For every woman who has ever been called outdoorsy comes a collection of stories that inspires unforgettable adventure. Beautiful, empowering, and exhilarating, She Explores is a spirited celebration of female bravery and courage, and an inspirational companion for any woman who wants to travel the world on her own terms. Combining breathtaking travel photography with compelling personal narratives, She Explores shares the stories of 40 diverse women on unforgettable journeys in nature: women who live out of vans, trucks, and vintage trailers, hiking the wild, cooking meals over campfires, and sleeping under the stars. Women biking through the countryside, embarking on a road trip, or backpacking through the outdoors with their young children in tow. Complementing the narratives are practical tips and advice for women planning their own trips, including:  • Preparing for a solo hike • Must-haves for a road-trip kitchen • Planning ahead for unknown territory • Telling your own story A visually stunning and emotionally satisfying collection for any woman craving new landscapes and adventure. Beautiful, empowering, and exhilarating, She Explores will inspire even the most outdoor-averse woman to connect with the landscape, take a leap of faith, and find her community. Gale Straub is the founder of She Explores, a media platform for curious, creative women who love travel and outdoor adventure. She lives in New Hampshire. She Explores: Stories of Life-Changing Adventures on the Road And in the Wild By Gale Straub Chronicle Books LLC Copyright © 2019 Gale Straub All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4521-6766-4 Contents Beginnings, 15, Enthusiasts, 25, Creatives, 57, Founders and Professionals, 91, The Simplest Tools, 138, Transplants, 173, Advocates, 199, Thanks, 237, Contributors, 238, Credits, 239, CHAPTER 1 Beginnings Who do you picture when you think of an outdoorswoman? What clothes does she wear? What vehicle does she drive? Does she live in it? Does she pull a tent out of the back, arranging it under the stars? MAYBE SHE'S A REALIST, MAYBE SHE'S A dreamer. Maybe she's an artist and the varying landscapes she crosses inspire creativity within her. Or maybe the changing landscapes are overwhelming at times. She wants to slow down and stay awhile. Perhaps she has a family. She's a mother, orienting her children to the world so they can figure out how to orient themselves on their own one day. Or her children are all grown up, their compasses set. Her time is suddenly all her own. She's a biologist, a wilderness ranger, a computer programmer. She's grieving: a loved one, a relationship, a piece of herself. Maybe she's working tirelessly to share the stories of others. Or perhaps she's articulating her own. When you imagine this woman, do you see yourself in her? The outdoors is so special because it does not cultivate an archetype for the outdoorswoman. And while society is always tempted to shape us in its image, to create an "ideal" way to look and love and be, on cur best days, when we're out there alone in nature, we get the opportunity to define ourselves. Do you see all the possibilities for your own life? I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire. My earliest outdoor memories include digging up potatoes in my dad's garden and tromping through the woods with my twin sister and older brother. We didn't travel a whole lot, but my dad took us on winding drives through our small state. We were encouraged to peek over stone walls and take the back roads home. My mother is an artist. She turns her interior world inside out by experimenting with new mediums: textiles, pastels, watercolor, pen and ink. My parents instilled in me a quiet curiosity and I'm grateful for that. In college, I wouldn't have identified as an outdoorswoman, even as I spent weekends hiking in the White Mountains and found solace on long winter walks through the city streets of Boston. I had no sense of who I was or what I wanted from work or relationships, but the time I spent in motion, in open air — that's when I felt most at ease with myself. The pleasure I took from spending time outside was magnified by a deep appreciation for its beauty. Using my dad's old 35 mm Pentax camera, I began taking photographs on those long walks and watching them come to life in the campus darkroom. I graduated from college in 2008, a turbulent time in the American economy. Aimlessly armed with a psychology degree, I applied to grad school for a crash course in accounting and finance. From there I spent several years working at a "Big Four" accounting firm and then a venture capital firm in Boston. I enjoyed the stability of this work and the direction that came with it. I love problem solving, and accounting has it in spades. In my free time, I continued to hike New Hampshire's worn trails. I escaped to Maine to swim in its clear, deep lakes And almost every night I wandered my neighborhood with a