About Me — Debra Howell “Chilly Bin”
By: Debra Howell, Chilly Bin
Tags: Travel, Introduction, About Me, Life Lessons, Hiking

About Me — Debra Howell “Chilly Bin”

Finish of the Pacific Crest Trail (photo credit to the author)

My name is Debra, but I often go by my trail name “Chilly Bin”.

My trail name came from the second of my 3 long hikes, the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Walking down the trail with some new friends, I got overly excited about a chilly bin (what Americans would call a cooler) full of trail magic, the free food and drinks given to hikers on long trails. Someone started calling me Chilly Bin, and the name stuck.

It’s ok though, being from New Zealand, I think some of what Americans do/say is funny too.

Although I have been tramping (or hiking/backpacking) since I was 14, my first thru-hike was of (the) Te Araroa (TA) in New Zealand. In English, this is The Long Pathway (Te Reo Maori is the indigenous language of New Zealand and one of our official languages). I didn’t actually do TA it all at once, but rather one island at a time (so it was a section hike technically). A total of approximately 3000km, or 1860 miles.

Start of Te Araroa (photo credit to the author)

After completing the first half of Te Araroa I went back to work as a civil engineer, but realised my heart just wasn’t quite it in any more. So, at the3 end of the year, I quit my job, walked the northern half of Te Araroa and travelled to the US to walk the PCT.

TPCT is around 4260km, or 2650 miles, and took me about 5 months. Since then, I have tended to prioritise travelling and exploring over work — to me there are so many things more important than sitting behind a desk!

Summit of Mt Whitney along the PCT (photo credit to Steve Cain)

Near the very end of the PCT, I became quite ill. Walking got harder and harder, and I lacked in energy. When I finally visited a doctor, after putting it off for far longer than I should have, it turned out I had blood clots in my lungs. I was forced to leave the trail before it was completed.

Not to worry, I was able to go back and complete the trail a year later. I explain a bit more about this story here if you are interested.

Once I returned to New Zealand my goal was to rest and recover. I went back to work, but my real goal was to be well enough again to travel.

It took almost half a year to get the go ahead to travel; and, as luck would have it, I received medical clearance just a few weeks before the start of the thru-hiking season in the states. I had little time to prepare, but I guess many would say that two long-hikes under my belt was preparation enough!

And so I was off, back to the states to complete the Appalachian Trail, one of the oldest long trails on Earth. My luck would pay off when I met Raiden on day 2 of the trail. We completed the entire 3500km, or 2192 miles, of it together. You can read all about that adventure in Raiden’s new book “Sauntering Thru”.

Finish of the Appalachian Trail (photo Credit to Cody James Howell)

Four months after we completed the trail we got engaged, and a year after that (about a week ago actually) we were married back in New Zealand!

Now we are finishing up building a camper van that we will use to travel around the country for the next 5 ish months. We plan to do plenty of hiking, explore some caves, sail, and maybe even skydive.

For our upcoming adventures in New Zealand, I have made most of the gear we use out on the trail. By doing this, Raiden and I have reduced our pack weights significantly, meaning we can travel lighter and more comfortably as we hike.

I started video blogging prior to my AT hike, and catalogued the entire AT thru-hike, all of the make your own gear (MYOG) stuff, and will next vlog our travels around New Zealand living the van life! Make sure to subscribe and follow along!

You can check out my Youtube channel here.