In the finale of The Cottage, we step back from the how and ask the why. Whitney "Allgood" LaRuffa explains that he'll hike the PCT when his life requires a walk of that magnitude, and that the best advice he can give any young hiker is to turn the phone off for a week. Glenn Van Peski describes his life's purpose as "creating margin" — making space so opportunities can find you — and washes dishes at a local bakery to meet people outside his usual world. Bus says he'd give up his days in Hollywood but never give up his walk across Spain. And the thread that connects every person in this series emerges clearly: they all found the answers they needed not in offices or labs but on trail, in the hours between nowhere and town, with nothing to do but walk and think. The cottage industry isn't a business model. It's what happens when people who carry less learn to do more.

Show Notes

The Cottage — Episode 5: "Work Hard. Stay Curious."


The series finale of The Cottage asks the question behind all the others: why do these people do what they do? Allgood on waiting for his life to require a walk of that magnitude. GVP on creating margin and slipping into soft focus. Bus on never giving up the walks that changed his life. And the realization that ties the whole series together: the cottage industry exists because people who carry less learned to do more, and they found the answers they needed on trail.


Featured Voices


Whitney LaRuffa (Allgood) — Gossamer Gear. AT '96, CDT '16.


Glenn Van Peski (G Squared) — Founder, Gossamer Gear. Author, "Take Less, Do More."


Dan Durston (Lorax) — Founder, Durston Gear.


Luke Piersall (Bus) — Founder, Trail Goods Company.


The Full Series Cast


Glenn Van Peski (Gossamer Gear) | Whitney LaRuffa (Gossamer Gear/FarOut/Six Moon Designs) | Lloyd Vogel (Garage Grown Gear) | Dan Durston (Durston Gear) | Cameron Abila (Leave Outdoor Co) | Brice Sokolowski (Vaucluse) | Sarah Berkeley (Symbiosis Gear) | Luke Piersall (Trail Goods Company) | Tom Liggett (Alpenglow Gear) | Elliot Dick (Different Dimension Designs)


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