How a sex trafficking survivor finds healing in the wild
Jenna McKaye, a sex trafficking survivor, finds mental healing and pain relief through backpacking and wilderness therapy.
Adventurers
Winging it on the Sunshine Coast Trail
I furiously slung my poles on the ground and unshouldered my bag. It flopped dejectedly. Cold mist steamed up my glasses as I sat and cried bitterly on an uncomfortable,…
The Magic of Small Places
I glanced toward the channel we’d just left. A solitary blue boat, a tiny body in a faded blue lifejacket, glided toward us. It was Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin.
In the Shoes of a Woman–Fear and Freedom on the Trail
It is eight o’clock on an August evening, and it is too hot. The air hangs tired and damp from my skin. Sweat trickles and stings my eye despite the…
No Trail Angel
I merged into the streams of rush hour traffic on a Friday, wondering whether I should have Google Mapped the trailhead when I agreed to provide a shuttle so that…
From Sydney to Mt. Vinson
At the end of 2019, I bid farewell to my parents, embarking on a month-long solo trip to Nepal. Little did I know that this trip would determine what I…
Roam: Learning your power
“A girl like you isn’t built for that.” Because I felt I wasn’t built for experiencing- I was meant to blend in, hide along the sidelines, I didn't dream of…
A Backcountry Morning
"Adventures look acutely different than they used to, BC (before children), but they are getting so much easier."
One Woman’s Alien Sneeze is Another’s Backcountry Accessory
“That thing looks like an alien sneeze,” my friend Anna said to me at the end of a river trip. “It’s disgusting.” The “alien sneeze” is a once-lime green tutu…
Hiking the Via Alpina
The boots: seams fraying, insoles permanently stinky, and every square inch of the outside covered in cow poo, goat muck and sheep s$%t – yup it was time to trade…