I've been chasing adventure my whole life.
Growing up in Germany, I was obsessed with American culture. Video games, movies, TV shows, music. To a kid in Europe, the US felt like the place where exciting things happened. Where adventures were waiting.
In Germany, it was just my mother and me. When I was fourteen, she let me move to the United States to live with my family here and chase those dreams. I'll always be grateful to her for that.
I thought I'd finally found it.
But life has a way of becoming ordinary. North Carolina became home. I finished school, started a career as a software engineer, settled into a rhythm. A decade of screens, deadlines, and the familiar routine of working from home. Gym sessions, dinners with friends, grocery runs on Sunday.
I'd crossed an ocean looking for adventure, and somehow ended up with the most predictable life imaginable.
At the end of 2022, I moved to Texas.
A change of scenery after so many years in one place. And I decided to try something new: hiking meetups. I wanted to spend more time outside, and it seemed like a good way to meet people.
It worked better than I expected. I discovered trails I never knew existed. I met people from completely different walks of life who shared one thing with me: a love for being outdoors. There's something about sharing a trail with strangers that turns them into friends faster than anything else I've experienced.
And that's when it hit me.
Life is about contrast.
All those years behind a screen, I wasn't really going out. Not into nature, not into the wild, not into places that make you feel small in the best way. The adventure I'd been looking for since I was a kid? It was never about crossing an ocean. It was about stepping outside.
For the first time in years, my life felt balanced.
But the experience wasn't perfect.
Sometimes hosts wouldn't show up to their own events. Sometimes the group dynamic just felt... off. And sure, you could avoid these problems by only adventuring with friends you already have. But for me, that misses the point.
Part of what makes adventure special is sharing it with others, including people you haven't met yet. The spontaneity. The stories you wouldn't hear otherwise. The unexpected connections.
The problem wasn't the people. It was the tools.
The platforms everyone used felt like afterthoughts: clunky, limiting, designed for generic meetups rather than real adventures. They made it harder, not easier, to create the kind of experiences people actually wanted to be part of.
So I decided to build something better.
Landbound is what I wish existed when I first started showing up to those trailheads in Texas. A place where adventurers can find each other, plan together, and create experiences worth remembering.
Because life is too short to spend it all indoors. So join me...
Go beyond. Together.
Jeremy Max
Founder