In today's episode, I am joined by my employee Kellie, who helps me with so many things at She Dreams of Alpine, including being the Community Manager of our Backpacking Badass Program Community.

In this episode, we talk about some "hot topics" within our Backpacking Badass Community to share a little behind-the-scenes of what our students are thinking about, and what we are coaching on a lot right now, and share some of that advice here on the podcast.

Key Points Discussed:

• Journaling prompts to reflect on for your 2024 adventures
• 2025 adventure planning
• Our new free 5-day challenge coming up in January 2025
• How do you know what your “limit” is when planning your hiking and backpacking goals?
• Training for hiking and backpacking in the "offseason" (like winter)
• Advice for maintaining baseline fitness during the winter time when you can't get outdoors as much
• How to get started rock climbing if you're a beginner
• And so much more!

Where to learn more about Allison:

• She Dreams of Alpine Blog
• Instagram @shedreamsofalpine

🎁 FREE GIFT: Grab the Outdoor Backpacker Starter Kit for FREE here to get started on your journey with backpacking.

❄️ WINTER HIKING AND CAMPING WORKSHOP: Join me in this epic workshop training so you can adventure outdoors this winter feeling safe, prepared, WARM, and equipped with the proper gear you need for hiking and camping in the snow.

🥾 BACKPACKING COURSE WAITLIST: This is our signature program where we teach you how to become a safe, confident, and self-sufficient backpacker. It's an online course, coaching program, and community to support you in your journey to becoming a confident backpacker and step into your adventurous identity.

You're listening to the Adventurous Reinvention podcast. I'm

Alison Boyle AKA She Dreams of Alpine and this is the

show that's dedicated to all the adventurous spirits out there who have either

been transformed by the outdoors or interested in what it

looks like to step into a new adventurous and courageous kind

of identity in their life. It doesn't matter what your background is in the

outdoors, what age you're starting at, or where you grew up. If

you're curious about the outdoors and using adventure as a way to

reinvent yourself, you're in the right place. I'll be

sharing all kinds of personal adventure stories, lessons I've

learned from the mountains, teaching what I know about the outdoors and leadership,

and interviewing some amazing adventurous women all along the

way. I've been coaching women on becoming safe, confident, and

self sufficient backpackers and leaders of their own adventurous lives

since 2018, and I know exactly what

big fears and self doubts can pop up along the way. I have

so much to share with you, so let's dive in.

Alright. Welcome to episode 9 of the Adventurous

Reinvention podcast. Today, I have a very special guest with

me. That's my employee, Kelly. She helps me with so many things

at She Dreams of Alpine, like marketing and social media.

But another big role for Kelly at She Dreams of Alpine is being the

community manager of our core program, the backpacking badass

program and community. So today, I wanted to do

a podcast with her where we talk about some, like, hot

topics that are happening right now kinda in

our community this time of the year. Like, what have our students are

thinking about inside of the backpacking badass community? And I wanted to bring

her in because she's in there all the time. She has a really good pulse

and, like, feel for what the students are thinking about, talking

about. I do too. So we'll kinda, like, be riffing back and forth.

She's in there supporting, coaching our clients, and so she's very in tune

with the heartbeat of the Backpacking Badass community. But,

before we dive into our hot topics today,

I want to have Kelly introduce herself. So, Kelly, why don't you say

hello to everyone? Feel free to introduce yourself a bit more. Tell

everyone about your background, all the things. Hey. Thanks for having

me on. I'm so excited. So I am the social

media and community manager. I joined the team, at

She Dreams of Alpine in 2021. So I

have a little bit of an opposite story of Allison where I was chronically

outdoors my whole life, not necessarily being, like,

an adventure family, but I grew up on, like, lakes and rivers,

and I loved playing in the forest with my friends. I would, like, beg my

parents when survivor was a big thing to just let me stay in the

woods also. And they were like, no. That's insane.

So I went on to get a degree in biology. That was, like, my

pathway to be to stay outside with a focus

in conservation. So prior to She Dreams of Alpine, I

did a lot of field research and a lot of land management

and a lot of, like, public lands management and working as a public servant. So

getting people outdoors. So I've been passionate about that. Servant. So getting people outdoors. So

I've been passionate about that for a long time. And then just a couple of

fun facts is that I used to manage over, like, a 1000 acres of public

land and all the programming and the trails and things that happened on it.

I've swam with alligators and manatees when I used to

do freshwater turtle research. And my favorite backpacking

trail of all time so far that I've done is

Isle Royale National Park. Yeah. And a lot of our I feel

like a lot of our community has actually gone and done that. You actually wrote

a blog post for, excuse me, our She

Dreams of Alpine blog. So if anybody is interested in doing Isle

Royale, Kelly did this trip herself. It's very logistical,

and she put all of the details on, like, how you can plan this trip

for yourself on the She Dreams of Alpine blog as, like, a trip guide because

we have a lot of trip guides out there, but not as much out where

you are living. So Right. Yeah. So I'm in the

great lakes region. So I really love the great

lakes. They're incredible. I think people really don't,

like, I think they underestimate them a lot. So, actually, I was

reflecting on adventure planning, which we're gonna get into in a minute. But,

like, I think one of my big big

adventure goals that I wanna claim is, like, going back to do Isle Royale

solo. Oh, okay. With somebody last time, and we kinda did, like, a

loop. Yeah. So, yeah, I think the logistics

would just be easier solo and Yeah. Like, to do the

hike exactly how I wanna do it. So I was gonna say, would you do

it differently? Yes. Because I wanna hike, like,

harbor to harbor, one end to the other. And so the

time that I did it, we did a loop from Rock

Harbor because it was a little less,

expensive to do it that way because you have to,

like, use ferries. There is no traffic. So you're getting, like,

paying every time you have to use, like, some kind of boat

transportation or seaplane transportation. So,

yes, I think logistically for me, it'll actually be easier to plan

solo. So I think that might be some of my

2025 adventure planning, which happens to be one of our hot

topics because Yeah. It's on everybody's brain right now in the community.

Yeah. Yeah. Thinking about, like, what you wanna do. I've been thinking about that too.

Like, what I want 2025 to kinda look like. I mean, it's

it's 'tis the time of the year. So okay. So

hot topics. This is just an idea. If you guys like this

style of podcast, like, Kelly and I can hop on every, like, I don't know,

maybe once a quarter and talk about, like, what's going on in the community and

stuff like that. Definitely let us know if you listen to this episode, and you're

like, I liked this banter sort of deep dive into certain

different backpacking topics, and we'll keep doing them. But this

is a little bit of an experiment. We thought the idea behind it

is like sharing little behind the scenes of, like, what are

students that are very backpacking and outdoor focused,

what they're thinking about, what we're coaching on a lot of right now.

Because sometimes there tends to be themes, like, especially in different parts of the year,

we'll have, like, different things that we're consistently coaching people on

and share some of that advice, here on the podcast.

