How Hiking the Appalachian Trail Prepared Me for Publishing My Memoir

By Amanda K. Jaros

I thru-hiked the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail when I was 23, hiking through 14 states, from Georgia to Maine. Twenty years later, I decided to write a memoir based on my experience, spent 18 months assembling a solid draft, then sought, acquired, and worked with a publisher over about four years. The resulting book, In My Boots: A Memoir of Five Million Steps Along the Appalachian Trail,finally appeared in February 2025.

Reflecting on all of that now, a stretch of mor...