To create meaningful work while living freely in the world’s wild places, developing systems that generate sustainable income from anywhere, allowing for unlimited exploration without financial constraint.
CORE VALUES
MOBILITY & FREEDOM
The backpack represents more than a tool for carrying your possessions, it symbolizes the ability to move through the world unencumbered. Life should be designed to function from anywhere, creating systems that travel with you rather than tethering you to a location.
CREATIVE AUTHENTICITY
Work should emerge from genuine curiosity and exploration rather than market demands alone. The most meaningful creations occur when balancing personal passion with audience connection, finding that elusive area between what calls to you and what is meaningful to others.
FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
Resource generation should enable opportunities rather than dictate choices. Moving beyond simple survival to a place where decisions about location, duration, and experience are driven by desire rather than necessity.
OBSERVATION AS PRACTICE
Being present in landscapes both internal and external, noticing what others might overlook. Finding meaning in liminal spaces and transitions, whether between trailheads or between ideas.
MINIMAL SUFFICIENCY
Carrying only what serves both practical needs and creative purpose. The physical limitations of a backpack serve as an analogy for intentionally choosing what matters and releasing what doesn’t.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
- SYSTEMS SERVE CREATIVITY Systems exist to enable creative freedom, not to constrain it. Any process that becomes a time sink rather than a focusing tool requires simplification or elimination.
- BALANCE CREATIVE FULFILLMENT WITH FINANCIAL VIABILITY Projects should satisfy both creative purpose and financial needs, finding the intersection where meaning and marketability merge.
- THE TRAIL IS BOTH ANALOGY AND REALITY The physical journey reflects the creative one, forward motion through varied terrain, finding beauty in mundane moments, and discovering insight in unexpected places.
- CONNECTION & SOLITUDE IN RHYTHM Honor the tension between seeking social connection and requiring isolation. The trail offers both community and solitude, writing should do the same.
- TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE ENABLES FREEDOM Building technical skills like the Alice cryptocurrency project and mobile workflow systems creates the foundation for location independence.
THE “HIKER TRASH” PHILOSOPHY
The term “hiker trash” is embraced by long-distance hikers who prioritize experience over conventional success, and it embodies the core of this mission. It represents choosing a life rich in experience but often materially simple, finding community with like-minded individuals who value freedom over conformity.
This path offers a third option beyond the conventional dichotomy of “successful professional” or “struggling creative.” It creates space for meaningful work, financial sustainability, and unlimited exploration, a balance where creative purpose funds adventure rather than competing with it.
I hope to develop and share the tools that make this a viable lifestyle for anyone who would choose to walk away from a world that doesn’t fit their needs. Society is undergoing deep shifts that few are equipped to navigate, creating challenges for those caught in the transformation. Just know that you have options. The trail will always be here, and so will I. Writing stories from mountain summits while watching the sunrise, miles from civilization.