Welcome to the Season 4 Premiere of The Hiker Podcast. This week I am excited to talk with Hiker, Traveler and Author Tim Mathis! Tim Mathis was raised near Middletown, Ohio. The town was the subject of J.D. Vance's memoir of poverty and suffering, "Hillbilly Elegy," but he didn't think it was that bad. He completed a Masters Degree in Theology and worked as a minister in Ohio, New Zealand and Seattle before leaving religion and retraining as a psychiatric nurse a decade ago. Along with his wife Angel, he's travelled extensively in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. They've hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain, the Pacific Crest Trail, and long sections of Te Araroa in New Zealand along with a lot of other shorter trips. Long distance hiking and travel are his favorite coping skills, and he feels most at home on the trails of the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand. He's written two books: The Dirtbag's Guide to Life: Eternal Truth for Hiker Trash, Ski Bums and Vagabonds, and I Hope I Was Wrong About Eternal Damnation: An Absolutely True Memoir. Follow Tim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtbagguide Read Tim’s Blog: https://timmathiswrites.blogspot.com/?m=1 Order Tim’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tim-Mathis/e/B07N7JRLLJ%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share Be sure to subscribe to Andy’s new YouTube Channel- ‘Andy Neal: Plus Size Hiker”- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQMSeBpY4zwyFBB5Z8U79Q Follow Andy on We'd like to thank our sponsors: CNOC Outdoors making our adventures the best possible, simple, enjoyable, fulfilling and sustainable. Go to https://cnocoutdoors.com and be sure to use coupon code 'Hiker Podcast' for 10% off trekking poles.  Or is this link: https://www.avantlink.com/click.php?tt=cl&merchant_id=014f2c2f-7334-473e-95aa-fd74821c174c&website_id=1d7833e9-53d7-4a11-beec-6bd6ff4b65c4&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcnocoutdoors.com%2F CS Instant Coffee makers of environmentally sustainable and great tasting instant coffee for the trail. Use our affiliate link to get yours and help the show: https://cs-instant-coffee.peachs.co/a/andy-neal . Big thank you to our Patreon Patron's for supporting The Hiker Podcast. If you'd like to support The Hiker Podcast on Patreon go to https://www.patreon.com/andynealplussizehiker Music licensed by muscbed.com This weeks opening song is “Changes” by Canyon City which you can listen on our Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5lXwaTWf2f0CUnXiogxCLj?si=c12c1fa33cd94c64 Follow Host Andy Neal on Instagram: www.instagram.com/andyfilmsandhikes Email Andy [email protected] Go to www.hikerpodcast.com for all our social media accounts, email, and all the ways to listen to The Hiker Podcast! Send Andy a Postcard from the trail! The Hiker Podcast 1750 Delta Waters Road STE 102-406 Medford, OR 97504 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hikerpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/hikerpodcast/support