Our Story: The Long Version

First of all, if you’ve made it this far down the page, we’d probably be best friends in real life.

A sincere thank you for being here, and caring enough about what we have to say to read about our journey.

Seriously. We appreciate you.

Our journeys to falling in love with the outdoors could not be more different. 

Alysha was essentially born on the trail with a backpack on. Growing up in Northern California with a teacher and avid whitewater canoeist as a mom, she spent summers exploring the outdoors across the west – from river rafting trips and camping, to day hiking and backpacking adventures. 

Matt, on the other hand, hated hiking and camping until about five years ago. Which also happens to be around the time he met Alysha. I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest just outside of Seattle, but somehow had never been to Mt. Rainier OR the Olympic Peninsula until the summer of 2020. Every single year, his family went on exactly one camping trip to the San Juan Islands, and every single year Matt did his best to get out of going.

Matt and Alysha – we’re now married – met in San Francisco, California in 2014, and in late 2015 Alysha dragged Matt, kicking and screaming, to Chilean Patagonia. We spent five days hiking the “W” in Torres del Paine National Park, and the rest is history. We joke now that Mountain Matt was forged on the trails of Patagonia, and refined in the summer of 2020. 

In February 2020, we left our corporate jobs to pursue our shared dreams of traveling the world for a year completely untethered. We had big plans for hiking in the Dolomites and Slovenia, and spending a month or two in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. 

Then, just six weeks after we finally took the leap after years of planning, saving money, and daydreaming about it, everything changed. 

Instead of embarking on the world travel we envisioned, we took our modified Honda Odyssey – affectionately named “Homer” – and hit the road, leaving from California and spending a full six weeks exploring Oregon. We already had a soft spot for Portland thanks to many visits over the years, but quickly fell in love with the amazing outdoor activities beyond the city.

In the summer of 2020, we explored 13 National Parks, made it to nine states, and spent more time on the hiking trails of the Western United States than we ever could have dreamed of. We hiked 8-10 miles a day on trails across Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and beyond, and spent the evenings sleeping under the stars. While it was different than what we had planned, it was undoubtedly an unforgettable six month adventure. 

And that’s when the silver lining of the destruction of our meticulously crafted 2020 travel plans began to emerge. 

We learned that you don’t need to fly halfway around the world to find beautiful places, spectacular hikes, and unforgettable adventures. It’s often right in your backyard, you just have to get out there and find it.

This site is dedicated to the mission of inspiring and empowering you to find those adventures, big or small, near or far, and giving you the details you need to have an unforgettable trip.