‘Wander Women’ Trade Creature Comforts for Life Experiences

On February 21, 2019, they began the Appalachian Trail at Amicalola Falls in Georgia. Six months and nine days later, they summited Mount Katahdin at the trail’s end in Maine. To finish in that time, they had to average 15 miles a day. Most days, they hiked for eight to 10 hours, each carrying 25 pounds of supplies — tents, sleeping bags, pads, meals and more. 

By 2021, Kristy and Annette had completed the “Triple Crown” of long-distance hiking, a recognition given to those who complete the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail. Together, these trails span 22 states and roughly 8,000 miles. Their adventures have taken them to almost every national park and around the globe, including to Slovenia to climb the Alps and to Patagonia to trek through glaciers.

In between trips, the women stay fit by hiking at least two hours a day, typically setting out by 6 or 7 a.m. They stretch and work out with weights daily and perform foot exercises to prevent injury. They also intentionally exercise their brains. In addition to constantly researching and planning their next adventure, they are learning Spanish, and Annette has taken up the guitar. They also try to meditate daily. 

They avoid alcohol, rarely eat out and don’t eat much meat, getting their protein instead from cottage cheese, eggs and tuna. Quinoa, green salads, fresh fruit, yogurt, veggies and hummus are all staples. They also occasionally practice intermittent fasting — not consuming anything after 5 p.m. 

At the top of Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia, August 2023.

Courtesy Kristy Burns

Staying connected

Early on, Kristy started a YouTube channel so her mom could get a glimpse of their nomadic life. On the Appalachian Trail, she began posting more frequently, and today, they have over 16,000 subscribers. They say the support they’ve gotten from followers and strangers, alike, has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey. “You find out people are really rooting for you and people are really so kind,” Annette says. 

In Maine’s notoriously grueling 100-Mile Wilderness, one couple drove four hours in their RV to meet the women and cooked them a spaghetti dinner. While biking through Washington, D.C., on the C&O Canal, Kristy and Annette spotted a handmade sign that said “Go Wander Women, We Love You!” In Nova Scotia, a couple offered them a place to stay and took them sightseeing. “We could write a book about the people who have helped us along the way,” Kristy says.

The healing power of nature

In the summer of 2025, Kristy and Annette explored the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a massive and rugged terrain in Alaska with no access roads or permanent visitor facilities. The women used packable rafts to travel 350 miles through the wilderness on a river. “With the vast landscape and this intense quiet, you have that feeling of ‘the big alone,’” Annette says. Out in the wild, Kristy says, “there are hours that go by where we’re not talking — we’re totally in the moment. I forget the rest of my life sometimes.”

Kristy (foreground) and Annette traveled 350 miles over 21 days on a summer 2025 packrafting trip through the Gates of The Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

Courtesy Kristy Burns

Not only is nature a haven from the stress and distractions of modern life, but it can also help fend off cognitive decline as we age. In his 2020 book, Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives, Daniel J. Levitin writes that walking outdoors is exactly the type of navigation human brains evolved to perform. Because you must pay attention and traverse an ever-changing environment, it can strengthen synapses that are crucial to brain communication, rejuvenate memory in the brain’s hippocampus and hone eye-body coordination, Levitin explains. Being immersed in the wilderness has also taught Kristy and Annette that they can deal with whatever life throws their way. “I like stepping out and being uncomfortable and being challenged,” Kristy says. “I don’t know what’s going to happen out there — anything can happen — but I believe we can handle it.” Whether it’s a pulled muscle or a sudden downpour, the trials they face during a long-distance excursion require them to stay centered and present. “You’re not trying to control or avoid pain or difficulty — you’re going through the middle of it,” Annette says. “It's like a walking meditation.”

The same is true of difficult emotions — including grief. While out on a long-term trek, Annette says, “you can’t escape your feelings, so you sit with them or walk with them or float with them. It’s like you’re holding them in your arms.” In 2015, as they were putting their plans in place, Kristy lost her sister to cancer at age 52. Annette’s mother, who had dementia, passed while she and Kristy were on the Continental Divide Trail during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

And then in 2024, Kristy’s mom — an avid nature lover herself, and one of the Wander Women’s biggest cheerleaders — died at age 88. Dealing with these losses has reaffirmed to the duo that they’re on the right path. “If you’re doing it right, there should be an urgency to the excitement of being alive,” Annette says. “Life is short, and you don’t know how much time you have to do hard things,” Kristy adds. “I’m going to try to really be in charge of the time I have and be 100 percent present.”