In this YouTube vlog, Ryel Kestano documents a segment of his family’s long‑term trek along the European GR5 trail, picking up where they left off in northern Luxembourg in 2022 and covering roughly 220 miles through the Moselle River Valley, into Germany briefly, and deep into northeastern France, ending near Paris. Ryel explains his lifelong passion for long‑distance hiking and his desire to challenge his children physically and mentally, sharing the slow‑pace, natural beauty, and sense of accomplishment the trail offers. The video interweaves on‑trail narration with candid family banter, songs, and reflections. Key moments include reaching the historic Schengen monument marking the EU’s birthplace, traversing vineyards, a brief stop at a beach, and an unexpected accident where Nico falls from a second‑floor window, forcing the group to cancel their final 19‑mile day. Throughout, Ryel highlights distances walked, daily feelings, and future plans to continue toward the Mediterranean endpoint in Nice. The vlog serves both as a travel log and a personal narrative about family bonding, resilience, and the educational value of immersive hiking.
Chapters
The GR5 is a 1,423-mile-long hiking trail that traverses Europe from north to south. It begins on the coast of Holland and ends on the Mediterranean coast in Nice, France. In 2022, my 12-year-old son and I began the hike at its starting point and walked about 300 miles through the Netherlands, Belgium, and into Luxembourg. This year, 2023, I brought two kids back to continue the hike, picking up where we left off in northern Luxembourg and putting in another almost 200 miles that brought us deep into France. Long-distance hiking has been a lifelong passion of mine, and this was an amazing opportunity to share my passion with my kids, to introduce them to the slow pace of life on the trail, immersing ourselves in beautiful surroundings connecting with nature and with each other. I also wanted to give them a real challenge that would test them physically and mentally and offer them a sense of real accomplishment and fulfillment. I'll be documenting our journey each year as we get ever closer to the end. Still many more miles ahead.
What do we got?
Found our shells from last year that we left in this exact spot. Can I see? Hold them out.
Amazing.
Okay, James, another one. All right, back on the GR5. Got another kid this time. Gonna walk about 220 miles or so deep into northeast France.
We're here in Luxembourg.
This is right where we left off, right down there. This time last year. Yeah guys, let's do this!
Yeah!
Swimming, swimming in the swimming pool. When days are hot, when days are cold, in the swimming pool. Backstroke, side stroke, fancy diving too. Don't you wish that you had anything else to do? Yeah, I know you're sad, but that's your fault for putting a dog in the microwave.
Jeez. Come on, you're better than that.
Yeah.
Hiking, hiking on the GR-5.
When days are hot, when days are cold, on the GR-5. Feet hurt, knees hurt, back is kind of sore. Don't you wish that we could take the break some more?
So we're halfway.
Well, we're halfway through the hike. It's been about 87 miles or so. Got another 90 to go. It's day 7, lunchtime. We're in the beautiful Moselle River Valley, vineyards everywhere. How are we feeling? How are we doing, guys?
My feet hurt.
Feeling good? My feet hurt. Staying positive?
I miss Thor.
What else? What else would you like to share with the world?
We were gonna go to a beach and then it's closed. Or it's paid. You pinky promised me that we would go to the beach.
We're going to the beach.
You pinky promised.
There's a beach but it costs €5 and I ran out of cash, but we'll figure it out. Anyway, it's been a sweet hike. Loving it, enjoying it. Weather's been a bit hot but sunny. It's been nice. And we're a couple days away from Metz, biggest city on the GR5 until Nice at the very end. And yeah, good times, good living.
Ready?
Loving it. Okay, any other final words?
I love it.
I'm ready to do this thing.
Ready?
Okay. All right, see you later.
Bye, Dad.
All right, we are here in Schengen where the European Union was created, and right next to the meeting of Germany, Luxembourg, and France. These are parts of the Berlin Wall right here, and just over here is where the 3 countries all meet there in the middle of the Moselle River. And here is the monument to the European Union. Guys, what do you think?
I'm gonna poop on your face if you don't tell me what 4 countries those are.
What do you guys think of this place? Lots of history here. Pretty amazing, huh? Can you feel the importance of this place? Right there is the meeting of Germany, France, and Luxembourg, that white thing in the middle of the Moselle River. We are leaving Luxembourg by 100 miles. Leaving Luxembourg forever. Entering Germany just for a moment before we enter France just over yonder. We just entered France a moment ago, and now it's France all the way to the very end of the GR5. Nice, about 800 miles.
Dad, it's not on the map anymore.
How about that crazy cathedral?
Oh yeah, that was, that was just mind-blowing.
That's money, right?
Disgusting. My God, stop!
Well, here we are in Paris. As you can obviously see, in front of the Eiffel Tower. We finished the hike a couple days ago. We had to miss our final day, which we had planned for 19 miles, because—
I fell out of a window.
Second floor window, Nico went tumbling out. Long story.
It wasn't my fault.
Yeah, it was a weird long story, but anyway, the night before our final day, Eagle fell out the window and we had to call off our last day of 19 miles, but still got 180 miles into the GR5. It was an epic experience. Glad I got to share it with these guys, and we'll be back again some other time to carry on on our way down to the Mediterranean.
How was it, guys? Fun.
It was hard. Yeah, it was hard. It was really nice. It was hard, but fun.
Bonding. Spent a lot of time together. Good times. All right guys, that's a wrap. Peace out, see you next time.
