Lately i’ve been settling in to some semblance of a routine. Which of course, is strange that knowing come May with the start of the summer season and guiding, I’ll be pretty much blowing that routine to shreds.
Still, I can’t complain. Spending winters writing and doing freelance work and summers guiding is sort of the dream.
Here’s a list of things I did this week as an outdoor freelance writer/photographer:
Last week on Friday I blew off work to go with some friends to Wisconsin! They were all re-certifying their Wilderness First Responder and I didn’t need to, so I spent my time exploring some of my favorite Northwoods Waterfalls. As a whole, I think Wisconsin is really underrated, and I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time exploring here this spring and summer. (Want to come with me? Join me on a Women’s Guided Climbing trip June 8th & 9th at Interstate State Park. Small group and beginner-friendly, email me for more details!)
After spending the weekend having fun and exploring, I came home to an unrealistically long to-do list, and spent basically all of the rest of the week inside, watching it be beautiful outside from my window. (I know, real rough life). Still, I think people sometimes get the idea that a lot of the job of “outdoor writer/photographer” ect is being outside and playing all the time. Realistically, I work about 30 hours in front of the computer and 20 outside shooting photos, researching, or “playing” for work a week. It’s perfect for me, but it definitely isn’t just the fun stuff.
I had an essay from this newsletter republished in Paddling Magazine! (Read it here!) You might know that I graduated college with a BS in Neuroscience, then panic quit the real world to follow my dream of being a writer and outdoor guide. That was six years ago. In the meantime, I’ve spent the last six years working odd jobs— everything from teaching English in Armenia to outdoor retail— all while writing on the side. It’s taken six years of finishing work every night and sitting down to write or edit photos or build my website, but I’m finally in a place where I’m doing this full time1. Most of the time I feel like I’m kind of faking it, like the opportunities that I’ve had are an accident or a mistake. Then there are moments like this, where my little newsletter gets picked up by someone bigger. it feels fantastic.
(Did the comments on that essay, which I am just now reading late on Saturday, destroy me a little bit? Why, yes, yes they did. Sometimes I think I probably don’t have thick enough skin to make it as a real writer. Actually, more often than not I think that. Still, it is not good feminism to act as though women and the way we treat each other is beyond reproach. It is not inherently harmful to talk about the harm women can and do perpetuate. If women in the outdoors refuse to be critiqued, as if all critique is inherently sexist especially on topics such as making the outdoors a more welcoming place, then we need to really examine who it is exactly we aren’t critiquing, and who it is that is hurt and excluded by these women becoming irreproachable. If the majority of the women in the outdoors are white, particularly at high levels, and the majority of the women often explicitly or implicitly excluded are women of color, well… a feminism that looks like this is not my feminism, and I’m actually quite happy to interrogate it and occasionally get ripped to shreds in a comments section).
I turned 28 this week! I resolved to wear sunscreen every day. I’ve made my peace with that I no longer get carded at the liquor store. It’s okay that I don’t look 20 anymore.
I’ve been filling out my summer calendar. Can you believe it’s only a month and a half till May? My life is pretty quiet in April, but I’ve got a pretty intense summer adventure schedule between trips I’m guiding and work trips!
I did a practice pack for a backpacking trip I’ll be on this time next week. I’ve never flown anywhere to go backpacking before, and I’m visiting a place I’ve never been before and I’m so excited!
As I was filling out my summer travel plans with another backpacking trip (Porcupine Mountains!!) I had an I can’t believe I get to do this moment. I am so, wildly lucky to get to play outside for work, even when I do have weeks that are long hours in front of the computer like this week. I worked really, really hard to be able to create a job like this, but I definitely could not have done it at all without a supportive family that I knew I could always fall back on.
my biggest project this week was writing articles and outdoor resources for Hello Stranger Blog, the part of this newsletter where all my outdoor guides live (and how a lot of you ended up here to begin with!). Updates have been slower going than usual, but my guide to planning your BWCA trip is live!
I got a fun package from Enlightened Equipment, a Minnesota-based outdoor gear brand! These guys sew ultralight sleeping quilts, jackets, and more. Enlightened Equipment sent me a Covert Sleeping Quilt to test out this spring (in my favorite color!)
I finalized details on a project for the end of the month, content planned for social media and recorded audio, ironed out more details for a potential fall canoe group trip, i ate half a bag of chocolate chips in one sitting, I put off updating blog links for the third (at least) week in a row because I would much rather write new articles than maintain old ones, I cooked dinner and burnt it, I frogged (unraveled) the top half of a sweater I’m knitting for a second time because the neckline keeps coming out weird. I daydreamed about visiting my best friend in Germany. I read some comments of people willfully misinterpreting my writing and let it ruin my day. I went for a walk, or started to, then turned around because it was too cold. Can’t win them all; I definitely don’t.
I started spring cleaning! For me, part of spring cleaning is wrapping up my handknits shop for the year. I’ll have one more restock in April of crochet totes & bags, but in the meantime, take 40% off my entire knits shop.
trail guides & outdoor resources from lately:
A huge part of my job, in no small part thanks to paying subscribers of Hello Stranger, is creating detailed free trail guides and outdoor resources! These resources are reader-funded through affiliate link sales, ebooks, and subscribers.
Check out the 10 Best Backpacking Trips in the Midwest
You *might* know that I’m a little bit of a kayaker! Check out the best adventure kayaking destinations near Seattle
Visit one of the best state parks in the Midwest for hikers
Planning a Washington Road Trip this summer? Check out this 7-day Washington Road Trip guide beginning and ending at the SeaTac Airport.
my biggest piece of advice if you’re looking to work as a freelancer in the outdoors is to start writing now. Even if you feel like what you’re writing is garbage, actually even better if it’s garbage, you’ll learn faster. Just start a blog and write and experiment and read and shoot your shot over and over and over again. Take chances on trips and odd jobs and write about them and take pictures. All of the most successful people I’ve met just started, and put their whole selves into it and took chances.
Great update Maddy summer is just around the corner!