Consistency | One Step at a Time to Katahdin with “Metro” Miller

A friend dies suddenly right in front of you, and the question stops being “someday” and becomes “what am I doing with my life today?” That’s the moment Andrew “Metro” Miller takes us back to, and it’s why this walk in the woods turns into a bigger conversation about health, grief, and choosing a different path before it’s too late. 

We meet Metro at the AT Gateways event at Amicalola Falls State Park and head onto the AT Approach Trail while he unpacks what drove him to thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail northbound. The word he brings is "consistency," and he treats it like a real trail tool, not a slogan. We talk daily mileage, why small goals matter on a 2,197.4-mile journey, and how the first stretch of a thru-hike can feel like a mental tug-of-war with everything you left at home. His answer is simple and hard: let go, focus on what’s in front of you, and keep stacking days. 

Metro also shares what changes when you document the experience for a YouTube audience. Filming becomes part of the routine: breaking camp, walking, logging footage at night, uploading in town, and planning ahead in a way that supports Leave No Trace and long-term endurance. If you’re searching for Appalachian Trail advice, thru-hiking mindset, hiking motivation, or a practical way to build healthy habits outdoors, this story lands with both hope and realism. 

If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs a nudge to start, and leave a review so more hikers and future hikers can find the show.

Also, check out Metro's YouTube Channel, "Metro on the Move" by clicking the following link: https://www.youtube.com/@MetroOnTheMove

Transcript

A Wake-Up Call

Andrew "Metro" Miller 0:00

Uh in 2015 a close friend of mine uh he suddenly passed away. We were just hanging out one day and he had a massive heart attack and dropped dead basically right right there in front of me and uh that kind of got me to look at my life in terms of what I was doing in terms of my daily habits and if I was living a healthy lifestyle and I really didn't want to have a heart attack at age 50. So I changed my lifestyle completely and basically started focusing on hiking and trails.

Meet Metro On The Move

Andrew McEntyre 0:28

Welcome to Deep in the Woods with Andrew McIntyre, where we take one word and one walk to share the stories that connect us all. This episode is the second part of the AT Gateways event, which kicked off the through hiker season at Amacalola Falls State Park. For this episode, I get to interview Andrew Metro Miller, who walked the entire Appalachian Trail last year for the first time and documented his journey. We begin this conversation on the AT approach trail. As Metro tells us what got him out of the house and into the woods. Alright, you ready? Yeah, I'm ready. You ready? We'll take off here and then we'll get started. Okay, sounds good. All right. All right. See you guys soon. See you later.

Speaker 1:13

All right, sounds good.

Andrew McEntyre 1:14

All right, well, uh, welcome to Deep in the Woods. We take one word and we take one walk and we connect those stories. Um, so thank you for walking with me today. Awesome to be here. I'm gonna let you introduce yourself a little bit before we get started.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 1:26

Sounds good. So my name is Andy, also known as Metro from the YouTube channel Metro on the Move. I am a through hiker. I through hiked the Appalachian Trail last year in 2025. Um, I was actually through hiker number one. I started January 1st in some very cold conditions and made my way northbound to Katahdin. Uh, and it was a great trip.

Andrew McEntyre 1:46

Oh, that's awesome. So um I'm gonna start the question off. One of my focuses today about getting outside, getting out of that house and out into the woods. So, you know, what drives you to wake up, get out of the house, and get to a trail.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 2:00

Well, to give you the storyline of why I really backpacked the Appalachian Trail as a whole, uh, in 2015, a close friend of mine uh he suddenly passed away. We were just hanging out one day and he had a massive heart attack and dropped dead basically right there in front of me. And uh that kind of got me to look at my life in terms of what I was doing in terms of my daily habits and if I was living a healthy lifestyle, and I really didn't want to have a heart attack at age 50. So I changed my lifestyle completely. Um basically started focusing on hiking, local trails, and then it just led to the AT. I've been on the AT when I was younger and uh came back and just started filming and started documenting my hikes more and more frequently, and that kind of led to my YouTube channel. Uh so from there, I always had this dream of uh through hiking the AT, and that's exactly what I did. So I took it from there and hiked the AT.

Andrew McEntyre 2:52

Oh wow.

Consistency And Daily Miles

Andrew McEntyre 2:53

Um to help drive our conversation on our podcast, we'll always focus on one word. Um, what word would you like to talk about?

Andrew "Metro" Miller 3:01

Consistency. Okay. Um so for anyone that's going to attempt a through hike, you have to be consistent in your miles. Um for those that don't know this, it is 2,197.4 miles. So in order to make it to Katahdin, say if you started January 1st and ended on August 15th as an example, that's about 285 days, you have to keep a mileage of about 7.7 miles every single day. So if you're not consistent, you're not gonna make it. So it's always about having that daily goal and staying consistent with your daily mileage to hit that that to hit that goal of hitting katatin.

Letting Go In The First 40

Andrew McEntyre 3:39

So what is it that allows you, because I but I imagine there's a point, especially when you're first starting, where you hit these walls, you're like, I've heard this today throughout some mini stories where you almost want to give up, right? Right. Um, where you're like, okay, can I really do this? And there's probably your the mental battle of all what's happening. What allows you to get to that point to where you can pass that barrier and be consistent?

