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In this week's episode, you’ll meet Lauren Roerick, a trailblazing adventurer who's redefining what it means to take a walk in the woods. As the first North American woman to hike the 3,000-kilometer Hexatrek across France, Lauren has spent months at a time immersed in nature, pushing her limits, and learning profound life lessons along the way.

Lauren takes us on a journey through her unexpected transition from casual day hiker to a trailblazing long-distance backpacker. With warmth and humor, she shares how she tackled the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) as her first major hike, only to have her plans derailed by the pandemic… and then again by wildfires. But true to her adventurous spirit, Lauren didn't let that stop her - she pivoted to new trails and new challenges, always finding a way to keep moving forward.

Lauren's stories of perseverance, adaptability, and self-discovery will inspire you to push your own boundaries and embrace the unexpected twists in your path. She offers invaluable insights on listening to your intuition, finding joy in difficult moments, and the importance of rest in any endurance pursuit - whether you're hiking across a continent or tackling a big life goal.

5 Key Uplifting Lessons:

1. Embrace the journey, not just the destination - sometimes the unexpected detours lead to the most beautiful experiences.

2. Listen to your intuition and don't be afraid to change course when something no longer serves you.

3. Find joy in the moment, even during challenging times - it's a choice that can transform your experience.

4. Rest and self-care are crucial parts of any endurance pursuit, whether in nature or in life.

5. Solitude can be a powerful tool for connecting with yourself and strengthening your inner voice.

Keep up with Lauren on Instagram: @laurenroerick and YouTube: @laurenroerick

Thanks to Jill Greenwood for nominating Lauren and to Christina Testut for our opening message this week.

TUP EP 070

Jill: Lauren inspires me because she says yes. She just goes for it. I have seen her set and accomplish so many different huge goals.

Aransas: Welcome to the Uplifters podcast where we talk to inspiring women about how they build the courage to do big things and [00:00:45] how they take care of themselves while pursuing their dreams.

I'll be honest, I had no idea what that was until I did a little research and watched some of Lauren's amazing YouTube videos that explained the Hexatrack. And now I'm like, could I do this? So [00:01:30] Lauren, welcome. Thank you so much for being here. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

So did you grow up a hiker? How did this begin? Not at all,

[00:02:00] It's where I find a lot of like peace and strength. And I like to go on day hikes and I'd done a little bit of camping. But backpacking had never been a thing until my thirties, actually. So it's only been a few years since I started, you know, really diving into this new way of living, [00:02:15] really. But yeah, so it was a long transition into getting from a day hike into, now I spend four months

Aransas: at a time on a trail.

Four months. What are some of the big tracks that you've done?

I'd rented some gear maybe a couple of months before just to kind of test and see like, Oh, is this really like I told everyone in my family I'm going to do this. I've like signed up, got the permit, but I should probably just test it and [00:03:00] make sure. So I rented some gear from REI and I went out into the Smoky Mountains National Forest in like, North Carolina, Tennessee area.

And then I just drove myself out there. I put a note on my car that said like, here's what I'm supposed to be back. Please call 9 1 1 if I'm not. [00:03:30] And I just went out into the Appalachian mountains and did three nights outside and came back and felt like, okay, I didn't die. It was scary and it was hard, but I didn't die.

Aransas: That was how it started. I get that as a marathoner because it's like I'll do the first 5k and I'm like, I'm dying. And then I'm like, all right, well, this is how many more times I have to do it.

Lauren: Yes, absolutely. And it sounds so, I don't know, cliche or maybe like overused, but like, Oh, every journey begins with a single step or like just break [00:04:30] it down into small pieces. It sounds so simple, but like. That's the mentality you really have to adopt. Like if you're out there from day one, knowing you have five months ahead of you and you're constantly focused on that five months, it's going to feel like forever.

Aransas: until it [00:05:00] really like starts to add up.

Right. And it's just choosing to keep going.