So as Kelly alluded to, our first hot topic

in the backpacking badass community is around 2025

adventure planning. So, like, people are kinda winding

down 2024. Looking back, thinking, like, what

they got to do, what they didn't get to do. They're thinking, like, what do

I wanna do in 2025? What adventures and experiences do I

wanna have? And we think, like, it's the perfect time of the year

to, like, wind down and do some planning. And we do a

lot of, like, supportive events for this kind of thing too during this

time of the year for our students. Right now, we're seeing a

lot of our students even in our community brainstorming their goals

and adventures in the group. So, Kelly, like, kind of knowing that,

are you seeing a lot of our clients thinking about 2025 adventures?

And if so, like, what are you seeing pop up? Oh,

yes. Yes. And I love I love the way our students are

handling it. So I have a couple examples that I wanna share,

because I think they're really cool examples of how to kind

of some tips, how people can think

about their reflections, and how people

are, like, using our community to keep this momentum up. So we

have Angelique. She is an ambassador out on the West Coast,

which means she's an alumni. She went through the program,

and she was doing so amazing and was our ambassadors

are really invested. Like, even as mentors. Yeah. As

students, they were really active in their community.

They showed up for other people. They were really encouraging. And so we

invite those people to be ambassadors. And so

in addition to the coaches, you have these peers

that are in there all the time helping. So Angelique is

amazing. She's incredible. We've each gotten to hike with her

and, go on a couple adventures with her. So she is in

a weekly check-in. She just mentioned she's considering

some big 20 25 adventures. She's a

she's like an ultra trail runner. She doesn't call herself an ultra trail

runner. She calls herself a trail runner, but she's Probably into running a

lot. Yeah. Long time. She's very committed to her

running. So she said, she's considering

things like trail running in the Italian dolomites

and hiking in British Columbia,

climbing in Red Rocks, Colorado, but she's

also done some climbing and winter sports like snowboarding. She did some

ice climbing, I think, like, last year or something. So

she's she's thinking about her year in,

like, chunks. So, like Yeah. Maybe not all of

these big things will happen, but she's trying to plug them into her

busy schedule because Angelique is a doctor. Her husband is a

doctor. They have children. They have 2 children. And so

they are a very busy family that works Yeah. Long

hours, lots of commitments. And so she takes her kids'

schedules, her family's schedules. And so she's planning things for

herself, but she's also thinking about, like, where she can fit those adventures

in with family vacations and things like that. So that's

I really admire how Angelique approaches her

adventure planning to prioritize time to

regenerate herself from her very demanding career and home

responsibilities. Yeah. And then,

balancing that with being the

pinnacle of adventure in her family. She is the one that gets everyone

out. She takes her husband to Havasu Pied falls.

She takes her kids to Trans Catalina to run

marathons. I mean, so while also taking

Sundays for herself to run with her friends or going on a

solo backpacking trip or coming with us on a backpacking trip.

So Angelique's incredible. Some other things

that have been really cool to see is we've got another student, Casey,

and she is on the eastern US. And she used the

group recently to gauge interest if anyone wanted to go on

a 2025 backpacking trip in the White Mountains

in the Northeastern US. And so I love this I love

this about, like, our students lately. We're starting especially as we've got the

community's gotten bigger. We're starting to see pockets

of people, like, all over the US and even in Canada, and they're like they're

they're reaching out to be like, who wants to join this trip?

And doing that more and seeing that more and more. And it

has me always thinking, like, it's we don't have

official chapters. These are just people meeting up on their own time.

But it feels like we're hurdling towards it, you know, because our students

are so active in their communities and using the community,

our online community to connect that they're able

to hang out. So Casey reached out, and

I expressed interest to go, like, hang out with them on

my off time. There's another ambassador, Heather, on the East Coast.

She and I meet up, like, every October for a backpacking trip. She

also expressed interest. So, I think

Casey made, like, a little group chat or another

Facebook group specifically for people that wanted to plan. Yeah. And then

What time of the year is, like, White Mountains good to go

backpacking in? I'm not as familiar with that area. It would be I mean, it's

Like summer? Northeastern. So, definitely, like,

summer or fall would be gorgeous. Right? Because it's

just, like, rolling mountains and just

diverse forest. It's beautiful. So and then on that same

note, we have another really active group that formed

this year on their own. We call them the SoCal baddies, but

it's a group of Southern California women. And Angelique is one of

them. Another ambassador is one of them too, Carrie. She's

they're they're both so cool. Everybody at this group is so cool. I can't even,

like, humble brag on our students because it's not humble at all. So

the Southern California girls, they just they were really active

students that were each individually committed to their goals, and they

were posting so much in the Facebook community that

we have that they started, like, noticing each other.

And they're like, hey. I have a goal to

bag 6 peaks. Do you wanna come on any of those hikes with me?

And so it was this, like it was it wasn't even

slow. It was like this fast burn, platonic friendship,

like, romance. It was great. A lot of these people, like,

joined around the same time too because I remember a lot of them were not

all of them, but a lot of them were joining. They they they came

into the program around January of 2024 last

year. They did, like, our new year cohort,

like, you know, live cohort that we do at the beginning of the year

and got, like, so much momentum there and started doing, like, a lot of

stuff together. Yeah. That is so true. Yeah. And so

it was that's interesting when you, like, join the program in one

of those big open launches. Right? Because you do kind of get those bonuses

that end up bringing you in with, like, a

group. So that's always really fun. Yeah. And so what the

SoCal baddies did is they ended up, making their own

Facebook group, and then they

also just posted a survey, and they're like, influence our

schedule next year. So they're now taking, like,

organizing surveys for people in their area so they can

organize different kinds of trips, whether it's day hiking,

backpacking. I know that, Carrie organizes

trips with her friends. That's like moms taking their

kids out to, like, hike in campsites. So

they're planning all these different trips, not necessarily just like one. They're

kind of, like, looking at this in a bigger

scale, more than just one trip. So Right. And what's

so nice about going on trips with people in the community, which we've

both done, is that it's it's really fun to go on

these nonofficial trips because I it's so

easy. It's, like, relaxing. I don't have to

worry about and this isn't to say I love taking beginners

out, but having people be self sufficient

and then having somebody that I can, like, talk to and

talk through decisions with. Like, when I go backpacking with our

students and we're trying to make route decisions or camp

decisions, like, we can go back and forth and make

really, really solid decisions together.

And so it's just like, it feels like a day off,

you know, like, just getting to enjoy it

Right. And really sink into it. And everybody gets to do

that. So, and the

and being able to talk through, like, how you're feeling through the day

and not feeling I I remember when I was a beginner and

nobody really explained plans to me, and I would just

cry and cry and cry in the back. I would be, like, way in the

back. I would hope that they would wait for me at junctions

or hope that the mileage wasn't gonna be, like,

20 miles in a day. You know? I had no idea

what my limits were, what to expect, because I had no

idea what was going on, and nobody was, like, explaining that to me as a

new person. And so it gives you really good

perspective, like, when you know all those things and come in with all those skill

sets, bringing other people out or having people that are self sufficient

and really strong group contributors. And I know, like, all

of our students would never, like, go on a trip without, like,

having some idea of, like, what they're expecting too. Because they're all like, what's the

trip plan? What what's the safety plan like beforehand? Yeah.

