Adventurers, I am closing one chapter in my story and starting another one. Goodbye Portland and Hello Boston! Who knows where life will throw me next and as we all have learned (I hope!), life is what happens while you’re making plans. Key takeaway: be adaptable!

The best and sometimes worst thing about traveling is you must take yourself wherever you go. You recent joys and heartaches, your fears and your goals, your idiosyncrasies and your habits. Even traveling alone you are not completely alone, and there is solace in that; knowing that you can be your own best friend and companion is a powerful realization.

With the winter season coming I knew that I wanted to find a way to play in the snow without breaking the budget while still participating in something that could turn into a new hobby! Thus, enter Nordic (aka cross country) skiing!

South Sister summit: 10,358 ft

Hike: 13 miles out and back, 7am to 3pm

My Ohana. The volcanic island chain in the middle of the Pacific rises seemingly out of endless blue and the islands are completely covered in lush, green vegetation. The massive valleys carved into the islands made it look almost as if the land was flowing from the peaks to the seas.

The city of Eugene holds many things but none more important and iconic than University of Oregon’s campus, including Hayward Field and Autzen Stadium. I went to go check it out because if you’re going to live in Oregon you better know your Duck stuff!

National Parks Road Trip! My best friend graduated college in May of 2021, and for being best friends for life we had never gone on vacation together so we decided to change that with this last chance summer pre real world life.

For me, the adventure is made by the people you share it with. Sure, hiking the Inca Trail and visiting Machu Picchu can be incredible no matter who you may visit with but being surrounded by a truly exceptional group of humans just exponentially increases your joy and gratitude.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder and with this total lack of ability to travel it has definitely intensified my desire to travel to literally everywhere. So ask yourself, is there a place that began popping up like an intrusive thought as soon as lockdown hit? Do you finally have the drive to book that flight to that obscure place you’ve always wanted to go to?

Since it was Alaska in the summer the sun only set for about two hours each night and even then the rays were still visible so it was never completely dark. The crew and passengers used this to their advantage participating in all of the activities possible. Each day there would be an itinerary based off of where we were and the weather. You could choose between a skiff tour, bushwhacking, kayaking, paddle boarding, and free float time.

I underestimated the excitement and beauty of seeing an animal in its natural habitat. I’ve watched Planet Earth and been to a zoo so I thought I was prepared but when an elephant would magically appear out of nowhere it was thrilling!

The climbing community is the most supportive community I’ve been a part of so I wasn’t worried about being judged on my ability level but I did worry about whether I was still going to enjoy it as much. Taking such a big break from something and not having people you can do it with made me question whether it was something I really wanted to invest time and money into.

It is a privilege to choose not to have written about it and this isn’t to say it’s going to become the sole focus of my blog but as social justice is/will be my life’s work I must include it. I would be remiss if I pretended that I didn’t need to post about it and that my adventurers wouldn’t benefit from a post about it.

Introducing kiddos to camping! The outdoors is for everyone and I am a believer in sharing what you love with those you love.

I didn’t think I’d feel as sentimental as I do about my Birks until their replacement came. These new ones are not yet molded to my feet and have only been to Connecticut so they pale in comparison to their predecessor. I guess I never realized how much memory is carried within those shoes and just how many moments of my life they were a part of.

Hey Adventurers! Crazy to think but it’s been one year since I started this Open Atlas venture! I want to say thank you to everyone who reads my posts for encouraging me to stoke this fire. I am excited to say that Open Atlas is getting some much needed changes to propel this adventure ever forward! I now officially have openatlasblog.com where you can visit my site and I have ideas that I can’t wait to share with you.

Hey Adventurers! I hope you're all safe and well wherever you are in the world. As I sit at home with my family I've been planning a lot. While I absolutely love spontaneity and am the first one to throw out a wild idea, in all of this uncertainty I have been trying to give myself something to look forward to. I have been doing a lot of trip research.

Hiking in Eno was restorative for me. I was able to just exist in the woods and move my body. When people hear of someone like me going on a solo-venture they tend to immediately write it off as a bad idea where I'm not considering my own safety. Sadly, we do live in a world where identifying as a woman means you have to make sure no one will attack you rather than trusting in the good of humanity but that doesn't mean we should never adventure alone. Safety should be everyone's priority when going on a solo-venture since you are on your own if an event happens. Below I laid out the main things I make sure to do to minimize risk when I decide to go on an adventure alone.

We all think of China, and Asia more broadly, as a very paternalistic culture where men are the doers and thinkers in society. It was further cemented in our minds with the implementation of something known colloquially as the "One Child Policy" where female infants were put up for adoption or abandoned or killed until a boy was born. This preference of boys is generally still the case however we got to talk to and visit the home of a matrilineal maternal minority culture. The Mosou people have lived around Lugu Lake for centuries and we were incredibly lucky to be the first Americans that were ever taken into this families' home.

FAQ! Everything you ever wanted to know, maybe…