What's in your toolkit
One download with the guide and three tools. You can read the guide in an evening or two. The tools help you plan, pack and go.
The guide
11 steps, from choosing your trail to coming home. With a few stories and tips from Jonatan.
Trip planner
Every task in order, with tips, gear links and videos. Compare three trails, set your budget and read my notes from the Fisherman's Trail and the GR11.
Checklists
The readiness check, every checklist from the guide, the go or no-go check and a trip card to send to someone at home. They all work on your phone.
Pack list
Weigh your gear, see where the weight goes and tick it off as you pack. Start from my pack or one of Jonatan's. It opens in your browser. There's nothing to install.
How you get from here to the trail
Which trail? How do I get there? Where do I sleep, what do I eat, how do I not get lost, what if the weather turns, how far in a day? The 11 steps answer those in order, from seeing if this is for you to coming home. Checklists at the back. One PDF of about 180 pages, to read on your phone.
1
See if this is for you
The fitness question, getting the time off, and my 30-point readiness check.
2
Choose your first trail
Which trail to start with. It might be around the corner.
3
Plan your hike
Days, money, insurance, which direction, getting there. The way I plan every trail.
4
Prepare your body and mind
A walking habit and a shake-down trip before the real thing.
5
Pack smart
What to pack, what to borrow and what to leave at home.
6
Food and water
What I eat on trail, how many days between shops, and where I fill up water.
7
Camp life and body care
Where you can and can't camp. Blisters, knees and stomach.
8
Find your way
Apps and maps, a paper back-up, reading the land, and what to do if you're lost.
9
Stay safe
Thunderstorms, river crossings, bears, cows and the person who feels off. The fears get smaller every time you go.
10
On the trail
The first days, the bad day, and when to keep going or stop.
11
Back home
The weeks after you come home.
Pre-order for €37
What if…?
These are the questions I get under my videos. The guide answers every one of them.
What if I'm not fit enough?
If you can walk 4 hours with a small pack and feel okay the next day, you can probably start. The trail does the rest of the training.
What if I get lost?
Offline maps on your phone and a paper back-up. Reading the land. And what to do if you're lost anyway.
What if the weather turns?
How I read the forecast. What to do in a thunderstorm. When I turn around.
What if I'm scared at night?
The dark, the wildlife, being alone. Most of us start with these fears. They get smaller every time you go.
What if something goes wrong?
A trip card for someone at home. A plan B for every stretch. You sort it out before you leave.
What if I want to stop?
You can stop. Getting off a trail is mostly logistics. It's easier to work that out at home than on a hillside.
Who's behind this guide
Featured in:
You don't have to start with 850 kilometres
My first trips weren't the GR11 across the Pyrenees. They were five days in Peru with a team, Fuerteventura with borrowed gear, then an island at a time, then a Pyrenean section. Only then, I walked 850 kilometres across the Pyrenees. Each step made the next one look normal, so start on the first one.
The bar is lower than you think
You can start with one night. You can walk slowly. You can stop for tea. You can change your plans. You can turn around. You can go home early.
And if you come home thinking, I want to do that again, you've already got your answer.
Start small, and start now.
Suzanne van der Veeken
Written from experience
I've walked more than 2,500 kilometres across eleven long-distance trails, including the GR11 across the Pyrenees, the Fisherman's Trail, the GR131 across three Canary Islands and the Waitukubuli in Dominica, a lot of it with my dog Wingo. I've slept hundreds of nights in tents. Sometimes I put shorter trails together myself.
Jonatan Björkman, my hiker mentor and partner. Much of what's in this guide I learned from him. We've walked many trails together, most of them with Wingo: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, the Waitukubuli in Dominica, the Picos de Europa, part of the GR7 and the Fisherman's Trail. These adventures made such a difference in my life. When he finishes the Continental Divide Trail, he'll have walked all three of America's long trails. We hike differently. What we have in common is good preparation. You'll find a few of his stories and tips in the guide.
Hiking is part of how I live, and I've lived this way full time for more than 15 years. I'm either in the van, on a boat or on the trail, the hiking gear lives in the van, and when I end up somewhere worth walking, I go. Before the trails came ten years at sea, more than 50,000 nautical miles and five Atlantic crossings as crew, six years living in a van, two books, and Ayurveda, the science of life originating from India.
