She Explores

What happens when injury sidelines you from your favorite outdoor activities. First off, you're not alone. This episode features four nature-loving women whose injuries necessitated surgery and lots of time for rest. We talk about the mental and physical challenges, how they coped, and how it felt when they made it outside again once more. Women featured in this episode: Hailey Hirst, Erica Aaron,...

How to make time for nature, even in the winter season. It can be be all too easy to get into a groove that doesn't include the outdoor activities you love -- but that's OK, too. This episode shares some practical tips for experiencing nature year round. We talk to She Explores and Women on the Road team members Noël Russell, Laura Hughes, and Hailey Hirst about how they incorporate nature into th...

Stories connect us, help us learn, and help us better understand each other. Melanin Base Camp founder Danielle Williams taps into the power of storytelling to showcase the many different ways people of color and LGBTQ+ folks experience the outdoors. In this episode, we talk to Danielle and featured bloggers Nadia Mercado and Dr. Favia Dubyk. In interviewing Danielle, there’s a lot we could dig in...

What's the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge ? Teresa Baker and Danielle Williams share why it's important for diverse people to take the lead doing the work to make the outdoors a more inclusive, equitable place for all. They also comment on the recent announcement of a CEO Outdoor Equity Pledge by Camber Outdoors. Women featured in this minisode: Teresa Baker and Danielle Williams Resources: Outdoor...

Meet Jeanine Pesce, creative connector and founder of RANGE, a creative agency and magazine inspired by the culture of the outdoor movement. We talk about how she's carved out a place for herself in the outdoor industry. We also chat about the tenth issue of RANGE Mag, centered around the theme 'Work in Progress.' RANGE contributors Rocío, Hatie, and Emily share their perspectives on the theme and...

Caroline Gleich is a ski mountaineer who knows the meaning of scary but rewarding: whether she's climbing 8,000 meter mountains in the Himalayas or anticipating her future as an adventure-seeking wife and mom. Years of hard work have brought her here and while she's a self described late bloomer, Caroline's learned to trust the timing in her life. Looking back on 2018, Caroline shared on her Insta...

Heather Hansman went on a solo pack rafting adventure for the sake of conservation. Paddling the 730 mile Green River, she learned about the future of water in the west and documented her journey in her upcoming book, Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West . We talk about her two month pack rafting trip, what it means to write an adventure memoir that's grounded in water conservation, and...

We put out a call for voice submissions, asking questions like: how will you bring what you’ve learned in the outdoors this year into 2019? Are you hoping to take up a new skill? Is there anyone you want to introduce to your outdoor life? Do you have any big trips planned? Or are you embracing resources closer to home? The answers were a resounding yes, all around. Women featured in this episode:...

Nicole Antoinette quit her thru hike of the Pacific Crest Trail after about 1,600 miles and she's ok with calling it a failure. In fact, Nicole questions why we have to choose either success or failure. Can't we be gentler with ourselves? Can't we set out to both succeed and fail? Nicole Antoinette has a gift for applying lessons she's learned to new chapters of life. We talk about how what she's...

Becoming a new mom has changed the way Kristina Frost experiences the outdoors. And she's realizing, it's not better or worse - it's just different. The confluence of a body in healing, a child who needs constant care, and postpartum depression means her life looks little like it did a few years ago. We talk to Kristina before and after she takes her two-month-old daughter Emma camping for the ver...

What we have (and want) to give to ourselves and to others is often clarified through time outside. At Lodged Out in the Adirondacks of New York, four women share how they spent the weekend through a giving lens. And as a bonus, we start off the episode by talking with Cassie Abel about " Women-Led Wednesday " - a new initiative to support female-led businesses this holiday season and be...

Lost in the mountains is a vulnerable place to be. Lydia Sturgis shares her experience losing the trail for a night in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, and heli nurse Krista Elkins gives advice for both how to prevent getting lost and what to do if it happens. Women featured in this episode: Lydia Sturgis and Krista Elkins Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear: Lydia's hike and cli...

