Meet Simon, the backpacking cat
ADVENTURER JJ HAS FOUND THE PURR-FECT TRAVELLING PARTNER
Simon is a true traveller. He’s enjoyed road trips across the US, braved vast deserts, visited majestic forests – and he’s not afraid of camping in snow.
Except Simon isn’t your average sightseer. He’s a cat – and he regularly goes backpacking with his loving owner JJ Yosh.
‘Having a cat on my adventures has taken my outings to a whole new level,’ says JJ, a filmmaker who adopted Simon two years ago.
‘Cats love nature – especially Simon. Every time I walk near the door to go outside, he races to the door, he looks up and he gives me this short little meow that makes me know that he’s ready to go out.’
The black feline and his 35-year-old owner – who has been travelling the world for most of his life, sharing his adventures on social media – particularly love exploring the mountains around their home in Boulder, Colorado.
JJ says his love of travel started ‘way back when I was a little kid just exploring in the creeks in my backyard’.
‘But my real outdoor career began in college when I started the Excursion Club back in 2003, and I realised in that moment that this was my calling, this was the way that I could help the world and help the earth,’ he explains.
‘When I graduated college, I thought: “I need to do this on a bigger scale.”
‘Media was the key to being able to influence more people on a much larger scale – especially those that are unable to travel as much, and see as much of the world.’
Since backpacking with Simon, JJ says he has slowed down and rediscovered nature – now viewing it in a whole new light.
‘I’m a person that’s all about getting to the top, getting to the destination, and having Simon has helped me to embrace more of the journey and really appreciate the moment and the beauty of mother nature,’ he explains.
Surprisingly for a cat, Simon isn’t adverse to water and is even known to enjoy a swim beside JJ’S canoe from time to time.
‘The first time that he went into the water, I was so terrified because I didn’t know if he could swim or not and I’m thinking to myself: “I’m going to have to jump in and rescue him, how am I going to do this, is he going to drown?”’ JJ admits.
‘But then when I saw that he immediately got his instincts and started swimming, that was amazing.’
Simon is now a social media sensation in his own right – boasting 136,000 followers on his Instagram page Backpacking Kitty. On his profile, he’s described as a ‘mountain cat’ who likes to ‘kayak, swim, rock climb’ and ‘hike’.
And JJ isn’t showing signs of settling down anytime soon. He now has his sights set on some new adventures for him and his furry travelling companion.
‘I would love to take Simon to a really tropical location, and I would like to take him snorkelling,’ he says.
‘I just got a fish tank and he loves staring at the fish, so I think taking him somewhere tropical where we can go in and swim with the fish – he would love it.’