This was a fun memoir about an ill-advised attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail by two dudes who were definitely not prepared for what they got themselves into. I appreciated the brashness of even trying it, along with the self-awareness that there was no way they could actually do the whole thing.

What struck me most is how much the world has changed since the late 1990s when Bryson’s went on this hike. There were no cell phones, GPS for general consumers barely existed (and certainly wasn’t accessible without dropping a lot of money), and it generally seemed like a more trusting world. There are numerous times they were able to hitchhike to places they needed to go and rely on the kindness of strangers — something that feels increasingly unlikely in modern-day America. Maybe things are different on the trail, but I suspect our distrust of our “fellow passengers to the grave” has infected rural trail life too. I wasn’t really expecting this to be a time-capsule kind of story.

A fun read that was laugh-out-loud funny in parts. I recommend it.