From June 18 until June 24, 2009, Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's whereabouts were unknown and the media covered what was described as his disappearance. Subsequently, Sanford reappeared and admitted that he had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair. He stated that in 2001, he met and became friends with this woman and that they started having a sexual relationship in 2008. His wife, Jenny Sanford, became aware of the relationship in January 2009, and it was later revealed that two weeks prior to June 24, Sanford and his wife had begun a trial separation. The woman was later identified as Maria Belén Chapur, an Argentine journalist.
During the six days of absence, one of the excuses offered by Sanford's spokesperson was that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail.[1] As a result, "hiking the Appalachian Trail" or "hiking the Appalachians" became a euphemism for a sexual scandal in American English.[2][3]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Mystery-tripwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Annabel Crabb (April 8, 2012). "Men: all thumbs and no subtext". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ "The 10 most scandalous euphemisms". BBC News. May 15, 2013. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2015.