YouTube turned me into a backpacker. These are my 3 favorite outdoor makers on the platform
In the fall of 2021, my friends, burnout was a fact. In October, I decided that I needed to quickly scale back my daily routine, but strip myself of everything I considered normal and not bother with anything at least for a short while. The tool I used to break the chains that tied me to a cable modem and my three LCD screens was backpacking. Four years later, things are kind of stuck, and it’s all YouTube’s fault.
I grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, and I’m a suburban soul through and through whose knowledge of the outdoors comes from a handful of park district programs and a 1965 Boy Scout handbook that I leafed through this time on a long car ride. I also have a comically poor sense of direction, which has literally put me in danger several times. Now I hike and camp and wander unattended in the woods for days at a time, and it’s something I can’t imagine life without.
I am healthier now than I was a year ago, and I have ambitions in mind that require me to be even healthier. But most of all, I enjoy the solitude of a long, multi-day solo hike with an ugly, large backpack strapped around my waist and hanging from my shoulders. When you’re literally so far off the grid that you can’t get cell service, the days get longer and the food—even if it’s pre-cooked and floating in a Mylar bag—just tastes better. I am literal Calvin’s father now.
Backpacking has helped me take both my mental and physical well-being a step further, and I couldn’t have done this without these three channels.
Andrew Lin, Bryan Lin, Robby Huang, and Thomas Sinard are the four quirky goofballs behind Adventure Archives, which today has nearly 220,000 subscribers. Their channel does exactly what it says on the tin: it features a video archive of their various outdoor adventures, ranging from good-natured two-day hikes through the Midwest to epic tours of our country’s most beautiful scenic landscapes. Their latest effort, a two-hour, 36-minute romp the canyons of the Tetonsis well worth your time – and a celebration of their own 15-year journey into nature.
While there are dozens of self-indulgent vanity projects doing more or less the same thing on YouTube, these guys show an unusual level of humility in their work. They are not afraid to show their failures on cameraand they never come across as condescending. Adventure Archives is also going easy on affiliate ads, which have become a bit of a plague among outdoor creators on YouTube lately.
I have no idea what their backgrounds in life are, but I get a suburban vibe that tells me they didn’t have too much dirt under their fingernails growing up either. Just by appearing on my TV, they made me believe that someone like me, who plays dice in front of a computer all day, could go solo backpacking and come home in one piece at the end.
Jessica “Dixie” Hawkins is a three-crown hiker, meaning she’s completed the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail—three of the most intimidating trails in the world. National Scenic Routes system. She is also one of the most generous backpacking teachers I have found. Like the gang at Adventure Archives, she’s also incredibly humble.
While many other outdoor-oriented channels on YouTube will sprinkle a bit of wisdom into each of their dozens of videos, Hawkins is kind enough to put pretty much everything she knows into one video. almost four-hour masterclass online. She then writes and narrates her videos in a style that avoids jargon and makes no assumptions about the expertise level of her viewers. It’s the same kind of voice I try to nurture here in the tabletop section at Polygon, and she does it expertly and naturally, sharing a mountain of information that feels light and logical. Before I went on my first solo trip, I went through the whole thing in the span of two weeks with a pencil and notebook, and I was infinitely better off for the experience.
It’s safe to say that no other creator on YouTube has taught me more or in more detail than Hawkins, including the importance of know when and how to call for help in the hinterland when you need it.
Miranda Webster, the face of REI’s own YouTube channel for years, is an absolute powerhouse on YouTube. Her adventurous spirit is infectious, and I have spent many nights watching her effervescent self bounce down the path, leaving nothing but joy and a sense of belonging in her wake.
Her continued positivity amazes and inspires me, but it’s her sense of playfulness that has motivated the rest of my family to join me on some of my recent backcountry adventures. Her three-part series in search of the best backcountry toilets in the Pacific Northwest is – I’m being 100% realistic here – absolutely breathtaking. This is a woman who really knows her stuff, so to speak, with a small but dedicated cadre of experts/best friends/colleagues to support her.
Despite occasionally switching over to a very gear-focused series of episodes, her channel is at the same time a reliable source of good outdoor vibes and great information. She’s also not afraid to step outside her comfort zone and try new things. While I don’t go trail running or creating dried pieces of toothpaste to soon reduce the weight in my backpack, I absolutely support her call for normalization combining old-fashioned camping gear with more modern ultralight kit…if only because none of this new stuff suits my freakishly tall body anyway.
Good luck out there, Miranda, and I hope a roving group of Hall family hikers encounter you on a trail next summer.