So you guys are Well prepared.

So that brings me to a good question that I saw come up in a

q and a recently about, like, you know, when you

are a beginner or you're going out there with other people,

maybe you do have somebody that is mentoring you or

you're getting into it yourself and you don't have that

mentor. Where how do you know what your limit

is? Where where your

curiosity meets your hiking ability? Like, where does that come into play?

And, obviously, this changes as you gain experience, but how do you

know when you're properly equipped to take on

more difficult trails, especially if

your intention is to go solo hiking or backpacking?

Right. I think this is a really good question.

So, you know, when you are just starting out and especially

if you like because a lot of our students do join us because they are

still figuring out the community piece, or they want to go solo more often

because it's just easier to plan. It can

be hard to understand, well, like, how when when

am I taking on too much? Like, when am I biting off more than I

can chew? And as far as, like, I

think there's so much, like, we can push ourselves to do, but, like,

when we're going solo, you know, we're just taking in a lot of different considerations.

One thing to think about is, like, when you're first starting, you know,

it's just to keeping to class 1 style hikes, which are just, like,

very straightforward trails that you're not having to use your

hands and climb or scramble too much. Those are

generally going to be, like, technically less hard. And you can find tons of them

that are going to be challenging in other ways, but not necessarily challenging in

more technical, like unsafe ways, like class 2 or class

3 hikes. If you haven't done stuff like that before, it could

feel like it's gonna start to get scarier. The route finding could get

a little bit harder. Just depends on where you're going. So

that's something to consider. And then there are

obvious certain levels to me where it's like, you want extra technical

training, like mountaineering, rock climbing. You want

extra safety technical training with things like that.

So when it comes to actually testing your limits personally

on things that are a little less technical or like setting a big goal, a

stretch goal, like maybe in 2025, you're like, I've done these trips before, but I

wanna do something bigger in 2025. What I do

is, like, I'm not afraid to set that goal for myself, but

I'm always going in with, like, a backup plan

in case, like, I need to pivot and change my

mind. Like, you know, unless I know it's

like, I can figure it out. Like, there's there comes a point when you have,

like, a lot of experience. You're like, I'm pretty sure I can do this and,

like but every time you you need to, like, think through

if things got unsafe or I wasn't comfortable anymore, like, what would I do

then? If you think through some of those things ahead of time, then

you can do harder things that are you don't you don't know where

your limit is. Like, you're trying to figure it out, and be

free like, feel free to turn around. So, like, an example of this to, like,

make that more tangible is I remember when I did my very first solo

backpacking trip, I think it was, like, 2015.

I can't remember exactly. It it was to do Mount Langley. I

wanted to summit Mount Langley, which is a 14er in California, and

I was doing it as, like, a 2 or 3 day trip. And

I was going out there solo. It was October ish,

so I knew that there was a little bit of snow. And I

didn't wanna do technical stuff. Even though I did have some basic

mountaineering experience, I just didn't wanna do technical stuff alone.

So my plan was to go out there, scope it out, and then at any

point where I felt like it was gonna be too much for me, like, with

my experience at that time, then I would turn around. And that's

actually what ended up happening is I made it

to one lake, and the pass that I originally

was gonna up go up was covered with snow. But then I was like, okay.

Well, this is not a no go. I know there's another pass. So I pivoted

my plan to go to another pass, and that pass was sunny,

not filled with snow, so it had all melted. So I went up that pass,

and that was New Army Pass. And then I got to the top of New

Army Pass, and I was looking at Langley. It was covered in

snow. I was just, like, a little bit nervous about it. So I just, like,

gave myself permission to turn around. And that was me testing

my limits and not being sure if, like, I felt comfortable enough

to do Langley, but, you know, still going for it. So I think

that's just an example of, like, when you're kind of especially when you're solo testing

it out. And then when you're with a group, it's similar. Sometimes you have

to make calls as a group. And if somebody in your group isn't comfortable with

somebody, you gotta be willing to either, like, coach them through

it or turn around with them because that can happen as

well too. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely gotta take your ego out of

testing your limits Yeah. You know, and not make it

mean something about yourself. Exactly. And you can go back with

more information like the Langley one. I was like, I'm gonna come back. And I

went back the next year, I think, with my friend in in, like, earlier

season, and we just we did it. And it was amazing, and it was fun.

But I was, like, still so proud of going out there and trying it, and

I think you will be too. So don't don't ever, like, count

yourself out just because it's a bit harder than something you haven't done

before. So thinking about

this, can you give me some examples of

questions, like thinking about adventure planning, kinda coming back to

that theme? Like, can you give me some examples of questions that you would ask

yourself this time of the year to sort of look back at

your prior year in order to start, like,

framing up and thinking about what kind of adventures you want in the new

year. Yes. For sure. I'm actually, like, deep,

deep in this work right now because we do this kind of reflection

with clients in our adventure

journal that pairs with our adventure planner.

And I just happened to, like, be updating I started updating

both of them this week. So this is very fresh on my

mind. So I think as

as, like, with your example about Langley,

one point that we really like

to bring across our community in these reflection is no

matter if you achieved all your goals last year, you barely made it through

the year, or you landed somewhere in between. There's lessons

in it all. Right? Allison talks about this a lot of, like, the 5050

and lessons from mountains. And in my case, I don't live in an

area with mountains. Right? So it's just like my wilderness lessons.

And so we've we very much encourage getting

comfortable with the uncomfortable. So when you

dive into these types of reflections and some of the questions that we'll get

into, some of the answers might not be comfortable

when they come up. Like, when you're reflecting on your year and it didn't

go how you planned. Right. So still

But it's still worth asking yourselves those questions. Yes. Yes.

So it's still worth being uncomfortable. Right? Like backpacking

is not a comfortable sport or hobby.

Is an exercise and being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Yes. Yeah. And hiking in general and being in the outdoors because it has so

many unpredictable variables. Right? They are out of our control in so many

instances. Beautiful actually though, because I think it's like we do get to a point

in backpacking where we're like, we get comfortable with being uncomfortable because we enjoy everything

it is about being out there, the adventure of it and stuff.

And I think that's just such a beautiful metaphor for life. Like Yeah. All the

things you do in your life. And then at the end of it, you know,

you did this challenging thing, and you're like, I did

that. I didn't even think I could make it. Like, at some points, I was

thinking, you know, they're gonna have to airlift me out of here, but I did

it. You know? And Yeah. So that's really transformative

in your life, like, off the trail too. So in the reflection,

in our adventure journals that I just started reupdating

for 2025. It's kind of in, like, 3

parts for the journaling. Right? And then you get this the

adventure planner is, like, the actual planning. So we always recommend

to do the reflection first to guide the planning.