Lauren: Yeah. Yeah. Even when it feels like you've been in the desert forever and you're like, I'm never going to get out of this section, am I? But you can dangle eventually, you know.

It is, it is the, it's Cheryl Strayed's journey of hiking the [00:05:30] PCG. I think that that's something that she really illuminates in the journey is like I made my way through this one section and then it was hooray and what does it take to tackle the next section. [00:05:45] Mm hmm. And that's something I talk to clients a lot about when they're on a growth journey.

Lauren: I think one of the really interesting things about Doing the like high elevation things as you have to go backwards as well, you know, so you reach base camp, you set up, you get acclimated, and then you don't just like go hike to the next camp, you hike to the [00:06:30] next camp, you maybe you even set it up, but then you hike back to your base camp.

So there's a lot of back and forth, like you do a little and you feel like you're making progress and then you literally go backwards.

Aransas: Like all of life.

You're not always like accomplishing accomplishing accomplishing like a lot of times things go wrong and you got to go backwards. And that is really the lesson that I had to learn [00:07:15] the hard way on the Pacific Crest Trail. So I, you know, I did my little bit of backpacking, I was like really gung ho, and I start the PCT in March of 2020.

And I was like, pardon me? I, what do you mean? It was only hard to find hand sanitizer when I left. Like, what has happened? And yeah, so I, I was in a little town called Warner Springs and thankfully my [00:08:00] mom lives in Southern California and I called her and I was like, what is going on? She's like, Oh yeah, things got really weird in the last two weeks.

And so my mom, I'm like, can you come pick me up maybe? So luckily she was only about a three hour drive away. She drives out and picks me up. And then, you know, what we thought was going to be like, I sit at her place for two [00:08:45] weeks and I go back out, obviously turned into something completely different.

And so I ended up, you know, working my way south. But then I finished Washington, I finished Oregon, and then there were intense, intense fires in Southern California. And it was, it was like a mixture of pandemic [00:09:30] and forest fires and like long weekend and whatever, and whatever board is in charge of the California National Forests just said, we're closing them all.

We're supposed to be living in a tent in the forest. And so [00:10:00] we all collectively decide, okay, well, Colorado has a trail. That's 500 miles long and we're not done hiking yet. And we all, you know, we all want to be doing this thing. So I think seven of us all bought flights to go. To Colorado and we all just started [00:10:15] hiking across Colorado instead.

It was not a smooth journey. Yeah. But I think I really learned a lot about, like, going with the flow and, like, making quick decisions [00:10:45] and, like, figuring out what is, what works for me and what's best for me and just, like, dealing with adversity when you're trying to, like, accomplish, like, a huge dream that you've been working on and prepping for for so long and you feel like everything is just, like, turning against you.

Aransas: I mean, I've said before on this show that. Someone once told me the best thing we can teach our children is that they will be disappointing and they will be disappointed. Yes. And there were so many disappointments in this. [00:11:15] Oh yeah. And I think that's so hard for us as humans.

Nope. And maybe it wasn't even perfect for Colorado. that it was possible. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it

It just was its own new thing and it was beautiful and it was fun and I had a great [00:12:15] time and I got to go do that trail when all of the aspens were turning golden because it was late in the season and they would just, it turned out to be a really beautiful thing, even though it was. Not my original intention at all, or really the vision at all.

And it's like, I smell jasmine. Oh, look at that guy with the funky [00:13:00] hairdo. And like, it's an outward versus inward focus and attention that I think really shifts my pleasure versus pain ratio. [00:13:15] And it sounds like you're doing something sort of similar. Absolutely. Yeah.

