On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Dominick Monaco. He dropped out college to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 2,200 mile backpacking route across the US. After working in nature conservation for 3 years, he taught himself how to program and now works as a developer.

We talk about:

  • Life working as a Yogi Bear-style forest ranger in training

  • Close brushes with death in the wilderness and how it affects you

  • Learning programming for a grand total of $15

  • How surrounding yourself with other ambitious learners can help you learn programming faster

You can watch the interview on YouTube:

Or you can listen to the podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow the freeCodeCamp Podcast there so you'll get new episodes each Friday.

Thanks to the 11,384 kind folks who support freeCodeCamp through a monthly donation. You can join these chill human beings and help our charity's mission by going to https://www.donate.freecodecamp.org

Links we talk about during our conversation: