Dear Pumbaa in 2025, This Is Your Why in 2026

Dear 2025 Brandy “Pumbaa” Sales,

You already know why you hike.

At least, you think you do.

Last year, you wrote about your 10 reasons for backpacking the Laugavegur Trail. You talked about health, adventure, pushing yourself, and the way you feel when you’re out there.

A year later, I don’t think your why has changed. But I understand it a little better now.

The biggest reason is pretty simple:

You are choosing your health.

There are a few things I wish I could tell you about the year ahead.

First, you’re going to hurt your ankle. You’re going to ignore it longer than you should. You’re going to accidentally run a 5K, then eventually your first 10K, while spending way too much time trying to convince yourself you’re fine.

You’re also going to go through a breakup.

It will be mutual, and there won’t be a villain in the story. But it will force you to look at yourself in ways you probably weren’t expecting. One thing that will become pretty obvious is just how stubborn you can be once you’ve decided that staying active is important to you.

And you’re going to wrestle with whether choosing yourself is selfish.

It isn’t.

Choosing yourself isn’t selfish when you’re choosing growth.

This year isn’t going to be about becoming a completely different person. It’s going to be about understanding yourself better. Learning where you’re strong, where you’re stubborn, where you need to slow down, and where you need to keep moving forward.

You’re going to learn that when you don’t hike or stay active, you feel it. Your body feels different. Your mindset changes. Even your eating habits start to shift.

But when you’re moving?

You feel better. You feel stronger. You feel alive.

And somewhere along the way, getting healthier stopped being about losing weight or having better numbers at the doctor. It became about creating a life you actually want to live.

You’ve spent a lot of years figuring out who you are.

This year, you’re going to grow into that person a little more.

You’re a guy who needs movement. You need adventure. You need the trail.

That doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to hike the way you do today. Injuries happen. Circumstances change. Our bodies change.

But that’s part of growth too.

You don’t have to know exactly what the future looks like. You just have to keep learning, keep adapting, and keep moving toward the person you want to become.

So, 2025 Pumbaa, that’s your why in 2026.

You just don’t know it yet.

3 days from now, we’re going to find out what that why looks like in Olympic National Park, 

Happy trails, my friend,
Brandy “Pumbaa” Sales