10 Years of EverTrek: How It All Began

That would be me.

I'm Andy Moore, founder of EverTrek. I've always had a real love for the outdoors.

I've explored mountains and adventures across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Thailand and plenty of other places, but Nepal had always been somewhere I wanted to experience for myself.

So, in January 2016, I headed out to trek to Everest Base Camp.

A fairly normal thing to do when you've got some time off, right?

I had no idea at the time just how much that trip would change my life.

And I certainly didn't know I'd come home and start this!

It wasn't long after the devastating Nepal earthquake in 2015, and tourism in the country had understandably taken a huge hit. I wanted to experience the Himalayas for myself - and I absolutely loved it!

I fell in love with Nepal, the mountains, the people and the challenge. But the trip also changed something in me personally.

When you're walking through the Himalayas for hours every day, you get a lot of time to think. Away from normal life, phones, work and all the usual distractions, you get a completely different perspective.

That's the beauty of trekking. You have time to properly switch off.

Looking back, the idea for EverTrek actually came to me while I was in Kathmandu. It wasn't some huge, dramatic moment. It was more a decision that suddenly became clear in my mind: “Actually, this is what I'm going to do.”

I wanted to help other people discover what Nepal had given me. It had freed my mind, changed the way I saw things and left me with a feeling I wanted to share with others.

I knew I probably needed to get a full-time job first, which is what I did, and then I started building EverTrek on the side.

When I came home from Nepal, I also understood why an adventure like the Everest Base Camp trek could feel enormous when you're sitting at home thinking about it.

How fit do I need to be? What do I need to pack? How do I train? What about altitude sickness?

And perhaps the biggest question of all:

Can I actually do this?

I realised there were so many people who wanted to experience trekking but needed someone to help turn their dreams into a plan.

I didn't want EverTrek to simply be a company selling trekking holidays - I wanted to help people through the questions and worries that come with taking on a big adventure and ultimately become part of a community of like-minded people.

That was the idea.

Now I just had to actually build it!

EverTrek's first customer was my former manager, Dave Carpenter.

Dave wanted to trek to Everest Base Camp, so we sat down at Bill's Restaurant in Cardiff to work out what he would actually need for the trip: kit, training, packing and everything else we needed to organise.

We started making a list.

And where did we write it?

On the back of a restaurant receipt.

Yep. A restaurant receipt.

Not exactly the polished start you'd expect from a company that's now been going for 10 years.

But that little receipt became quite special. Dave eventually had it framed and gave it to me as a Christmas present - I still have it today.

Every time I see it, I’m reminded why I started EverTrek: to turn “one day” into “I did it.”

Dave joined me on an Everest Base Camp adventure in September 2016.

And just like that, EverTrek was up and running!

The early days were a long way from the EverTrek you see today.

For the first few years, I funded the business myself while working as a finance analyst contractor for Barclays. So, yes, there were quite a lot of spreadsheets involved - you can't completely escape the finance background!

In 2018, Dave joined the business and took responsibility for operations while I focused on growing EverTrek. Then, in 2019, Jen joined the business as COO.

Slowly but surely, things started to grow: more trekkers, more destinations, more guides and more people joining the team.

Today, almost 6,000 people have travelled with EverTrek.

Six thousand!

That's a number I still find pretty crazy.

We've helped people take on huge, bucket-list adventures like Everest Base Camp in Nepal, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Machu Picchu in Peru, Mount Toubkal in Morocco and plenty of other incredible destinations around the world.

But the number 6,000 doesn't really tell the full story.

Behind every booking is a person.

Someone who decided to stop saying, “I'd love to do that one day.”

Someone who finally booked the trip.

Someone who started training and bought their first pair of proper walking boots.

Someone who had never trekked before.

And eventually, someone who stood somewhere they'd dreamed about seeing for years.

That's the part of EverTrek that means the most to me.

Then - the world stopped.

COVID spread. Borders closed. Adventures were postponed. Like pretty much every company involved in travel, we had one hell of a period to navigate.

But something happened during that time that has always stuck with me.

People didn't give up on their adventures.

They waited.

When customers had the option to move their trips rather than walk away from them, the overwhelming majority chose to keep their adventures alive. People still wanted to travel, explore, climb mountains and experience places they'd dreamed about visiting. They were simply waiting for the opportunity to do it.

When travel eventually returned, EverTrek came back stronger.

The business grew, the team grew and the number of people wanting to take on adventures around the world continued to grow too.

At the end of 2024, Rhys David joined us as CEO, bringing his experience in finance, investment and managing growth, while allowing me to keep focusing on what inspired me to start EverTrek in the first place: the adventures themselves.

Over the last 10 years, I've had the chance to meet hundreds of EverTrekkers, and so many of them have become a memorable part of the EverTrek story.

Diane, Jim, Bri Bri and Mick are just a few of the people who have become such a big part of our EverTrek community. And then, of course, there are Dave and Billy, who will always have a particularly special place here, having been among our very first EverTrekkers on the trail.

But there are also countless people I've met along the way!

What's amazing is how different everyone can be.

People come from completely different backgrounds and walks of life, but once you're on the trail, there's something that brings everyone together.

They want a challenge.

And challenges have a funny way of bonding people.

When you've walked for hours together, pushed through difficult days, shared the laughs, the tiredness and the moments when you're wondering what you've signed yourself up for, you get to know people quickly.

Some of those people become friends for life.

That's one of the things I love most about EverTrek.

It's not just about where you go. It's about who you experience it with.

Ten years ago, I came home from Nepal with an idea.

Almost 6,000 EverTrekkers later, I'm still thinking about the same thing:

How do we help more people experience the world?

How do we help more people get outside?

How do we help more people find the confidence to take on something new?

A lot has changed over the last decade. EverTrek has grown, we've welcomed thousands of EverTrekkers, survived a global pandemic and learnt an awful lot along the way.

I'm massively proud of what we've built.

But the original idea hasn't changed.

Get outside. See the world. Do something that scares you a little bit. Meet amazing people. Make memories you'll carry with you forever.

Because that's what life is all about, isn't it?

And if we can help a few more people experience that over the next 10 years, then I reckon we're doing something right.

There's one thing I definitely don't want to forget in all of this.

EverTrek wouldn't exist without the people who trusted us enough to take that first step.

The people who booked that first adventure. The people who told their friends. Those who came back and did another trek. The trekkers who sent us photos from the top of mountains. The ones who challenged us to improve. The guides and porters who make these adventures possible. And the team who work behind the scenes to make sure everything comes together.

It's been one phenomenal journey.

I'm incredibly proud that 10 years after that first idea in Nepal, we're still helping people take on some of the world's most incredible adventures.

So, thank you.

Thank you for trusting us.

Thank you for adventuring with us.

And thank you for reminding us why we started EverTrek in the first place.

Here's to the first 10 years - and to the next 10.

Who knows where we'll end up?

Hopefully somewhere with a good view!