Before you move forward. Yes. Go slow to go fast. Yes.

So the three parts of the reflection is

first, we guide through or guide students through reflecting on

the previous year. This is gonna be questions like,

what did you love doing? What did you do a lot of?

And what were you proud of doing? What skills maybe you

picked up along the way? What did you not get to

do? Did you struggle with anything? Mhmm.

And how do you feel about all those things? That's a really

important one. Right? Like, really asking yourself honestly

how you feel about them and then asking what you want more

of. Like, maybe you wanna uplevel an adventure.

Maybe you wanna try something again and get your I call them,

like, redemption arcs. I don't wanna call them revenge because

that doesn't feel like the right emotion. But it does feel

like redeeming when you get to go try something again and

see in very, like,

tangible way your improvements. Like, maybe you got further on the

trail or maybe you stayed longer or maybe

you stayed solo, or you stayed the night. You know? It could be

so much. So I I think those questions are great too because it

also can help you, like, look at them and be like, what was the

reason why I didn't get to do some of these things that I had

originally wanted to do? And do I like my reasons? Because sometimes I

think we make a decision. We had a plan at the beginning of the year,

and we're like, I wanna do this thing. And then later we decide, like, for

whatever reason, it's not a priority, like and we have our

own backs in that decision, and it feels clean. But then sometimes,

like, we don't do something, and we're like,

I was you know, I wish I would have. Like, I Right. It

like, you can see the reasons behind it are, like, maybe you were

doubting yourself. Maybe, you know, for whatever reason it

is. I don't know. But And I Yeah. I think

too that, I just lost my train of thought on that

one. So yeah. Well, you can it just gives you a lot of insight. You're

like, okay. Well, how do I wanna show up to the next year? I think

that's what's so important to the reflection piece. And doing the

reflection, this is the thought I have. Doing the reflection at the end

of the year, like, sometimes when you're in it,

you don't even know what's causing those

things. Right? Like, sometimes it takes, like, time and distance to get

clarity. And so giving yourself

time to sit down and actually dedicate

looking back on it and being in the feelings of it

when you're not so emotionally charged. Right? Because, like, when you're in it, you're all

in your amygdala brain, which is, like, really hard to think logically

when you're thinking from the emotional brain. So the

reflection at the end of the year is really powerful because

you're not as deep into the things as you were, and you can take the

ego out of it a little bit. Don't skip this step. Like, I think it

really helps the next step. Yes. Yeah. It really helps with

the clarity and and really getting clear on what you want and

why it's important so that when you don't

have motivation, which will happen, motivation isn't like

you know, you don't just do stuff because you're motivated. Sometimes it's just you have

to push through it. So then we after we do all this

reflection, we guide students through a brainstorming session.

And this is where we ask them to get bold. Like, it

doesn't have to make sense. Right? Yeah. A couple episodes ago,

you interviewed Marie Pierre, and she went from being,

like, a pretty new backpacker on a 4 day trip

to one day quickly deciding she was going to

try to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which is hiking

from Mexico to Canada. That's a huge that

didn't make sense to her. Right? But so your big goals don't have to

make sense. But if you're thinking about them, capture it. Write it

down. And ask yourself what your most

adventurous year ever would look like for you. And

I wanna emphasize for you because

comparison will suck all of the fun out of everything.

Yes. It's going to steal the joy. And this is a great example having me

and you talk. Right? Like, UK you born and

raised in Texas and then moved to really outdoorsy

places, moved to mountains. I'm born and raised in

Indiana and stayed in the Great Lakes region.

So my big adventures don't always look like yours.

But, like, at the beginning of the podcast, I was like, oh, I've swam with

alligators and manatees when I used to do turtle research. So

it's like, you can create big adventures no matter where

you are. You just have to be clear on what kinds of adventures are

important to you, and, like, don't worry about what big

adventure looks like to somebody else. So

That's a great point. Be bold in your brainstorming session.

Just even if it doesn't make sense or you don't know how to do it,

and there's tons of tips even in the, you know, a couple

episodes here in the early episodes that

will help you, like, figure out those possibilities. You just

have to be open to figuring things out and

And give yourself time, you know, like, you know, I mean, actually, in

the brainstorm, I always encourage people to just, like, write whatever comes up for

you. You don't have to do it all in 2025, but just, like, write

anything that's, like, on your heart. And then, like, we guide you through like a

planning process. Like Right. If you end up joining us for one of our events

where we kind of do this process with you, which we'll do a big event

in January, but we will guide you through like, okay, like, let's

get clear about what 2025 will look like. But in the brainstorming

process, I would just write anything and everything that's, like, on your heart. Right.

Because you don't know what's possible yet because the plan may morph and

change, and you may, like, meet somebody that's, like, you know,

like you did. You met some or your coworkers were like, come on this

epic backpacking trip that Yeah. You didn't even know that. Through

the beginning of the year. Yeah. Yeah. And so and while you're

brainstorming and you're just getting every idea that comes out no matter

if it makes sense or not, there's probably going to be

one that stands out that does make

sense at least a little bit, like something where you're like, I

think I could actually do this one. And it's going to

be something that's really exciting. And so the last one, after you

do this brainstorming, the last part is picking that

big goal from your brainstorming. And, again, because

you're not having to fix that. Isle Royale? I don't know. I'm trying

to figure some out. Like, I've got I've that's probably my thing. Work a little

early. You still have time to think about this, but I was just curious. Well,

the and then the Italian dolomites are on my heart too. I think a hut

to hut would be fun because that's Italian dolomites are beautiful. I've been there. I've

never lived, like I haven't spent a ton of time there, but they I have

seen them. They're very And the hut to huts just sound like Sounds wild. Like

the refugios? That just sounds so luxurious. Isle Royale

is also luxurious. I didn't dig a single cat hole there.

So, anyway, when you claim that's I was following L and

T. I just wanna be clear. They have outhouses at every campsite. So

This is different. Yeah. Yes. So after you claim your big

goal, you're gonna make a list of all the

small things that need to happen. And you had a really

good episode, episode 8 where you

did this with your rock climbing. So I encourage people that if you didn't listen

to episode 8 and you're interested in really guiding you.

Journaling prompts that are, like Yeah. Different than these. Yeah. It's

Allison's big reflections on her big rock climbing goal that she set

for 2024. So after you claim this big goal, you

can start making a list of, okay. What do I need to actually do to

make this goal happen? And you may not again, you may not know all the

answers now, but you may know your job offer. Have an

idea. You're on you're on ramps. Right? You're on ramps to get onto

this big goal. So it may be like making friends,

finding a community, putting yourself out there, learning new

skills, getting outside more,

training, maybe working with a trainer or getting

a gym membership. So that will

start giving you more confidence on being like, okay. This is

this big goal is now more manageable. Yeah. So

those are kind of, like, the that 3 part

reflection process that we put into our

adventure reflection journal at the end of this

year for So stoked to see. Kelly always,

like, creates, like, a beautiful new design for our

journals and our planners, and we have, like, a fun theme this year.

