Travelers

During my bike touring days, strangers often offered water, food, and even a place to stay.

When someone is  walking around wearing a gaudy t-shirts with the name of the state they live, or even more WTF,  a man wearing a sports shirt with the name of a twenty something year old on his back, they usually draw smirks, head shakes and locals often ignore them.  “Tourists” hrumph.  When someone is on a loaded touring bike, or carrying a backpack, with a tent and cooking gear dangling,  people are interested and often want to know the story of these “Travelers”

I had chanced upon two friend who are on the move this spring.  Both are documenting their adventures and are well worth a look see.  The bikers are just beginning their adventure, and the hikers have plenty of material to peruse on YouTube.

Adventures in Backpacking  is a YouTube channel by two local high school teachers. Her trail name is “Pug Dog” his is “North Star”.  For those not in the know, hikers, especially long distance hiker, take on trail names.  It usually takes a while to figure out your own name, and very often, others they meet on the trail figure that out for them.

Description
Follow along as we backpack across the United States and abroad! Who are we? Aly, known on the trail as Pug Dog, and Bud, known as North Star, are married, English teachers, and have a passion for the outdoors. This channel’s purpose is to take viewers with us on the trail as we complete day hikes, short overnight trips, and longer thru-hikes. We talk gear, trail experiences, hiking styles, and more!

Wheelpushers on Facebook Tony and Nichole have just begun their cross country bike adventure from Washington State to Washington, DC.

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“Hello Tribe!

For those of you that don’t know us, we wanted to take a moment to introduce ourselves. Tony is an avid lifetime cyclist, former competitive bmx rider, former owner of a bikemessenger company in Columbus, Ohio and currently works part time in tv and film as an actor. Nicole is an artist and teacher who will soon be wrapping up her 2nd Master’s Degree, an MFA from UMass Dartmouth.”  MORE