We had the good fortune of connecting with Eric Poulin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, what’s your definition for success?
Success can be defined by identifying what is important to you and in your life, and whether or not you have been able to achieve that goal. Of course, we all define success differently, and its meaning it highly subjective. For me personally, success is being able to spend as much of my time as possible doing the things I enjoy. After all, time is our most valuable commodity. To be able to make the most of our limited time on this planet seems like the best way to define success.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since my 2018 CDT thru hike, I’ve been transitioning into a “full-time” outdoor adventurer. The biggest obstacle is generating income to support this goal. Perhaps the most impactful decision I made was to take the proceeds from my house and purchase a couple of rental properties. This recurring income affords me time to focus on my content creation efforts, documenting my outdoor adventures. Inspired by Cookie and Paul’s film, I’ve been shifting my focus from blogging and writing to videography. This is a very competitive niche, and I am far from the top. My current passion is creating my own off-trail thru-hiking routes, which is very rough to market considering the lack of awareness among the general hiking community. It’s been a slow build up, but with quality work and dedication, I’ve been able to grow steadily and best of all, inspire others through my work in the same way Cookie and Paul inspired me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Tough question! I’m mostly traveling these days, between long hikes and van life… “home” now is a small town with 1100 people in northern Michigan. Based on that, I would definitely take the kayaks out on the upper Muskegon river and fish these lonely waters for pike. It’s quiet and peaceful, and the fish are hungry. We would camp along the river, bouncing around to hit the best spots. We would cook our catch over the campfire, with a backup of Italian sausage and burgers. When we don’t want to deal with the extra work of processing the fish, head into to Roscommon to eat at Fred’s, best pizza around. City life isn’t a thing here, but we have countless lakes and rivers to explore.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Cookie and Paul are Brits who came to the US on a six-month Visa in 2008 with a goal to hike 3100 miles from Mexico to Canada on the Continental Divide Trail. They produced an excellent two-and-a-half-hour movie documenting their Journey, I watched it no less than 100 times over the six years leading up to my CDT thru-hike in 2018. Their film inspired me to sell my house, quit my cubicle job, and Hike the Continental Divide Trail myself. This was a defining moment in my life, where I began to see the world in a different way. A big shout out to Cookie and Paul for their accomplishment and for inspiring me to follow my dreams!

Website: https://SeekingLost.Com

Instagram: https://Instagram.Com/SeekingLost

Facebook: https://Facebook.Com/SeekingLost

Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/SeekingLost

Other: https://Patreon.Com/SeekingLost

Image Credits
Zack Jeffries, Jay Eury, Katie Peterson

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.