Exploring the World:

one step at a time

Join us on our long-distance hiking adventures, stories from our life abroad, and the occasional travel tip.

Exploring the World:

one step at a time

Where are we now?

Tbilisi, Georgia

Meet the Authors

We're Don and Samantha, a.k.a. Moose and Bugs (learn about "trail names"), about 8 years ago we decided to experience as much as possible before life slows us down! In 2019 we hiked our first "thru-hike", the 1200 mile Pacific Northwest Trail, stretching from Glacier National Park in Montana to the western edge of the Olympic peninsula in Washington State. After that we were hooked, hiking the Grand Enchantment "Trail", an exciting 800 mile adventure route from Phoenix, AZ to Albuquerque, NM and finally the epic and awe inspiring Hayduke in the spring of 2024.

Moose's endless passion for hiking never wanes but we also felt the need for experiences beyond his backpacking obsession. So we traveled to the Mediterranean and spent time in Greece. A month was spent in Central Asia, exploring the ancient silk road in Uzbekistan and hiking in the Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Another month was spent in Japan, with the monkeys on the subtropical southern island of Kyushu and in the northern coastal towns of Hokkaido.

Now in 2025 we're changing everything. Closing down our small business in the US and putting all our possessions in storage! We're combining our long distance hiking experience with an overseas destination and hiking the Transcaucasian Trail through Armenia and Georgia. After this 1000 mile hike we plan to spend the rest of the year and hopefully most of 2026 abroad. We have very few plans, only crazy hopes and dreams!