Andrew "Metro" Miller 4:03

So if you are on a through hike, um, the first 40 days I would say is really difficult because you have a lot of things going on back home, things that you're gonna want to control or try and take care of. But in order to get that goal done in terms of completing a through hike, you have to focus in on what's in front of you and the daily challenges that you have on trail. So it's kind of called the process of letting go.

Andrew McEntyre 4:26

Yeah.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 4:26

So it's more about again staying consistent, and then over time, about 40 days into it, you start to adapt to your life on trail and focusing on what's in front of you and letting go of what's behind you. So that's really how I would say you're going to be successful is again adapting, letting go, and staying focused on the goal in front of you, which is one step in front of the other.

Filming The Trail As Routine

Andrew McEntyre 4:48

You have a unique perspective where you documented your journey the whole time, right? Right. Um, and can you tell me how that experience by doing it is like simultaneously? How is that different in terms of how you connected to others outside in the real world? Um, how it affected your actual walk on the trail.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 5:09

So, with that being said, um, routine, right? You in the morning you have your system of breaking down camp, getting on trail, and then you have your breaks throughout the day, whether it be getting water, getting eating lunch, snacks, and so forth, or whatever that routine might encompass. But for me, the routine became part of filming that. So when I would get to camp, part of my settling in for the night, once I got in my tent, was to go through the day and kind of log the footage and create a video. So when I would go into town, I'd have the videos to be able to upload. But again, it was a routine that I got familiar with. So it was more like staying, you know, hey, I this is part of my daily routine, this is what I do, and that was how I was able to consistently consistency make uh videos that I was able to produce for the channel. So it became part of my routine, and that's what I would say to anyone that's going to do a through hike before you get out there, the number one leave-no-trace principle is to plan ahead and prepare.

Andrew McEntyre 6:13

Yeah.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 6:14

So part of that process is not just carrying around your backpack, it's about getting familiar with setting up and breaking down, but also all the steps in between. So if you get more familiar with that, you should be good to go.

Andrew McEntyre 6:26

Um, so before we finish up, and I will kind of close out and hear um I like what you said about like the habit, the routine pieces, because you know, uh to do something like this takes and a word of her earlier was that grid, that resiliency. Right, right. Um, and what you're what I'm hearing is that the way it helped you get through was to develop those habits and routines that became they almost helped drive you because they maybe became automatic to what you were able to do each day to get through each step.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 6:56

Yes, 100%.

Change Starts With One Step

Andrew "Metro" Miller 6:57

So um, you know, again, going back to the storyline of seeing my friend suddenly pass away in front of me, I had a lot of things going through my head that I was trying to not necessarily walk away from, but just deal with in my own way. And by hiking and filming, it kind of brought my attention to a new focus or a new set of routines to where I started to become that's what more of my lifestyle, you know what I mean? That was what I did. And the whole purpose of me doing that was not only to a showcase my journeys and help others, but was more or less to inspire people to say, hey, no matter where you're at in your life, you can always change your lifestyle, you can always change your routine. You just have to get familiar with being consistent of doing this over and over and over again. Now, the for a lot of people, it's the first step is the hardest, but once you get going, the next thing you know, you've got all these stories and videos that you could go back and look at of your life. And at one point you might have these memories of what you once were, but as you start going through this process of change, especially with all these documented videos and things that you're doing outdoors, you start to look at yourself in a different light because now you're on a path to becoming a different person. And that's really what I like about these videos and what I've done is to do exactly that, is to inspire others to get out, change your routine, and you never know where that path might lead you. It might just take you from Georgia to Maine.

Andrew McEntyre 8:23

That's awesome. Thank you for doing this with me. Um, I was gonna finish, almost you answered my last question, which was like, what would be your message to those who would be who need to get out of that house, to need to get into the woods? Yeah. Um, so I um let's finish there. Just kind of like a closing and say, like, what is your message to the to those that you you connect with online? Like, what does this journey taught you, and how what would you like to share with anyone?

Andrew "Metro" Miller 8:46

So, again, no matter where you're at in your life, if things seem dark or you feel like you can't continue on, there's always an opportunity for change. Change starts with you, and it can be as small as hey, I'm gonna go see what's over that hill, or I'm gonna go to this area of town I've never been to before, or I'm going to explore this path I've never seen or never heard of before. Again, your life is very short, and it's what you do with it that really matters. And I've again just being able to have this catalog of seeing all the different places I've been, hopefully that'll be inspirational to you to check out my channel to watch these videos. In fact, I have the entire AT documented every single section from Georgia to Maine. And even if you're not doing a through hike, these videos can help you prepare for your first step to get out there and changing your path and potentially becoming a through hiker. So I encourage you to check out Metro on the Move. Change starts with you, you can do it. Let's keep moving.

Andrew McEntyre 9:41

All right, thank you so much for doing that,. My pleasure, my friend. Have a good one. Thanks.

Andrew "Metro" Miller 9:44

Awesome.

Andrew McEntyre 9:46

Thank you for listening to Metro's story today as we took one word and one walk deep in the woods.