“I have sampled this life.”

Mark Twain

As I write this, I’m 64.

I have mountains of experience—five million air miles and over 100,000,000 uphill steps spent hiking and climbing across seven continents. I’ve had a long career in business and marketing—in small companies, global mega-companies, and across many industries. Some might say I’ve been around.

It’s taken over five decades to accumulate those miles, steps, and hills. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve stumbled and fallen flat on my face, chickened out and turned around, or walked many miles in the wrong direction. There have been lots of scrapes and bruises, some broken bones, and even a few near death experiences. I’ve spent, lost, and passed up a lot of money on the road less traveled. But the experience and the lessons learned have been so worth it, because as they say, “No pain, no gain.” I believe that wholeheartedly.

You see, I’m compulsively curious about the world, and I have always wanted to explore it. But, instead of the explorer-geologist-astronaut I dreamed of being as a teen, I somehow wound up in the corporate world. So, it was only natural that I found ways to explore anyway and, as a result, have sandwiched plenty of hiking and climbing into forty years of business experience. I was fortunate to be able to do climbing expeditions and treks to Antarctica and Nepal, across North and South America, the Alps, Africa, and countless climbs of Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

My business experience has been just as wide-ranging. First, there was a charge up the corporate ladder to senior management in global mega-corporations that had me working across six of those continents. Then serial entrepreneur in numerous startups (some worked, most did not). Madison Avenue advertising business. A term as the CEO of a music company. Went to a few TED Conferences and gave a TED Talk. And senior management of the world’s largest fitness company.

My whirlwind of different business experiences, perspectives, and challenges bring a lot of variety to the table. An executive recruiter recently called me a “marketing Swiss army knife,” which I kind of liked. As I said, I’m really grateful and fortunate to have had those experiences.

I’ve been immersed in the fitness business and in the world of outdoor adventure for a very long time—as a participant, a student, an executive, and an entrepreneur. My passion for fitness led me to found a think tank that studies the science behind longevity, brain health, and functional fitness with the intent of creating an “upstream preventive healthcare” company focused on the specific needs of people above age 45.

I’ve also observed that while we are indeed living longer, we have not figured out how to live with this new longevity. Many of us are too passive and inactive. We rely on outdated ideas about aging where medicine and drugs keep us alive, and surgery patches us up. We seem to be always looking for a magic pill that will be the fountain of youth.

But here’s the secret. You won’t find the fountain of youth in a doctor’s office. Having worked with many top fitness trainers and some of the best high-altitude mountain climbers and guides in the world, I’ve benefited from their guidance. I’ve worked and lived in a wide range of places, industries, and roles. Along the way, I was lucky enough to have a never-ending variety of interesting colleagues, collaborators, mentors, detractors, critics, and competitors. I’m a sponge, and I soaked it all in. So now, it’s time to squeeze the sponge and share some of what I’ve learned on this journey, particularly as it pertains to fitness and aging.

At 64, I’m not old. And more importantly, I feel about 40. I’m locked into a holding pattern right there, and I’m not alone thinking this way. My knees and hips, after all that pounding, are 100% original and I take no prescriptions or medicines. I know it’s because of hiking. That’s why I’m writing this book. I know there are a lot of us out there who want to feel the same. I want to share my experiences to help others keep moving forward. I want you to forge your own new path—outside.

I’m part of a new movement within my generation—some call us anti-agers. We’re baby boomers who don’t view getting older or a few grey hairs as the end or the decline of anything. In some ways, we’re just getting started: learning new skills, starting new careers and businesses, keeping up with technology, discovering new music, hiking, running, biking, golfing, surfing, dancing, weight-lifting, skiing, swimming, skydiving, tennis, and so on—same as always.

A lot of us have felt this way for decades, as you can see by the number of people who continue to enjoy the active lives they’ve lived thus far. It just never occurred to us to slow down. We’re still planning for a future of unlimited possibilities, always wondering what’s around the corner or just over the horizon. Many of us fully expect to see our great-grandchildren. Some of us will make it to age 100 and are planning for thirty or forty more years of good living and continuous exploration and learning.

Just a generation ago, this attitude and this level of physical and career activity were unheard of in people in their 50s, 60s, or older. There was the cultural expectation that aging meant slowing down, taking it easy, retiring, getting sick or injured, moving into a retirement community, and eventually fading away out of sight on Medicare and Social Security. This is not for us. I was recently mentioned in a Psychology Today article about risk-takers, called “Lust for Life” (Carter 2020). That phrase is exactly the way we anti-agers feel. I got that way by being outside, staying active, and walking uphill—a lot.

At an age when many of my peers are talking retirement, I’ve never worked harder, and slowing down is the last thing on my mind. I have three jobs. All are demanding and require me to be on the front edge of multiple business categories. I get the opportunity to work happily with people young enough to be my grandkids. I can continue to work at this pace because I am fit, energetic, sharp as ever, and looking to the future with great optimism.

Read on and begin to defy aging. Learn to dismiss outdated thinking about getting older and how to join the ranks of antiagers as we rewrite the rules for living longer lives.

And by the way, along my journey, all that plane, trail, tent, and hut time gave me time to think, ponder it all, and reconnoiter the world. I wasn’t searching for it, but along the way, I found the fountain of youth.

Hint: it’s hiking.

See you on the trails,

Martin

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The Book. Table of Contents. Hiker Stories. View From Above. Contact.