Thankfully, you know, the weather and the universe lined up a lot better so I could do it in one go. But [00:13:30] that has its own challenges. It means that you're on the trail for four months in a row. You know, there weren't these kind of breaks in time and space to rest and recuperate. You're really just going and That is such a part of the challenge is like you get [00:13:45] up every single day knowing that you've got, you know, 30 kilometers or 20 miles or whatever to cover that day.

being away from my family and my [00:14:15] relationships to be doing this thing. So why would I ruin it for myself by focusing on all the parts that I hate, right? When I want to be here, I chose to be here and it doesn't make it less hard to like focus on the beauty and like [00:14:30] look at the lovely things around you.

But it makes it easier. Yeah.

And I, I think this point you're making about, What you've already [00:15:00] traded in order to have this experience and wasting that by not enjoying it. Mm hmm. I just love that. I'm going to think of you throughout this marathon training cycle over and over, Lauren. Oh, I love that. [00:15:15] Because that's exactly what I'm doing, right?

Lauren: Not entirely. No, there are still big sections of it that are just kind of left uncompleted. And at this point, you know, I used to, it used to kind of feel like an unfinished circle in the back of my brain, like, Oh, I need to close that loop or something, but at this [00:15:45] point,

Aransas: I think I've kind of made, I, I have, I've made peace with it.

So were you done with it or do you think you'd go back again?

So, I'm leaving it, if it calls to me at some point, I'll know when that time is. I think that takes a lot of courage too. [00:16:15] Yeah. Actually, it's funny, they just hiked across New Zealand and there's a trail there called the Te Avaroa and it's a 3000 kilometer trail as well. And I got to about, I think I did like 1700 kilometers and I decided I didn't [00:16:30] want to do it anymore.

You know, you spend three months out there, whatever. But I was, I was finding that I didn't feel like that trade that we talked about that trade between my time and my effort and my money and my sacrifices was not it. [00:17:00] In comparison to what I was getting from the trail. And I just felt like, I think I've gotten everything out of this, but I want to.

Was a real, I had to really kind of not reconcile with myself, but reconcile with like why [00:17:30] I was not feeling comfortable quitting. Cause I thought like, I don't actually want to be here like deep, deep down. This is not what I want to continue doing. Like I've, I've had a lot of fun and I've enjoyed it, but I I'm done.

Oh, blah, blah, blah. You know, there's all these voices, [00:18:00] but in reality, yeah, it was just like, I don't want to be here anymore. And that's more important to me than anything else.

Mm hmm. Uh, it can get to be too much. And so I, I often talk to uplifters about this who feel the same way. [00:18:30] We end up going past the point of learning or joy and over committing. Yeah. And I think in every example I've heard [00:18:45] about this, it has come back to the voices and the opinions of others. That's kept us somewhere.

Music: Yeah.

Aransas: No. I saw a woman this week on the trail who had a shirt that said, friends don't let friends DNF.

It's only worth it if it's worth it to you.

And those are two [00:20:00] very different things that I think spending so much time doing these things. Like. very difficult pursuits have really taught me how to listen to that voice and differentiate between when I'm just like, afraid or like, I'm kind of hitting my limit on struggle. And when I'm actually just saying like, No, I think I've [00:20:15] like, completed this, I've wrapped it up.

No, they're, they're two different voices. And I think in the beginning, they're difficult to differentiate between. But after spending so much time in the practice of listening to that voice, I can identify that very

Is this about me or is it about other voices? And it's like, even if we haven't done all the work you've done, I think being able to ask ourselves that question alone and listen to our [00:20:45] instinct and answering that can be massively clarifying. I'm having that conversation with myself as we talk because I love it.

First time in, I think, 80 years or something they've canceled. Then I kind of lost energy for it. Yes. And I just started. Honestly, training for real to get another [00:21:30] Boston qualifying time in October. And so as you were talking, I'm like, I promise I'm listening. But I also was like, what is it, Arancis, It is 100 percent because I want to do it. Good. And I want to finish what I [00:21:45] started. Yes. And it actually has nothing to do even with my kids perception, which, you know, the like, I want to show them I finished what I started. It's not even that. I just want to do it. Yeah. Yeah. So that was helpful. Thank you.

