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Marc Hügel | Alpine Thru-Hiker | Speaker | Coach

@marc_is_walking

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Helping you navigate change.
Talks • Panels • Certified solution-focused coaching
17,000 km alpine thru-hiking
Athlete @jackwolfskin @suunto

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Als Marc Hügel vor den Trümmern seiner Existenz stand, körperlich nur noch ein Schatten seiner selbst, war es das Wandern, das ihn zurück ins Leben führte. Mehr noch: Er erkannte, dass es seine Bestimmung ist. Heute hat er als @marc_is_walking viele Tausend Kilometer auf den Wanderwegen Europas verbracht und sich dabei tatsächlich selbst gefunden. Und: Er hat das Wandern zu seinem Beruf gemacht. Wie, das erzählt er in der aktuellen Folge des @freirauspodcast 🎙️ Es geht um Medikamentenabhängigkeit, schicksalhafte Begegnungen und das Weitermachen mit minimalem Budget. Du erfährst, welchen Preis Marc für seine Freiheit zahlt, und hörst aus erster Hand von einem brandneuen Fernwanderweg, dem Wolf Trail 🐺🏔️🥾 Was bedeutet das Wandern für dich❓#wandern #fernwandern #podcast #mentalegesundheit by @marc_is_walking

2022. A whole life. Destroyed.
It will never get better.
Everything is broken.

But not my legs.

So I started walking.

No plan.
Just one idea:
clear my head.
From Munich to Athens.

That never stopped.

I’m still walking.
Five years later.

People laughed.
“Don’t you want to do something proper with your life?”
“You can’t just keep walking.”

I kept going.

15,000 km.
Mountains.
Pain inside and out.

And now this is part of how I make a living.

The voices?
Silent.

If you feel the urge to do something - do it.
Follow your path.
Don’t let anyone pull you off it.

Things come together on the way.
if you keep moving.

Start.

@Jackwolfskin The Wolf Trail is where the next chapter begins.

#thruhiking
#longdistancehiking
#mentalresilience
#marciswalking
#solohiking by @marc_is_walking

I rebuilt my life in silence.
Step by step.
Far away from people cheering.

The years were hard.
Progress felt invisible.

Small steps. Repeated daily.
4 years. 20 million steps.

That’s how it’s built.

Keep going.
Keep choosing forward.
Keep paying the price.

You don’t succeed because it’s easy.
You succeed because you don’t stop.

I didn’t.
Most people do.

What’s stopping you right now?

#thruhiking #resilience #mentalstrength #keepgoing #marciswalking by @marc_is_walking

A wild summer.

A journey away from myself. And back to myself.

I came into this season pretty unprepared. It took me quite a while to adapt to the physical weight this life carries.

But once again, I learned that the will to keep going can move mountains.

As long as we are alive, we move forward.

Life has no reverse gear.

Back to my old-school carousels. Just pictures from the journey.

I know the algorithm might prefer something else these days. I don’t.

I still believe that a single image can tell a story that goes far beyond advice written across a photograph.

And I think back to a time when a carousel of pictures had value simply because someone had put in the effort to capture every single one of them. Every picture meant something.

Do you remember when our grandfather showed us an old photograph and then filled that one single image with stories that lasted the entire evening?

I still remember.

But I don’t remember a single post I saw yesterday.

Mountain passes. Summits. A wild summer slowly coming to an end. Autumn is waiting around the corner. One of my favourite seasons in the mountains.

So while I keep exploring the mountains until winter arrives, I want to share with you the highlights of this summer, during which I scouted the alpine route for the Jack Wolfskin Wolf Trail 2.0 as part of a team of four.

The mountains. The moments. And all those unforgettable places this journey has taken me.

And don’t forget:

FORWARD ALWAYS.

#thruhiking #mountainlife #alpinehiking #hikingphotography #jackwolfskin by @marc_is_walking

Meet Marc Hügel.

He used to work in management consulting, but he decided to leave the office and head for the mountains. 15,000+ km later, Marc has walked trails across Europe, from the Via Alpina to the HexaTrek and Wolf Trail.

Sometimes going further means walking farther and sometimes it means changing direction completely.

Made for further. by @marc_is_walking

Fear. How many things have we never started because of it? How many dreams have we postponed until “someday”?

I’ve been afraid. A lot. Sometimes, I still am.

Looking back, I see how long I let those fears keep me standing still. I’ll never get that time back.

Fear deserves respect. It can save our lives when we face real danger.

But what about the fear of failure, rejection or starting over?

Some fears tell stories about a future that hasn’t happened. They become the voices in our heads:

You’ll fail.
They’ll judge you.
You’ll never find your way again.

I know how convincing those stories can feel. I’ve let them make decisions for me.

My way forward began with one word:
TROTZDEM.

Even so.
Even with the fear.
Take the next step.

Long-distance hiking gave me thousands of chances to practise that. Rebuilding my life gave those steps meaning.

You don’t have to feel fearless to begin again. You can doubt yourself and still try. You can hear a no and knock on another door. You can start over without knowing exactly where you’ll end up.

Some days, the next step is small. Some days, you need to rest. Give yourself that room.

For me, the cost of staying where I was eventually became greater than the fear of moving forward.

I’ve been there. I know what it took to begin.
And I’m still here.

You’re here too.
You only get one life.

FORWARD. ALWAYS.

#FacingFear #StartingOver #PersonalGrowth #LongDistanceHiking by @marc_is_walking

Marc had a career, a plan and a pretty clear idea of what came next. Then he changed direction. From the office to 15,000+ km on trail.