We're, like, kinda leaning into the era tours sort of. I'd

theme, like, spinning off of, you know, Taylor Swift a little

bit, but we're calling it your adventure era.

Yes. And, like, new girlhood, I'm gonna lean into themes.

Katie and I on the team were working on,

some of the planning for that event, and we were just, like,

girling out. It was a lot of fun. So there'll be a lot of, like,

cutesy things. And that's I like designing stuff like that because so much of the

outdoorsy stuff, you know, it

doesn't have I think that, like, our shoes are covered. Like, we

there's always, like, pink and purple hiking shoes or running shoes.

But I feel like there's not as much, like, really hyper

feminine, girly, outdoorsy stuff.

So, yeah, I like adding things into our special

events that are a little more girlhood. Yeah. I mean,

it's just leaning into all different aspects. Because, I mean, like, I wouldn't even say

we're, like, always super girly all the time, but, like, I don't know. I

just love color. I love bright colors. Like, I just like to I

like it to be a little bit fun. Like, let's have some fun.

Everything doesn't need to be olive green, you know, like, and brown.

But you know, I love those colors, but I love yellow. Don't get me wrong.

But, like, with a pop of, you know, like some other bright

color that's fun. I don't know. I think, you know, the outdoor industry is

trending that way. Like, you're seeing, like, Cotopaxi is super fun. Like, I love

I love that. So, okay, Everyone, even not

even non backpacking badass students, they will have an you

will have an opportunity to get your hands on our adventure planners and our reflection

journal that we've been kinda, like, teasing and talking about here and those prompts

that are in that. Because, like, there's way more than just that. That's just a

little taste. We are working right now on a very

special event for the new year. I kinda think I already said the name earlier,

but we're calling it your adventure era 5 day challenge.

And it's gonna be all about setting the stage for a year that

is full of adventures in all aspects of your life. So we really

want you to set the stage in January thinking about, like, mind,

body, soul, like friendships, how you wanna grow and helping you

create like a vision for that plan and

stepping into like and stepping into, and if you're

already adventurous, like really getting clear on what that looks like for

you. Again, in the new year, like, kinda going back to that

concept of always redeciding, like, how you wanna show up and being really

purposeful and being really intention intentional about what

you bring into the world. So that 5 day challenge, we're still working on

it. So we don't have, you know, a sign up page or anything yet. So

just stay tuned. We're gonna be talking about, like, honing your

adventure mindset, creating that 2025 adventure

plan, creating your dream adventure community, because

this is a huge one, I think, for people is, like, I wanna find more

community. So I wanna talk about that. We're gonna have a day dedicated to community.

Talking about strengthening your adventure body, what is that gonna look like for you in

2025? And then filling in those adventure skill skill

gaps that you might have that you wanna work on. So stay

tuned for that event. We will probably announce on, like,

how you can register for it. It's gonna be a free event, that at the

end of the month, keep an eye out for it. I'll definitely mention it here

on the podcast, but a better way to make sure you don't miss

announcements is to make sure that you're on my email list.

I'm trying to think of a quick URL. You can join our email list really

easily by getting on our starter kit. So if you went to she dreams

of alpine.com/kit, I believe.

Adventure. Or adventure. We have lots of time on that

stuff. Adventure. I will put it in the show notes. So I have all

these short URLs and I forget them. Sometimes I should have like, added it to

my notes. But, okay, we spent a lot of time on adventure

planning. Let's move on to hot topic number 2.

And the second hot topic that was, you

know, big in our community this year is kind of training in the off season,

which I love because I think a lot of us in this time of the

year tend to wind down our adventures in the winter season.

And I sort of have, like, 2 thought processes around training

during this time of the year, but I wanna hear your thoughts first, Kelly. So

what is training in the winter season usually look like for you?

Crocheting and drumming. Well and I just say that

because the slower season the slower season, right, when a lot of us do wind

down, it does allow me to shift the focus to other passions

where I'm not trying to, like, you know, pack in as much time in good

weather as I can. So I was like, to be clear, she's not like crocheting

and drumming and hiking at the same time. I might be. So

in my heart. So, yeah. And I really noticed when I was

busy with outdoor adventure goals this summer training

for, like, our hike in the Eastern Sierras, my drumming

suffered. Right? Or, like, I didn't crochet as much. So I I kinda

yeah. So I kinda lean into my creative passions when I do,

like, spend less time outdoors. Yeah. But ways that

I do still like to keep my body moving or

connect outdoors, I've been doing yoga every day.

I'm, like, over 30 days strong with that with,

you know, one of those YouTube 30 day challenges. So I like

doing that, and doing it at home makes it very easy.

You know, I can just get up. I do it. I notice if I don't

do it in the morning, like, I suffer for it. You know, throughout the day,

my body is like, please stretch. So I also am a

roller skater, and I love roller skating at the

rink. Mhmm. It's like it's like going clubbing for me.

It's going jam skating at the rink. I also

do love dancing, and we have a great

dance studio here in town where I live. And so on

occasion, I will check their class schedule, and I will sign up

for a dance class. Once in a while, I get a motivation to

go to the gym. I have, like, Planet Fitness, so it's not

expensive for me to keep a gym membership, but I'm not very consistent with

my gym usage. It's more of, like, training

for our guided trips in the Sierras where

I'm, like, going to the gym to use treadmills for elevation training or

doing Right. Cross I do try to, like, fit some kind

of strength training in. Yeah. Or cardio.

And we also just got our first bouldering gym

for rock climbing. We don't have a top rope gym or anything yet.

So I may try that this winter, but it means I have to give up

my, like, off season long nails, which I don't know. Long nails of

climbing. I keep trying, and then I hate them. As soon as I start climbing,

I'm like, no. I can't do this. I know. And they're like, you know, I

grow them out, and so they're mine. And so I take a lot of pride

in them, and I just like Yeah. It's I really like to leave. Nails.

Yeah. When I'm not being a dirtbag, you know, it's nice to, like, lean into

that. But, and I also do love winter hiking because I

I really especially for people that maybe are a little apprehensive

about winter hiking, I do encourage people to go hiking in every

season, especially if you live in an area that has

different seasons where nature changes.

Because it actually is very fun to see your favorite

trails and landscapes different times of the year.

And I know that, like, when I'm out hiking, you know, like, it's it's a

totally different vibe. We have beech trees here, and they keep their

leaves in the winter. They get all crispy, and they're orange, and

they're they're very ghostly, like, among the kinda gray

and white landscape. And I just love that I can hear them

rustle in the winter. And it's like the loudest thing in

the forest because everything else is, like, dampened with the snow. Right? So

there's just so much to see. Even if you've

been to the trail over and over and over and over. One of my

favorite joys too in the winter hiking is, like, I love being bundled

up, but then my face showing and being cold. Like, I love that feeling of

my, like, my face being cold, but, like, I'm still cozy and

I'm out there hiking. Like, I don't know why. I just really like that.