So you just finished your time in New Zealand and You chose to stop when you were ready. What do you feel like is next for you? So I blog all

I edit them in my tent at night and like put them out and you know, so it's really kind of like quick and dirty getting [00:22:30] this content out there just so people can really feel what it's like to be out there with me. But I would love to do something a little bit shorter so that I carry more equipment and make it more of a creative pursuit rather than like a physical endeavor.

So that's, that's what I'm looking at [00:23:00] now. If I think in August, September, I'm, I'm I am trying to figure out which trail is the right trail, but right now what's kind of calling to me is this trail that goes across Scotland that should take like four or five weeks. Scotland's supposed to be super beautiful, and I've never been there, and I think that would be really [00:23:15] fun.

But yeah, do that as more of a building project rather than a hiking project so that I can focus more on the creative side of things.

But is there something you're hoping people gain or learn from your experiences?

I've learned so much and grown so much from doing these long trails that I would love to even pass some of that. on to other people and especially other women who want to get into this and just a don't know how to start or like don't know what that [00:24:15] looks like. Or like, is it safe for me to be out there by myself?

De stigmatize it or reduce some of the fear associated with getting out there in the wilderness. And that, for me, is a really big part of why I put it on video, uh, just to [00:24:45] help other people feel

Aransas: like, Oh, I, I could do this. Yeah. And so it is really giving hope and courage. Yeah. Yeah.

Lauren: It's very uplifting.

Aransas: That's so rad. And I think this point too about not doing a ton of research is really big. I see so [00:25:30] many people, especially women. Get stalled out by feeling not ready. Yes. And the truth is we're never gonna feel ready for anything, but we have to take action anyway. Yeah. And so what is that balance [00:25:45] for you?

So it's a high snow year this year. Maybe I'll just push it off one year. [00:26:15] Yeah, that's the big one is just setting a hard deadline for yourself to hold yourself accountable because it's so easy to just go down the rabbit hole of research and just be like, Oh, I'm not ready or there's still more to learn or I need to know something else.

And I designed a route that like, if [00:26:45] I needed to, I could walk back to my car, you know, in half a day or a day or whatever, you know, I picked a route where there should be other people. I'm, you know, unlikely to get injured, but if I did, someone would find me, you know, and so I baby [00:27:00] steps, but also, yeah, again, you're only going to learn, really learn through action.

And so you just have to kind of pull off the bandaid and do something, do a little

Lauren: That's exactly it. Like, especially on trails, like, you're so at the mercy of nature. You can't predict everything. I couldn't predict that I was going to spend a week in thunderstorms.

Aransas: I loved what you said earlier about nature's not going to start caring about you.

Lauren: And, you know, sometimes that means You get rained out and you sit in your tent for a whole day. And like, that's not the best, you know, it's not the best way. I'd [00:28:15] love to spend my time, but it's just what you have to do. And I think it really teaches you to be flexible and yes, you have a plan. And yes, maybe you have a number of miles you want to cover and maybe you've got a timeline, but like nature doesn't have a timeline.

Aransas: I have learned through my own running life, too, that the more stress and worry I, my mind puts [00:28:45] into my body. The less I am capable of physically and mentally.

Lauren: Yeah. It's so true. It really just saps your energy. I, yeah.

Lauren: Absolutely.

Aransas: And I am so much more physically able than I would be otherwise.

Lauren: It's a difficult balance sometimes because it is. Like you really want to keep going, you know, there's a bit of a, [00:29:30] you know, you're not in a race, like there's no deadline necessarily, but like there, there's internal and maybe even external pressure to like keep going and, you know, maybe not lose the people that you've been hiking with or whatever, but there's, there's definitely those pressures, but I [00:29:45] think the more I do it, the more in tune with my body I am, and I just, like, I have to just, you know, Take stock of where everything is.

