The author is a first-time thru-hiker, not first-time backpacker.
"I have done a lot of hiking, and cool trips, but never thru-hiking." and "upgrading all of my gear" indicate previous experience backpacking.
The line "I remember buying cascade hiking poles from Costco, and it breaking in the middle of hiking of Peru" may been an event which occurred after this hike, but a search of the site finds https://www.dquach.com/2023/04/05/personal-newsletter-2023-q... with "Back in 2015 we were eating at Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Peru ... I was going to hike the W, which was a 5 day hike in Patagonia Chile about 4 days later", further confirming previous backpacking experience.
From both articles, I did get "I'll just use my tech money" and "go to easter island" or "replace literally all of my gear just for this trip" vibes, which is a certain kind of turnoff, but he is at least spending it and doing the trips which is admittedly something I haven't done yet.
"I have done a lot of hiking, and cool trips, but never thru-hiking." and "upgrading all of my gear" indicate previous experience backpacking.
The line "I remember buying cascade hiking poles from Costco, and it breaking in the middle of hiking of Peru" may been an event which occurred after this hike, but a search of the site finds https://www.dquach.com/2023/04/05/personal-newsletter-2023-q... with "Back in 2015 we were eating at Astrid y Gaston in Lima, Peru ... I was going to hike the W, which was a 5 day hike in Patagonia Chile about 4 days later", further confirming previous backpacking experience.