blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Long-distance solo hiker Alison Young knows hard-core backpacking as few people do. With footprints on six continents and memories from trails like Te Araroa and the Pacific Crest, she is a member of a very small and prestigious group.
In a series of personal essays coupled with found sound and her own flute playing, this podcast explores her journey of self-discovery as a middle-aged woman, sharing the sometimes unglamorous but vital truth about empowerment, inspiring others to blaze their own trails in this journey we call life.
blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Te Araroa: Thanksgiving
The Blissful Hiker is back on New Zealand's Te Araroa thru-hike, "slackpacking" through Auckland then celebrating Thanksgiving with her Kiwi hosts, discovering she has a lot to be grateful for.
In this episode:
- "Slackpacking" means hiking on a thru-hike with only what's needed for the day, leaving overnight gear at a friend's where the hiker sleeps.
- Blissful hikes in rain and sunshine through parks, up blown out volcanoes, into museums and along busy roads.
- She learns about another hiker dying on the trail and considers how easy it is to make a dumb decision, wondering if risking everything to come on this hike was a good one.
- And at a Thanksgiving meal she realizes she feels gratitude for her decision, dumb or not.
MUSIC: Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
available on iTunes