Yeah. There is something about, like, being when you learn how to,

like, layer and, like, the type of gear you're gonna be

comfortable in, there is like a oh, this feels like

so great. And then if you get warm, you know, you get that brisk breeze

on your face. So what about you? What is training or, like,

staying active when you slow down look like? Or do you slow

down, Allison? Yeah. You know, like, I think it depends on the

year. I think I actually I tend to

some years I treat this more of a season arrest, kinda like what you were

explaining. Like, I slow things down. My goals are more just about being consistent

and, like, rather rather than being around big adventure where it's, like, in the

spring and summer and fall, like, tend to be when I plan more of my

big things, and so I'm training more. So, yeah, winter usually is

slower in that regards, but

climbing, I feel like you don't really ever have to stop setting big

goals. Like, you can keep going. So a lot of my focus this

year has been climbing, and that's been consistent. And, like, I

still have big goals around that. And, like, I guess when this

airs, I will be in Spain, I think, when

this episode's airs. But, like, yeah, that's been a big goal. Like, I wanna

I'm hoping to get some I'm hoping to

get some, like, you know, tough leads out there and, like, do some

big things. So I haven't really ramped climbing down.

But I think when at the end of the day, when it comes down to

it, like, for you personally, you just have to decide what kind of seat I

think no matter what you do, it doesn't matter what you

decide your season's gonna be like, but I just always encourage people be

purposeful about it. You're like, I want this to be a season of a

rest, and then don't give yourself shit if you're not, like,

doing big things because you purposefully decided you wanted it to be a

slower season and, like, own that decision. And then if

why I love seeing nature change. Right? Because we Yes. We love

talking about getting lessons from nature. Yeah. Nature And

so being with nature and

being attentive to nature, like, nature slows down.

Trees go dormant. Animals go hibernate. Like, we can we

can look into the word. Cues from the seasons. Yeah. Yeah.

And they don't always have to line up with the seasons either, but you can,

like, allow yourself to have these different seasons

where consistency and perfection are, like, 2 different

things. Right? Like, you can continue to be consistent with something and take

a rest. Like, you don't have to have perfect attendance or always

be doing all the things all the time. Right. Exactly.

So what kind of advice would you give someone who wants to

still, like, move their body, maybe keep a baseline fitness during this?

Like, they wanna have a season of rest, but they wanna keep a baseline fitness.

But what it like, also, this comes up a lot. Like, what if

they're struggling because they can't get outdoors as much because of snow,

because it's busy, all the things? Like, what advice would you give that person?

Yeah. So get creative with the ways

that you move because maybe

and that's not motivating to you. So maybe making it playful

or changing it up, especially if, like, monotony is not

your thing. I know for me, I do have to, like, make it playful, or

I do have to have, like, diversity in what I'm doing. YouTube

is a great resource. You can find yoga videos, dance

videos, workout videos, and those are all at home, so the

barrier is very low. Right? Like, you YouTube

is free. You just, like, skip through the ads,

and you don't have to go anywhere. And you don't have to, like,

have any special gear. Yes. So YouTube videos are great.

I love using YouTube every day for, like,

yoga, but you can find dance videos that can help with

cardio. You can find workout videos if you really wanna work on strength

training, like high intensity interval, things like that. And that's like a

free resource, low cost,

or no cost at all if you're not buying premium. So you can do it

at home. No special gear. So that's a very easy way to get a little

active at home. You might find indoor spaces to walk, like,

if you have an indoor mall or indoor, like,

track and field track and then stairwells at work or

in parking garages too. We have one

student who did a lot of her training on stairwells at work. Yep. She

would get a little movement at work, or she'd take a little 10

minute break to get moving, and she would go walk up and

down to the stairwells. Totally. You might enroll

in a group fitness class or hire a 1 on 1

trainer. Because if you really want to

spark some motivation, I find that investing money

and time are 2 ways to do it. Because if you invest money, you're like,

I don't wanna waste it. Like, I wanna show up for that. Money is kinda

like an exchange of energy. Like, I wanna show up for

this, and this is the way I'm showing it and then, like, show up for

it. Right. And sometimes I think too, and especially I

feel that I I observe this with women a lot,

is that it's really hard for us to show up for ourselves. And

so sometimes having someone else you might be accountable to, which

may not be, you know, if you aren't doing this with friends, you

know, still signing up with that 1 on 1 trainer. And I know, like,

Planet Fitness, for example, that's included in any membership. You can

Mhmm. Get you can take advantage of a trainer at no

additional cost. Right? So, like, showing up to that appointment.

And then once you start showing up more, like, you learn how to show up

for yourself and let go of some, like, guilt

or whatever self judgment you have on that kind of stuff.

Yeah. Like, Michael and I actually recently got a,

like, a gym membership in our local area because we

were like in the winter, sometimes we make more excuses about not going

out because we don't wanna be cold. Like, especially when we used we

live really close to trails, like, right out the door. So sometimes it's

less motivating to be like, go run outside when it's freezing or there's

snow. So we did get a gym membership for the we're trying it

out this winter season. We may keep it because it is pretty affordable, a little

bit more expensive than Planet Fitness, but actually pretty affordable. I

think $25 a person. And it gave us access

to sauna, and we're just doing some, like, strength training

stuff with it. So, yeah, like, sometimes mixing it up and

Yeah. Get this all this helps. And I think enrolling in, like, a

gym like you guys do and having specific goals, like if it was a rock

climbing gym or enrolling in a group fitness class, also

puts you out there to start building that adventure community. Like Mhmm.

If you're going out to a group fitness class, then there are probably

people or a gym, probably people there that have

some kind of similar goal as you. Maybe it's fitness. Maybe

it's getting better in adventure or adventuring more. And then it's just

being able to, like, start those conversations

or, you know, it's just putting yourself in spaces where you're creating more

opportunity to to to make things

happen that you want to see happen in your life. And sometimes we talk

about this with our clients. It's like when you step up into doing something, it

kind of attracts people around you to wanting to do it too. So it's like,

if you signed up for a gym membership and your friends are seeing you go

every week to be strong during the winter season when a lot of people are

like kind of neglecting that, that can be motivation sometimes to your friends to be

like, okay, I'm doing this with you. Like, what days of the week are you

going? Like Yeah. I find that happens a lot. You

you end up eliciting a lot of community when you start training in the

gym for like big adventures. Yes. Yeah. A lot of my

friends will also be like, hey. I also wanna just get healthier.

