David Ryan left his conventional job in the business world at the age of 49 to rearrange his life into a mixture of income-producing and personal activities. Since making that change, he has found time to walk the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail from end to end, walk the Camino de Santiago from France to Santiago de Compostela in the west of Spain, become involved in archaeology, earn a black belt in aikido, and pursue several other outdoor and walking activities. For the past 18 years he has explored the New Mexico backcountry, looking for previously unknown archaeology sites as a volunteer for the Bureau of Land Management. He is the author of Long Distance Hiking on the Appalachian Trail for the Older Adventurer, The Gentle Art of Wandering, The Bisbee Stairs, and a blog on walking and wandering at gentleartofwandering.com. David lives in Albuquerque with his wife, Claudia, and his three dogs, Paddy, Petey, and Sparky. To contact David Ryan or receive hike updates, please visit
