Guides Gone Wild

I’ve got a fun little series coming to your earbuds to end this week with my new friend Nicolle Littrell of DoryWoman Rowing . If you’ve listened to this podcast before, it probably won’t take you too long to realize why Nicolle’s story resonated with me - I’m not entirely unfamiliar with what happens when a woman collides with midlife and realizes she wants something entirely different than what...

Jackie Lastinger of The Girls Trip Adventure Co. is my guest today - representing one of the very few so far that I’ve had the good fortune to meet in real life BEFORE I actually interviewed her. Jackie organized a super-fun Shred Rebels gals snowboarding event at Sugarloaf this winter that my daughter and I signed up for, and it turns out that amazing day she pulled together for close to 30 women...

You may sense from the lack of what my daughter calls ‘my annoying intro’ that this week is a departure from normal - and you are correct! After 90 something consecutive weeks of posting an interview, I’m actually on vacation with my family this week, and since I double dropped my epic conversation with Sydney Williams on you last week, I decided to take a quick break to refresh and re-set today!...

And we are back! Yes, it’s Part 2 with Sydney Williams of Hiking My Feelings . If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, I highly recommend you go back and do so, we laid down lots of groundwork yesterday that will make today’s conversation an even richer one for your eardrums. BUT - if you’re more interested in the origin story of Hiking My Feelings than the story of the brains and breakthroughs beh...

My guest this week, Sydney Williams , may be familiar to some (and if you listened in on my conversation with Victoria Amico of Plus Sized Outdoors a month or so ago, this name should definitely be familiar to you!) Sydney Williams is the founder of Hiking My Feelings (the group) and the author of Hiking My Feelings (the book). And yes, you will have to listen to a little bit of fan girl blatherin...

I'm coming in HOT today with my guest, Tiffany Soukup . Tiff is a fireball of energy and positivity, and will probably be #lifegoals to any of you who aspire to a life filled with travel and the outdoors. Tiff and her husband are Park Rangers (aka Park Managers) within the Vermont State Park system, and have also served as the managers of the AMC’s Little Lyford Lodge & Cabins in Greenvil...

Ignore that pile of snow by the driveway, today we are talking SUMMERTIME…… and summer camp! Like, unbelievably awesome summer camp that makes me FOMO even as an adult! Amanda Hatley of She Summits Co. was on the pod waaaay back in September of 2020 . At the time, as you’ll hear, Amanda was reeling from the impact that COVID was having on her new business -- but she was walking her talk, being bra...

Today we’re going to try to break this arctic freeze streak we've been stuck in lately with a blast of FIRE from my guest, Christsonthy Drellos of Blue Sky MTB . Christsonthy is the powerhouse mountain biking coach and instructor that Trish and I went on and on about back in the September 16th episode , when we recapped our amazing Vertical experience. If you are even vaguely interested in mo...

Today I’m joined by Victoria Amico , the brilliance behind Plus Sized Outdoors - a curated online resource and blog for hikers, an instructional YouTube Channel, and now, an inspiring PCT Thru Hike you can follow along with starting this spring! Victoria and I met cute during a Zoom class hosted by our mutual friend Emily Holland , the host of the Nature Untold podcast, and a former guest of this...

Today’s fabulous guest, Heather Kinal , is going to fuel our  PLAN-UARY mojo! Heather is the organizer of the Rooted Women’s Mountain Bike Festival that will be happening in July; she’s one half of the super-terrestrial force behind Ride Cosmic Dirt , a new women’s mountain biking clothing brand that’s launching its Kickstarter any day now; she’s the founder of the Instagram community Sisters in S...

Happy New Year! One of my 'resolutions' for this podcast way back when I first started it was to broaden the definition of adventure. I want everyone to reimagine what outdoor experiences look like, to bring a new appreciation of the small moments or unique connections with nature that you can have right where you are now, that can bring so much joy and fulfillment. You don’t need to be...

I’m sharing something a little different with you today, to close out COVID Dumpster Fire Year version 2.0...... Back in November I had the awesome opportunity to be on the other side of the mic as a guest on the Lessons from The MAP podcast, hosted by Jamie Blackburn .  Jamie is a somatic wellness educator whose mission is to help people decrease their anxiety and chronic stress by teaching them...

