce himself to me as the "founder of Greater Patagonia"plagiarizing the name that I created and filled with content two years earlier. On this attention-grabbing web page he loudly and proudly announced a "1500 mile thru-hike of the Greater Patagonian Trail". He used this page to ask for donations, seek sponsors and candidates to join he team ("... applications accepted ..."). He even got T-shirts printed proclaiming this ambitious plan. But after he started his journey it took precisely 7 days till he aborted the would-be thru-hike. He then took buses to travel primarily from national park to national park to visit a couple of the more established trails in order to take the much-needed selfies. This change of plans was actually a wise decision. What is ridiculous so, is that he still makes it appear as he actually hiked and paddled 1500 miles through Patagonia because he is haunted by his arrogant annunciation. This claim of having hiked and paddled 1500 miles is not just an exaggeration; it's a blunt lie. Retrospectively I can only conclude: [[#Remark to "Before you depart: Be careful to do this ..."|Too proud to be prudent, too vain to be honest!]]