Turns out, you don’t always need to know exactly where you’re going. You just need to know you want to go somewhere else.

Made for further. by @marc_is_walking

It’s time.

Patience is one of those things that can take a lifetime to learn. I’m still learning.

Up here, impatience can come with consequences. And sometimes the weather will test your patience more than anything else.

For three days, I waited.

Three days in a mountain hut somewhere in the Slovenian Alps.

Twenty people sharing one shelter. The less connected we were to the outside world, the more connected we became to what was right in front of us.

Long evenings around a table.
Games. Shared dinners.
Conversations with people who had been strangers just hours before.

My first attempt to reach this long-awaited Slovenian peak ended somewhere inside the clouds.

So I turned around.

That’s also why the @suunto Vertical 2 has become part of how I move through the mountains. Its barometric storm alarm can alert me to a significant drop in air pressure, an early indication that conditions may be changing.

Technology can give us information.
We still have to make the decision.

Three days later, the sky finally opened.

And maybe that’s the lesson I’m taking home from this one:

You can have the route.
You can have the strength.
You can have the will.

Sometimes you still have to wait.

Some things cannot be forced.

And some things are worth waiting for.

What was the last thing worth waiting for?

@suunto Vertical 2 @jackwolfskin

#SuuntoVertical2 #Suunto #Hiking #jackwolfskin #Mountains by @marc_is_walking

Weekends like this >> by @marc_is_walking

After 10,000 km on foot, I’m still learning to be still.
To let my body recover.
To breathe. To rest. To just be.

Winter is slow to arrive here in the mountains.
Cold air. Quiet sunshine.
And this gentle kind of beauty that only comes with time.

There’s still a lot ahead.
Exciting things.
And sometimes I can hardly believe how it all starts to come together —
after all the challenges I’ve faced.
I’m deeply thankful for that.

Yes — life can be hard.
And yes — it can be soft.
Both are part of the same road.

We don’t need to fear the good days.
They’re not a warning.
They’re a gift.

There’s no way back.
Only FORWARD.
Even when we’re unsure.
Even when we’re tired.
Especially then.

Let the hard days shape you.
Let the good ones soften you.
And trust: it all belongs.

If this speaks to you — walk with me.

@nordiskoutdoor
@blackdiamond

#dolomites #mountainreflections #marciswalking
#trailwisdom #resilientheart #rawandreal
#slowliving #solohikinglife #coldbeauty
#mentalclarity #emotionalresilience #wildclarity
#authenticliving #quietpower #trustyourpath
#forwardmotion #soulwriting #innerjourney
#viaalpina #longdistancehiking #minimalistadventure
#nordiskoutdoor #blackdiamond #altrarunning
#icebreaker #smartwool #2025energy
#hikinginspiration #healingjourney #walkyourtruth by @marc_is_walking

How often in life did I feel completely overwhelmed facing situations I believed I couldn’t survive?
No safety net. No functioning family. Just a heart full of questions, and a mind full of chaos.
I grew up surrounded by the wrong beliefs. Advice came in floods from people who looked professional, seemed wise. But I learned the hard way: most advice carries an intention. And that intention is rarely yours.

We live in a world that teaches us to outsource our truth.
We become numb, paralyzed by noise.
So we stay in jobs we hate.
In relationships that numb our soul.
We compromise for comfort, not clarity.

But clarity never comes from speed.
It arrives in silence. In slowing down.
That’s when your inner voice screams the truth you’ve silenced for years.

We feel guilt when we walk away, from family, from partners, from the version of life we were taught to want.
But what if losing everything is exactly what opens the door to everything real?

I always tell people: Take the hit. Lose it all. Let it burn if it’s not aligned.
Because what returns after the fire… is pure.
And it will flood your life with more than you ever dared to imagine.

I walked through hell.
For 20 years.
And I wouldn’t trade a single step.

Because the pain gave me the map.
And the map led me back home –
To myself.

Listen to your voice.
Even if it scares you.
Even if the world tells you you’re wrong.
That voice is your path.
And I promise you: it will not betray you.

I am proof of that.
And so are you.
If you dare.

Gear that carries me.
@nordiskoutdoor | @altrarunning_europe | @icebreakernz | @rab.equipment | @blackdiamond

#rawhealing #mindsetshift #authenticliving #innerjourney #realgrowth #selfhealingjourney #walkyourtruth #emotionalresilience #soultalk #spiritualclarity #trustyourpath #highvibrationlife #radicalselflove #thisismystory #marciswalking #mentalclarity #outdoorwisdom #frompaincomespower #lifein2025 #growthseason #innertruth by @marc_is_walking

The Wolf Trail. Stage 2.

As the athletes of @jackwolfskin @thewolftrail.eu we have trekked 800km with 2,700km still to go.

We’re used to mountains. Thru-hiking trails with steep climbs, rough terrain, harsh conditions, and places where the noise finally ends.

But this route has its own challenge.

Endless horizons.
Endless straight paths.
The same rhythm, day after day.
And now the heat is arriving too.

It drains you in a different way.
Mentally.

Still, we keep moving.

Three musketeers following a path we don’t always understand.
And maybe that is the lesson.

Once you learn to keep going through uncertainty, most obstacles lose their power when you face them together.

What stays with us most, are the people along the way.
The conversations.
The kindness.
The unexpected support.

Again and again, this journey reminds us that the world is far better than we often believe.

#LongDistanceHiking #ThruHiking #JackWolfskin #TrailLife #HikingCommunity by @marc_is_walking