Feel like you can't find any moments of rest in all the craziness leading up to the holidays? Craving some clarity around what you want your 2022 to look like? Today’s guests might just help with that. A few weeks ago I aired an episode with Ava Baptiste, the founder of TriState Hikers based in Brooklyn New York, and I hinted that I might have a little surprise coming up related to that conve...

Come along as Trish, Paula and I ease on into the Cedar Grove Sauna , head out to the plunge tub, and then get inspired hearing where Jackie Stratton of Waterways Guiding was back in January of 2021, long before she knew she’d be creating such a magical experience from the ground up for a bunch of Massholes.  You can DIY this adventure too!: Cedar Grove Sauna Chicken Barn Airbnb Waterways Guiding...

Today I’m delighted to be introducing you to Ava Baptiste,  the founder of TriState Hikers . Ava grew up in the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and The Grenadines, where being outdoors year round was the status quo. But in adulthood, as a single mom relatively new to NYC, her busy urban existence started sucking her into a darkness that she was finding harder and harder to shake. When she w...

I had the monumental good fortune to meet today's guest, Sandy Noble , at the Vertical biking and fly fishing weekend I went to a few months back in the Northeast Kingdom (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, make sure to listen back to the recap episode I did with my friend Trish on September 16th , it’ll make you want to join us next year for sure.) This was the classic case of meeting...

GuidesGoneWild.com/Gifting GuidesGoneWild.com/Giving Nuff said.... Except....ok, for SEO purposes only.... For today’s episode, in honor of #WomenLedWednesday that's just gone by, and the onset of the holiday run-up madness, I did NOT stalk some new amazing woman on the internet for an interview, but instead, reached out to all of the amazing women I’ve already had the privilege to get to kno...

Whether you’re an aspiring guide or aspiring adventurer, today's episode has something for you - my guest is Shay Bellas , the founder of a travel technology company called Navitour , based out of Portland, Maine. I first reached out to Shay because I wanted to hear about her long-ago decision to jettison law school and found a professional women’s football team, the Maine Freeze. But when we...

Today, let's break through the darkness that has descended upon our days since the end of Daylight Savings Time with some inspiration and motivation to get outside and PLAY from Jen Hazard , author of The Maine Play Book . When Jen first transplanted to Maine and had a young family, she started a blog to track and share all the fun adventures she went on with her kids. Fast forward a decade o...

Today I'm thrilled to introduce you to my other-end-of-Notch neighbor, Lori Steere of the Butter Hill Hideaway . Lori first came onto my radar when I saw a few posts she did on Instagram, talking about how she kind of impulsively bought a property in the middle of nowhere because of some indescribable connection she felt when she saw it. I have a bit of a history of impulsively dumb real esta...

Today I've got a question for you.... What would happen if, instead of fitting your outdoor passions around your 'real' life, you made a conscious effort to make your real life support and sustain your outdoor passions? We’ve been examining different approaches to this challenge the past few weeks - first there was 'Tall' Ashley Leedberg , who literally walked out on her s...

I'm bringing you a fun little (or should I say teeny) little diversion today with my encore guest Briana Sullivan . Briana first joined me last December, when I interviewed her and her daughter Cambyr about their AT trek, completed during the craziness of early COVID pandemic. (If you haven’t caught that one yet, make sure to go back later, I’ve got it conveniently linked up for you here .) I...

My guest is Lauren Humphrey , the Community Outreach and Development Director for an nonprofit called Outside Perspectives that partners with youth development organizations in Connecticut to create immersive wilderness experiences for kids. As we talk about in this episode, Lauren first came onto my radar when she was the Northeast Regional Coordinator for an organization called Adventure Mamas....

Today I’m joined by Jennifer Klein - make that DR. Jennifer Klein! - the Director of Outdoor Experiences for the Trustees of Reservations , an innovative land trust that shares a Massachusetts home base with 'that other Jen' (yours truly). Whoever is behind the Trustees' lovely web presence deserves a lot of credit for their copywriting skills, because one of the first headings you...

This week, we’re chatting with Ashley Leedberg , otherwise known as Tall Ashley , who’s a paddling and rec guide, yogi, mistress of the SUP, snowmaker, and all around badass - but none of those reasons were what got me to start internet stalking her for real. I set out on a mission to meet her when I happened to read an Instagram caption she’d written in February of 2020 that was like a gut punch....