Erik Palin is a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He never hiked before deployment to Korea and hadn't even seen a hill until he was fourteen (on a Boy Scout trip to Vermont). Erik has spent over eight years in the ROK and over twenty in Asia as an expatriate in the maritime and offshore oil and gas industries. During this time, he has hiked all across South Korea. He is married to the love of his life, Jozefina, and has four loving daughters who all enjoy hiking or are learning to enjoy it. When not in a boilersuit working in a shipyard, Erik can be found in the high places with his family-hiking the trails, eating wild blueberries, and trying to keep tomatoes from freezing in his sandwiches. Some of Erik's favorite places to hike include Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Nepal, the Sierra Nevada of California, the South Island of New Zealand, the High Tatras of Slovakia, and the entire island of Tasmania. He can't wait to discover more trails in new high places and hopes to keep doing this for many, many years to come.