What does it actually take to step away from work, home, and your phone for five months to walk from Mexico to Canada?
Nina Butler is originally from South Africa and is the founder of InRetreat, a boutique travel and wellness company that runs small-group and private retreats in eco destinations around the world. A yoga teacher with a PhD in philosophy, she spent several years living in Oslo, Norway, before moving back to South Africa. In 2025, she and her husband, Chris, thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, spending 150 days walking from Mexico to Canada.
In this conversation, Nina and I talk about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and the planning behind it, from permits and visas to stepping away from work, budgeting, trail culture, and what five months off grid did for her mind, her marriage, and a big life decision.
Most of us will never walk 2,650 miles, but plenty of us dream about carving out a real chunk of time to step away, and the logistics are usually what stop us. Nina’s story is a reminder that the planning phase can be its own kind of journey, and that the work of getting ready can leave your life better organized than you found it. There’s also something here about what happens to the mind when the noise falls away for long enough, and why a couple of weeks might not get you there. If you’ve been sitting on a big decision or a big trip, this conversation might be the nudge.
Have you ever taken a big chunk of time away from everyday life? What did it change for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message.
Tune In To Learn:
- Why a single social media post led to a snap decision to hike from Mexico to Canada
- What had to be locked in before Nina and Chris let themselves get excited
- How Nina prepared her business to run without her for five months
- What a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike cost them, and what drives the price up or down
- Why daily, old-school map planning made the trail more meaningful, not less
- What trail culture is really like, from trail angels to hitchhiking into desert towns
- How long it took for Nina’s nervous system to truly settle off grid
- How a months-long walk finally answered the question of where to live next
- Advice for sharing a tent with your partner for 151 days (and the fight that broke out over food)
- Nina’s top pick for a base town to get a taste of the PCT
Resources:
Want More:
- Top 10 Health and Wellness Destinations (The Best Places to Live in the World) with Nina Butler
- How to Craft Transformative Retreats (For Yourself or Others) with Nina Butler
- Top 15 USA National Park Hikes: From Iconic Must-Dos to Hidden Wilderness Gems with Jason Frye
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