And going to the gym with somebody and walking on treadmills and talking for an

hour sounds a lot more fun than doing it by myself. So, yeah,

I will, like, just go to all my friends and be like,

hey. If anyone wants to join me on hikes or, like, especially

going to the gym. So enlisting a friend if you can. But, again, if you

don't have those friends, you're gonna have to, like,

go practice being that friend. Right. Yeah. Then a lot of my

friends will tell me, like, wow. I got on so many adventures this year because

of you. I was just having a conversation with a close friend, and she was

like, I did so much because of you. And in the same way, I felt

the same about her in a different aspect of my life with, like, music

is we both had similar goals. Maybe they weren't

exactly the same, and then we supported each other and got to do

some really cool things together. So

So be the friend. Yeah. Be the go be the friend. So,

and with like, if you're just nervous about trying and we we're talking about

winter, but this could be true for, like, summer in, like, the

desert. Right? Like, whatever your off season is. So I

would encourage you to, like, try winter sports. Like, if you can learn how

to do it safety like, safely, because that's the big thing with the off season.

Like, not only is it uncomfortable due to temperature

differences, but, like, it might be a little scarier because the risks

are higher because of the temperatures. But you might surprise yourself when

you learn about stuff. So you might try winter sports you never saw yourself

trying, like snowshoeing, things like that. And we do have

a winter maybe this is just reminding me, like, I'll add this in the show

notes. We have a winter hiking and camping workshop. It's

not expensive. If you want to, like, explore that, you

can check it out. It's like a help you be prepared for winter

adventures sort of thing. Yes. So this also,

on the topic of training, we got this question from one of our clients,

Carrie, recently that I thought would be cool to talk about.

So, she asked if my trip is more than 10 weeks out, should

I wait to start training, prolong based training, or

cycle my training plan assuming that she has,

like, 18 to 20 weeks? Yeah.

That's, a good question. Like, just for context for people, like, in the

backpacking badass program, if you're setting up particularly, if you're

new to backpacking and it's your first time setting a goal or you're setting a

big goal, we like to create, like, a 12 week, you know, 12

weeks out from your goal training plan for your bigger goals. So this is kind

of where Carrie's question is coming from. So you might be like,

I know I have a big trip planning for, you know, the summer, early

summer or spring even, and maybe we're way it's

still, like, pretty far out. You know? You have, like, 18 or 20 weeks till

then, so you're not quite starting your 12 week plan. What should you

do? And for me, that's like I think it's

totally up to you. Like, what feels fun for you?

I think it really can depend on the trip. Like, what kind of trip is

it? I know we have a student, like, training for Kilimanjaro right now. And so,

like, maybe they wanna extend their training and, like, take

it even deeper, like, further out.

So if you have a really big goal, like, maybe

extending that training to be a little even further out than 12

weeks. But if you're just kind of looking

to create a base kind of what we've been talking about this,

just start building a chill base training. And I

think one of actually the most important things is, like, what what you can do

to set yourself up for success for the 12 week training plan

is building in consistency. So if you can start working

on showing up 3, 4 times a week to

hike, to get on a treadmill, and that's just something you start ingraining

as, like, a habit, like a consistent way you show up for yourself now,

then when you get to your training plan, it's gonna be so much easier

to, like, show up for those training

hikes and stuff that you're doing for your specific goal. So that

would be, like, my biggest thing is, like,

practicing that consistency goal.

Okay. So I think, like,

let's we talked a little bit about some of our clients, what they're doing,

what they're doing with training. I think, like, let's just real quickly

talk on the last hot topic because I know that we need

to wrap up this. We have some we both have some time constraints here,

so we're kinda, like, gonna zoom through our last topic a little bit.

Allison and I could talk forever. Yes. I I know. We were like, oh, we

can do this in an hour. And I think that This is why this is

why we had to be coaches. Right? Because we just look like we need

certified yappers on talking about the outdoors. So our 3rd hot

topic in the community that we had, like, listed for this conversation was

around rock climbing, actually, which I think it

has a lot to do with the fact that our clients, like, when they get

into the hiking and backpacking in the outdoors and start kind of

stepping into their adventurous identity, they start seeing that they can do

things that they never knew that they could do

before. Like, rock climbing tends to be one of those things that wasn't on their

radar before, but now they're like, I wonder, like, if I would enjoy that, if

I would be into that. Why do you think

we're hearing a lot about climbing right now in our backpacking badass community during

this winter season, Kelly? So first, I definitely agree

about the identity shift because I think when our students start building that

confidence with hiking and backpacking, that translates into all

kinds of aspects of their life and outdoor adventure. Right? They start,

what what else can I do? And so many of those skills that

we teach will apply to different adventures. Yeah. So,

that's all to say that, you know, people can join the backpacking

badass and take it so much further than backpacking with the

skills, confidence, and the know how that they gain. So And the

coaches because a lot of us climb. Yes. So I think on that

topic, like, with rock climbing, it's

it's on the top of everyone's mind right now because you

have your climbing goals that you've kind of been talking about checking in

with on your Yeah. We do a momentum Monday to claim your goals

and a follow-up Friday posts in our, in our

group so that so it's like weekly reflection like we

talked about earlier. Like, okay. If you didn't get them done, that's

okay. But, like, why? But, also, we do encourage, like, rest is

a goal. So, anyway, you've been very vocal

about your climbing goals. And the Spain trip, which

when this airs, you'll be out on, and so that'll be of an exciting

recap to watch for on, like, our social media

channels. We've got the 2025 Joshua Tree

Retreat. That's gonna be in March. So right now, you and Kate are working

with clients to kind of get people prepared, and you do a

few check-in calls with them. Right. And Kate,

also, we're celebrating her recently because on our team.

Yeah. Yes. Kate is our blog manager. She got SPI

certified. Yeah. So that is a rock climbing certification

for anyone unfamiliar. And she's an awesome coach, honestly, all

around, but especially for people that want to expand into climbing.

And she is she was explaining to us when she was getting

trained, and she was taking her SPI certification and

exam. And, also, she was like she's guide she's a rock

climbing guide as well on the side. And she is,

like, one of few women guides in her area and maybe,

like, well, even fewer that are actually SPI certified. So she

would be able to be more specific, because I'm not a rock climber.

So but we've been celebrating her a lot in the community. And so

she often talks about in her q and a calls

how people can get into rock climbing and advice for them.

And she also just happened to, like, know a rock

climbing coach and was able to recommend them, this person, to

a student who was looking for a climbing coach. And

Kate just happened to know a woman that was a coach in

that student's climbing area. So that was incredible. It's

interesting. We ended up doing, like, a lot of, kind of side coaching in

the backpacking badass community for people who want advice

and stuff about rock climbing. All kinds of stuff too. Right? Like, I

do kayaking and stuff like that, and we all just have so many different

interests as coaches and apply our skills in different ways. But I also feel

like we get a lot of students in their fifties to seventies

so often, and it makes me reflect on how access to outdoor

recreation continues to increase for women and other

underrepresented or marginalized groups that have been

historically gatekept from these activities

and outdoor spaces. So, for example, when I was

studying biology, that was the time when the field was drastically

changing and shifting to be predominantly women entering the

field. And so I think about that so often because we do

get students. We have one student that we've hiked with, and her

trail name is the 3rd act because she

is in her sixties deciding

what this new stage of her life is gonna be after,

like, getting to kinda focus on herself a little bit more.