I think also like, There's this idea that, oh, because you're outside and you're in nature, you always have to be enjoying the nature. It's like, sometimes that's a lot. And I would like [00:30:30] to just sit in my tent and watch something dumb on my phone and forget that I'm in nature.

Aransas: It's so, so, so interesting that you say that.

And sometimes they are that counterintuitive. I mean, the world says nature is good, right? And it is. It is. [00:31:15] And sometimes a little of the opposite can be restorative and the same with like alone time versus together time. And so I do think there's something so exciting and powerful just about that, that as a framework [00:31:30] for how we think about keeping ourselves energized.

So I hear in there that you are allowing yourself to rest and restore instead of judging. that need for restoration? Yeah. So I read a book many,

And she's like, No, I have full days where all I do is play video games. I sit on the couch and I do [00:32:00] nothing. And no one is allowed to touch that time because as a professional athlete, rest is part of the protocol. And that's always stuck with me. Because when I'm out there, like I, for me, it sounds silly, but like I am an endurance athlete while I'm out there, like, and rest is part of the [00:32:15] protocol and you have to rest your body doesn't recover when it's always in motion and you can't build strength if you're always in motion.

And so, you know, eating a bunch of food and laying on a couch all day is part of the protocol and it's

Lauren: all the way through.

But the truth is every person who is an entrepreneur, who is a parent, who is doing any big thing, And [00:33:00] so I think that lesson actually applies to all of us to say that rest and restoration are vital to continuing the journey. Absolutely. Yeah. But also owning our capabilities and [00:33:15] accomplishments and naming them, I think it's really hard to say that sometimes.

Aransas: May we all practice that and call each other out when we see each other wavering on it and just say like, hey, outside in, I already see you there.

Lauren: it's such a hard one to do. I talk about that with my sister all the time because I, I've been doing a handful of these podcasts. I'm, you know, getting my videos out there and whatever. And I sometimes struggle with this idea of like, well, it [00:34:00] can't be that big of a deal because I did it and I'm not special.

Like it's a big undertaking.

That's it. You're it. That's what it looks like. Right. One of our very first guests, Rachel Lipson, and I'll paraphrase on this, but I think of her words all the time. She said, everybody has ideas, entrepreneurs are the ones who do [00:35:00] something with them. Yeah. That's so true. Everybody has the capability to do amazing physical feats, whatever that means for their body.

You've had thousands of hours alone [00:35:30] to think about life. Mm hmm. Is there anything else you want uplifters to know? That you've learned along the way. Ooh, yeah. Thousands of hours alone. That's so true.

And I think that's really the best way to connect with it is time in solitude, which I differentiate from. Being alone or [00:36:00] loneliness, I think they're very different things, but I do get that question a lot. Like, oh, don't you feel lonely? I'm like, no, I just feel. Like there's solitude and then there's loneliness.

Really, and they're [00:36:30] calling and whatever they really want to do is spending time in undistracted solitude, right away from phones away from internet away from other people to, yeah, kind of dig into that because it's kind of uncomfortable to be in solitude, especially in the beginning. [00:36:45] It's definitely one of those things that you have to practice for that to become comfortable.

So yeah, I guess that, that would maybe be something I would say to practice being in solitude so you can connect with that part of yourself.

Absolutely. But the loneliness is an investment. in gaining [00:37:15] a sense of self and tapping into that intuition. Yeah, I like that. An investment. Yeah. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you for modeling what it looks like to keep going. [00:37:30] And to keep trying big scary things and to stop doing the big scary thing when it's not what you want anymore.

So thank you for creating this and sharing them with us.

Lauren: Thank you very much for chatting with me. This was so wonderful. I really appreciate your time.

com. Head over to Spotify, Apple [00:38:30] podcast or wherever you get your podcast and like, follow and rate our show. It'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories. Mm, [00:38:45]

Music: big love painted water, sunshine with rosemary, and I'm dwelling. Not perplexing though.

Lift you up,

lift you up,

lift you up,

Beautiful.