How does a 28-year-old Dutchman get it into his head to do the AT? I just needed a little luck, a pending score with myself and good company.
How I started hiking and backpacking
Before I can tell you how I got to the AT, I have to tell you a little about how I started hiking all together. It all started at the least hectic time in recent history: the Covid lockdowns. Staring at the ceiling all day wasn’t good for my mental state, so I did the only thing I could still do to keep from losing my mind: walk.
A few kilometers at first, a few more later, and before I knew it, I was walking long distances and had my goal set: to walk the 4-day marches in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The largest multi-day walking event in the world; 4 days of walking, 30 kilometers a day, between all kinds of festivities. So I started training and finished it with my dad. He himself is an experienced long-distance walker. He even walked a total of 100 (!) miles in one go. After finishing the hikes, I did it again the following year and hiked some other long-distance trails.
But I was missing something. I’ve always been interested in self-sufficiency and survival programs, but since eating leftovers in the cold forest wasn’t exactly on my bucket list, I tried the next best thing: backpacking. Carry everything you need on your back, while walking a lot. Sounds great!
My dad and I after finishing the 4 day marches.
My first backpacking disaster
Greener than green in the backpacking world, I simply grabbed a large backpack I had lying around, filled it with a heavy car camping tent and four even heavier insulated stainless steel bottles, along with all sorts of cheap heavy stuff. And I just started walking, not realizing that weight was something to consider. As you can imagine, when I arrived at camp I was completely exhausted. My feet hurt and I wasn’t having a very good time. So I made a decision: backpacking is not something for me. And that’s how I felt for a long time.
Being hit by AT fever
Until one day, by pure chance, the YouTube algorithm decided it needed to watch a documentary of someone hiking the entire Appalachian Trail. And after watching it I was hooked. I just love this type of nature, culture and everything that surrounds it. Someday I had to walk this path.
Someday… the dreaded word that ends all dreams through procrastination. It’s something I usually do a lot. Having a ton of business ideas, travel plans, or other things I want to do in life, but never putting them into practice. But not this time. You could even say it’s one of my «whys» for wanting to go down this path: to actually do something I set out to do for a change.
That’s when I sat down with my girlfriend to discuss the possibility of hiking for half a year in the near future. And fortunately, she has been the best and supports me a lot in everything. I got the go-ahead: I started planning, saving money, and telling my family about my plans. And everyone was very supportive and excited about this plan! Some even too much…
in good company
It was my dad I told you about before. In the days that followed, she began reading about the AT and was even inspired by the story of Grandma Gatewood: the first woman to climb the AT at the age of 67 in 1955. “If she could do it that long ago, I should be able to do it, too,” she subtly told me.
That’s when I started thinking: What would it be like to do the AT hike with my dad? And in the midst of this thought I realized how lucky I am to even be able to consider that. My question was answered and I invited him for a ride. Learn more about Click3here.
A few test hikes later and he made his decision: he’s going hiking with me! And that’s how this father and son duo ended up on a northbound (NOBO) hike of the AT, starting this month!!
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