Hi! I’m Avigayil Simpson. Nice to meet you!

I’m American, born and raised in the CA Bay Area. I moved to Israel in 1994.

I had heard about the INT (Israel National Trail), a 1,016 KM hiking trail that goes from the north of the country all the way to Eilat in the south. I remember thinking, “What a cool thing to do!” But my kids were young and I put the idea on the back burner, thinking it was just one of those thing I’d do when I retired. But it was always on my mind – waiting.

In 2016 I had a bicycle accident and ended up having knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus. I realized that if I was going to hike this thing, I’d better do it NOW while I still had my health and before anything else went wrong physically.

The idea of hiking this trail solo didn’t seem so safe to me. Anything could potentially go wrong – a car accident, broken limb, snake bite, sunstroke, a bad fall, dehydration, getting lost, an encounter with cross natives and whatnot. So I posted about myself and my “plan” in various INT-related Facebook groups, searching for a compatible female hiking partner who was prepared to commit to this project. Galit responded to one of my posts so we scheduled a F2F at a coffee shop near her house. As soon as we sat down and started talking, it felt like we’d known each other for years. We quickly pulled out our laptops and maps and guide books and started planning our adventure.

As soon as I started hiking, I realized I am happiest and in my “natural habitat” when I am outdoors. That not only did I need this physical and mental challenge, I truly loved it! On February 11, 2022, we finished hiking the INT, a project which took us 5 years to complete (delayed over and over by Covid lockdowns).

Now it’s time to turn my curiosity loose on some other long (and short) but less well-known trails in an attempt to give them some exposure.