Hiranya de Alwis Jayasinghe set out to be the first BAME woman in the United Kingdom to thru hike the Welsh Coastal Trail. She didn't achieve her goal, but after 570 miles on foot, she could hear herself loud and clear. Women featured in this episode: Hiranya de Alwis Jayasinghe Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear: What the ~870 mile Welsh Coastal Path is Why Wales is so important t...

Pregnant with her daughter Ruby, Melody Forsyth thought hiking would be her "last hurrah" when she found out Ruby has Down Syndrome (DS). Turns out, it was just the beginning. We talk about what having a child with special needs has added to Melody's hiking and personal life, and how she uses social media to break stereotypes about her little girl and DS. Women featured in this episode:...

Elyse Rylander is the founder and executive director of OUT There Adventures, a nonprofit dedicated to empower queer young people through their connection with the natural world. Elyse believes nature is a disruptive force for queer youth and hopes to foster their identities and love of the outdoors. Women featured in this episode: Elyse Rylander Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear...

Tsedo Sherpa-Ednalino is the COO of Sherpa Adventure Gear. Leading with humility is part of her Sherpa heritage and it's a tenet of her life as an executive and a mother. Women featured in this episode: Tsedo Sherpa-Ednalino Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear Tsedo talk about why working moms shouldn't be the only parents to get the question 'how do you do it all?' About why Tsedo...

Sydney Williams is more than a weight loss story, or an outdoors person with Type II diabetes, or a trauma survivor. But hiking the Trans-Catalina trail the second time helped her put it all together. Women featured in this episode: Sydney Williams Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear How Sydney hiked the Trans-Catalina Trail in Southern California two times: the first time it was th...

Mary Ann Thomas loves bike touring because it's accessible, it helps her care for her body, it connects her with people she might not otherwise meet, and it has helped her express the truest parts of herself. She's bicycled across the United States and Canada, as well as India, and is currently on a speaking tour to share her love of bike touring and her work as a queer brown travel writer with th...

Kristin Link is a science illustrator and an artist living off the grid in McCarthy, Alaska. She shares about her life there, why she loves helping people see the natural world up close through science illustration, and her tips for applying to artist-in-residencies at National Parks. Women featured in this episode: Kristin Link, science illustrator , with a special intro segment with Chevon Powel...

Georgina Miranda lives mindfully in business and while pursuing the Explorer Grand Slam: standing on the highest summits in each continent as well as the North and South Pole. The founder of She Ventures and Altitude 7 shares how years spent summiting the highest mountains in the world drove home her devotion to creating businesses and taking adventures that have a positive social impact on the wo...

Anastasia and Rose hike their violin and keyboard, respectfully, into the mountains of Washington to play music to greet the rising sun. In doing so, they hope to inspire others to share their own gifts with the world. A little over a year ago, Anastasia Allison and Rose Freeman met in person and found out they had the same dream: to play music in the backcountry (in a low impact and respectful fa...

Taryn's grandma Carol went on a bike tour in 1944 with her girlfriend Billie. We hear from Carol about the "ordinary adventure" she took at home during World War II. This episode is an opportunity to learn about what Carol's experience was like as a woman living near Vancouver and making airplanes during the war, as well as carving out a couple of weeks for a vacation that might seem sur...

Cheryl Strayed never planned on giving advice professionally and doesn't love a guru, but she agrees with Anna Brones that everyone has wisdom to bestow upon others. The key is to seek as much as you share. When our friend, the artist and writer Anna Brones offered to chat with Cheryl Strayed at Mountain Film in Telluride for She Explores, the answer was a resounding yes. Anna is working on an ong...

Sirena Rana Dufault is an expert on trails, but that hasn't always been the case: hers is a hard-won expertise born of patience. Trails inspired her to persevere through the chronic pain of fibromyalgia, develop an intimate relationship with her newfound home state of Arizona, and change the course of her career. Women featured in this episode: Sirena Rana Dufault, founder of Trails Inspire . Host...

What’s up with the over-the-top uncertainty we sometimes feel when we try something new? We share two women’s stories of trying new things in the outdoors in spite of self-doubt or feeling like they won’t measure up. Women Featured in this Episode: Locke Hughes and Laura Hughes Hosted by Gale Straub In this episode, you'll hear: How Gale sometimes struggles with not feeling "outdoorsy" e...