I created this from my own trail notes, the mistakes I've made, and the questions people ask under my hiking videos.
I also run Ocean Nomads, a community for people who want to live a little wilder, explore a little further, and do it with good people.
15
years living nomadically
250
nights camping
11
long-distance trails
2500
kilometres on foot
From the trail
The guide comes out of trips like these.
850 kilometres across the Pyrenees with Wingo, on the GR11.
Jonatan on the Appalachian Trail, 2,200 miles in 100 days. Now live on the Continental Divide Trail, from Canada to Mexico.
What people say about my hiking videos.
“I'm not even a hiking person, but your video makes me feel like I should do it some time.”
June
“It now feels possible, achievable and a very real prospect.”
John
“Thanks for showing both the good and bad times. Make it feel whole.”
Mspromises
Is this for you?
- You keep thinking about doing a few nights on a trail but don't quite know where to start.
- You've done day hikes, but carrying everything for several days feels like a different game.
- You want to hike independently without becoming obsessed with gear.
- You're excited about the adventure and slightly nervous about the practical stuff.
- You keep saving hiking videos and thinking “one day”, but haven't quite made the leap.
- You'd love to hike somewhere bigger one day, and your first trip might be four days on a coastal path.
What you won't find in it
- A perfect packing list you have to buy
- A prescribed pace you have to hit
- A fitness test you need to pass
- A “right” way to hike
- Pressure to finish every trail you start
What you will find
- What matters and what doesn't
- Decisions that fit you
- A way to start with what you have
- The confidence to set out well prepared
- Ready for the unexpected
- Your own way of being outside
Pre-order, delivered November 2026
Your First Hike
The complete guide and practical toolkit for planning, preparing for and confidently taking your first multi-day hike. It lands in your inbox in November 2026 as a PDF, with the trip planner, pack list and checklists. No login, no app and no subscription.
By card or PayPal, EU VAT included. This is the pre-order price. It goes up to €47 when the guide comes out. Every copy helps Jonatan and me keep making trail videos.
A few things you might be wondering
Is this suitable if I've never backpacked before?
Yes, that's exactly who I made it for, and a first overnight counts.
How much time do I need?
A long weekend is enough for a real first trip, and the planning chapter fits the rest to the time you have.
Is this a trail guide?
No, it shows you how to find a trail that fits you and how to dig up what you need to know about it yourself, then how to get ready for it.
Do I have to camp?
You don't have to camp. Most of the guide assumes a tent, because that's how I walk, and it also shows which trails you can walk from bed to bed, with hostels, guesthouses and mountain huts.
Do I need ultralight gear?
You don't need ultralight gear. The packing chapter starts with borrowing, renting and secondhand, and lets the trail teach you the rest.
Can I hike with my dog?
Yes, there's a section on it. Wingo walked most of the GR11 with me, so paws, heat, water and pacing are covered.
I'm a woman and I'd go alone. Is that in there?
Yes. Solo as a woman is its own section: how I read a camp spot, the person who feels off, and the trail community that looks out for you. Trail life as a woman is another: staying clean, your period on trail, and the cup.
How long does it take to read?
You can read the steps in an evening or two, and come back to the checklists in the weeks before you leave.
What format is it, and what do I need to open it?
The guide is a PDF, so it opens on any phone, tablet or computer, with no app and no login. The planner is an Excel file and the pack list opens in your browser. The checklists work on your phone.
How do I pay, and when do I get it?
You pay by card or PayPal through a secure checkout, and EU VAT is included in the price. The guide arrives in your inbox in November 2026 as a PDF, yours to keep.
Why pre-order now?
Because it's new. I want to help you get out there. Pre-order costs €37. The price goes up to €47 when the guide comes out.
Ready to go?
You don't have to know yet how far you'll walk, where you'll go next, or whether you'll love it.
Start with a few nights. The rest can come later.
Pre-order for €37
Your First Hike: the guide, trip planner, pack list and checklists.Pre-order for €37