So I think about that a lot in the community with how diverse our

students are unlike for some women,

this may be the time, the first time in their lives where they really have

had the opportunity to get into their outdoor

passions, or they're reigniting them from when they were,

you know, in college and then life came and when

That's so common for a lot of our clients. Yeah. So, yeah, I

think about that a lot. So Okay. I think, like,

maybe to wrap this up, really quickly because I know we kind of have a

time limit. If somebody I think I'm just gonna jump to, like,

if somebody was asking because this happens in our group. Like, people ask us. If

I wanted to start rock climbing and learning how to rock

climb, what would our advice be to get started? And

so if anybody's kinda like listening to that and they're interested in this, I would

really recommend that gyms are a great way to start. Like, you can start

bouldering. Bouldering is very accessible because you don't have to have a partner

necessarily, especially in the climbing gym. I would I

recommend a lot of my clients who wanna get started to sign up for an

intro to climbing class. And I think, like,

definitely, like Kelly was talking about earlier, try to put yourself out there and

meet people. Like, actually introduce yourself to people, even if it seems a little

a little weird. And I a lot of my clients, because maybe they're starting this

a little older in life, they can feel, like, intimidated intimidated to go

to the gym and see all these, like, younger people climbing, but, like, don't

I feel like the climbing community is really open. And

when you get like, people can look really serious, but once you start talking to

people, they really are interested in helping you. I don't know if you've had that

experience, Kelly, when you've been climbing. I feel like I've had opposites. Well, I have,

like, you know, been in environments where it's mostly young people climbing.

But the last time I went to, like, a top rope climbing gym, I asked

a friend to come with me, and it was, like, 2 and a

half hours from my like, where we live. And

it was a Monday, so it was wonderful. The gym was empty. But

this one woman showed up, and she reminds me of a woman

she reminded me of, I think her name is Deidra. It's Alex Honnold's

mom. She wrote the book, The Sharp End of Life. So this woman,

I think she was probably in her sixties. She climbed

every single route in that gym, and she

flew up those climbs. So I think that even putting

yourself out there and putting yourself in these spaces, you are going to

be surprised at the people who are also

showing up. Exactly. Like, it's all kinds of people. And I think my

biggest encouragement is just, like, to choose to belong

even if it feels a little awkward at first. If you're, like, new to it

and you don't know what you're doing, like, be willing to feel a little awkward,

a little out of place. It's okay to be new at something, and

just decide that you belong there. And then you're gonna that's when you'll really

open up to, like, how rock climbing can be really fun,

and it can help you feel stronger. It's like a fun way to, like, do

strength training and all of those things. In that regard,

I think, like, another great way is, like, joining an outdoor guided

experience, kind of like we do with our Joshua Tree climbing retreats

and other climbing retreats that we do because it's a safe place

to explore if you like climbing in a fun environment with a great

group of women. And then if you have friends you can enlist

on the learning journey with you too, like Kelly was mentioning

inviting her friend to the gym. That can be a fun way,

but, you know, there's all kinds of ways that you can get started

with rock climbing and seeing if it's for you and seeing if

you enjoy it. There's definitely safety considerations that you wanna

learn as you're rock climbing. But going to a gym, a lot of times they'll

start to introduce you to some of those safety concepts. And then if you wanna

take it outdoors, either joining a group of people that, like, you

know, are have those certifications that can teach you safely, or you

can start taking classes where you can learn some of those things.

So, Kelly, I don't know how you are in time. I think

you had mentioned that you needed to bounce. It's okay. I've

got some time. So I one point that I do wanna add

to what you were just saying about, like, showing up and

putting yourself out there is that your desires

for yourself can inspire others. Yeah. So

your efforts to create more adventure in

your life may have this ripple effect, whether it's on

your friends, your loved ones, friends that

you're making. It might be be something like you know, I'm in

a in a climbing desert. Where I'm at,

there's not outdoor places to climb unless I go 5 hours

away or indoor places. We just got a bouldering gym, so that's nice.

But, I know a lot of people that

did so many DIY projects, whether I mean, it was

just they made whatever they wanted to do work. I remember being

in college and knowing people that made bouldering gyms in

their garage or our little local outfitter,

our gear outfitter, they had they just

used a little basement space to make a tiny little

bouldering area for the serious climbers in town.

So whatever if you, like, stay committed and you stay

open to whatever that looks like, you know, putting a rank

wall in your garage or basement or having a little

finger crimps. One of those in Bakersfield. Yeah. One of

your finger crimps, you know, over a door that you just hang on, you

know, a few minutes every morning. That's just you know, showing up for

yourself is gonna have this ripple effect. And you may

be, you know, this titan in your community that

moves the needle forward for outdoor adventure for yourself and

others. So I think that's so true. I think it's so true.

And I think our students see that a lot, and I got this is what

I really encourage with community. Like, I think, like, if you

show up for yourself first and you, like, get out there,

then you will start noticing. You start to attract that community that you're

looking for and, like, being that example, because I think so many

people are too shy to go for it. And so, like, you stepping

into that kind of brings people out of, like, their shell and

wanting to try it too. So And what a beautiful life, right, to

share that with others. It's just taken me so many cool places. I could

talk about it forever. I know. We could talk forever,

literally. But I think this is a great place for us to wrap up

our very first hot topics in the backpacking badass

community, for this episode. Again, if

you enjoyed this style of episode, you like to hear us, like, have some

banter on some topics that are coming up in our community, what our

thoughts are around it, maybe this will be something that

we do more often as well. So definitely reach out, let us know, Instagram or

email or anything like that. But thank you,

everyone, for chiming into this episode. Thank you, Kelly, for

joining me in this conversation. Thank you so much for

having me. I can't wait to do this again. Yes. Definitely.

Alright, everyone. We'll talk next week and see you

soon. Bye. Hey. I

wanted to thank you real quick for tuning into the show and listening all the

way to the end. If you love this episode and you want deeper support

in becoming a safe, confident, and self sufficient hiker and backpacker, then

head over to shedreamsofalpine.com/waitless

to learn more about our backpacking badass coaching program, where I teach

you absolutely everything you need to know to be self reliant on the

trails and stop waiting around on others for the adventure

invite. So I'd love to help you more in your journey of stepping into

your adventurous identity, and that program is the

absolute best place for us to start working together. So, again,

that's she dreams of alpine.com/waitlist, and

you can learn all about it there. So that's it for today, folks. I

hope you get to spend some time outside this week, and I'll be back

very soon with a brand new episode. Bye.