blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Long-distance backpacker Alison “Blissful Hiker” Young has logged more than 14,000 miles across six continents, tackling iconic routes such as New Zealand’s Te Araroa, Europe’s Pyrenean Haute Route, South Africa’s Drakensberg Traverse, Nepal’s Great Himalayan Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail in the United States.
An award-winning professional musician and syndicated American Public Media host, Alison approaches storytelling through a deeply attuned ear. Her series of intimate personal essays — coupled with field recordings gathered on trail — trace a path of self-discovery as a middle-aged, titanium-reinforced cancer thriver. They reveal the often unglamorous but essential truths of empowerment, inviting listeners to find the courage to blaze their own trails on the journey we call life.
blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Hiking While Old
On the Pyrenean Haute Route, an oafish American hiker questioned Blissful's ability to manage a route of this difficulty.
“Even YOU?” he asked, his lip curling in disdain. “I haven’t seen many old people hiking this.”
It shook her confidence, for sure, but here she was, backpacking while old.
We don’t tend to bounce back the way we did when we were younger.
That’s why we have to prioritize –
1:46 Rest
3:34 Nutrition
5:46 Exercise
– and in that order!
Blissful will give her first TEDx talk this October in Manchester, New Hampshire! The subject is "Stepping into the Unknown." Get tickets here.
MUSIC: Introduccion y Allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.
