EPISODE 1: ADVENTURE MAMASShanti interviews the founders of an awesome new mama organization called Adventure Mamas that’s dedicated to helping women “redefine motherhood”. Interviewees are Stephanie Feller and Justine Nobbe Check out their website here.
Adventure Mama’s Mission:
Adventure Mamas Initiative is a non-profit organization that is redefining motherhood. We are enhancing women’s health by facilitating adventure, building community, and providing educational and inspirational resources to our diverse community.
AMI is built off the premise that there is immense healing, growth, and transformation that takes place when we pursue challenge and adventure. We believe that spending time in wild places is more than a selfish luxury, it should be available to all. That is why we offer programs and resources to diverse women from diverse backgrounds, situations, and cultures including teen moms, mamas of children who have special and unique needs, survivors of domestic abuse, and more.
In this episode Shanti talks with world class climber Beth Rodden about how life has changed since having her son, Theo and the challenges of healing and getting back out climbing and adventuring postpartum.
ABOUT BETH
Beth Rodden has been one of the most prominent climbers in the world for two decades. After several years competing around the globe, she transitioned into climbing outside. With notable first ascent sport climbs and traditional climbs, she’s established herself as one of the most well rounded climbers out there. Her past few years have had less energy spent on hard climbing and more energy on her young son, Theo. The mountains and natural environment have given her so much, she’s doing her best to expose him to those things.”
In this episode Shanti Hodges hangs out with Annie Maxine, Hike it Baby Branch Ambassador from Ann Arbor, Michigan. They find the only quiet space at a 2-day Facebook Communities Summit, the floor of the nursing bathroom, to talk about how Annie found Hike it Baby and what the community has done for her. Annie opens up about her personal challenge of being the child of an addict parent, and then discovering she was unexpectedly pregnant while homeless in her late 20s.
ABOUT ANNIE
Annie manages the Hike it Baby Ann Arbor branch, but also manages the 330+ Facebook pages and helps watch pages that are working and not. She has also worked with Michigan State Parks to get Hike it Baby more connected with the state parks.
In this episode Shanti Hodges talks to nurse and climber Rachael Farmer about her climbing family. She and her husband Zak are raising Ellie, an almost 4 year old who is such an advanced climber that she appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show when she was 1.5 climbing. This is “that” baby who climbed before she walked.
ABOUT THE FARMERS
The Farmer’s are veterans of the outdoor industry. They are avid rock climbers that travel often and are in constant search of adventure. There three-year-old daughter has been raised in nature and participates in the family activities of climbing on rocks and exploring new trails. They spent the year on the road with Rachael working as a traveling Neonatal ICU nurse. Recently they settled down in Bend, OR. In their free time, they vagabond to remote areas and explore the natural wonders of planet earth.
Follow them on www.littlezenmonkey.com
Instagram: @zenmonkey
In this episode Shanti Hodges talks to writer and nature enthusiast Florence Williams about her new book The Nature Fix. The Nature Fix details the science of the restorative and healthy benefits of time spent outdoors. Her insights and investigations provide all the reasons we need to get up and get our outdoor fix.
ABOUT THE FLORENCE WILLIAMS
Florence Williams is a contributing editor at Outside Magazine and a freelance writer for the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, The New York Review of Books, Slate, Mother Jones, High Country News, O-Oprah, W., Bicycling and numerous other publications. She is also the writer and host of the new Audible Original series, Breasts Unbound. In her new book The Nature Fix, Florence “investigates the science at the confluence of environment, mood, health, and creativity. Delving into completely new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and ultimately strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.”
In this episode Shanti Hodges talks to Bekah Quirin who is hiking the entire Appalachian Trail with her husband and 16 month old daughter. Bekah is a Hike it Baby Ambassador from Roanoke, VA and her family set out in the late spring to hike the trail. They thought the adventure would take them at least 8 months, but they are making more progress than they ever thought possible and are just a few weeks away from finishing up their epic journey. While their daughter is more or less the youngest “thru-hiker” ever on the AT, technically she isn’t thru-hiking because she is being carried. Bekah tells us how Ellie is doing on the trail and what adventures they hope to take on after this epic journey is over.
ABOUT THE QUIRIN FAMILY
Ellie, Derrick, and Bekah are starting our 2,185 mile flip-flop hike in March 2017 starting and ending in their home state, Virginia. We have dreamed of this trip for years, and never imagined taking a 12 month old baby with us! She will make AT history and will be the youngest person on record to complete the trail with mom and dad.
We’ll post pre-trip preparations and updated stories and pictures once we hit the trail, but no promises how frequent those may be as electronic usage will be minimal! We hope you enjoy following our story..
Check out some of the brands helping out the Quirin Family on their journey
www.mountainhouse.com
www.deuter.com
Have you ever thought you should go outside on a bad day but couldn’t find the motivation? Join Shanti Hodges in finding the answer with Linda McGurk the author of an upcoming book “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids.” Linda shares her secrets and talk about gear and how Scandinavian culture differs from American when it comes to getting outside with kids. Learn cool new words like Friluftsliv, which translates to “open air life”.
ABOUT LINDA
I’m a journalist and photographer who grew up in Sweden, approximately on the same latitude as the Gulf of Alaska. When I spend time in nature with my two young daughters, I’m also known as a worm-digger, frog catcher, splinter remover, tree identifier, mud cleaner-upper, tent raiser, band aid provider, and fire builder-in-chief.
http://rainorshinemamma.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rainshinemamma
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rainorshinemamma/
Shannon Martinez is not your everyday average Hike it Baby mom. First of all she is a mother of seven with children ranging from 2 years old to 21 years old. Second of all she has never actually formally hiked with a Hike it Baby group, but considers herself an active member because she participates in the Hike it Baby 30 and is involved in the Facebook groups located about an hour from her. Lastly she has a crazy backstory as a former Neo-Nazi skinhead who participated in hate crimes, which has led her to speaking at the UN and forming a nonprofit called Freeradicals.org that helps people come to terms with their extremist past and move on. One of the ways she encourages people to move on from hate is to find community. But she also preaches that parents who find groups like Hike it Baby and engage early on with their children in nature, are less likely to raise children who head down the path toward extremism. Learn more about her story and how a group like Hike it Baby could be the solution for helping our planet heal and move toward raising more resilient children.
ABOUT SHANNON
In her youth, Shannon was a neo-Nazi, white-power skinhead. Long reformed, she now works with Christian Picciolini, a cofounder of Life After Hate and ExitUSA, and author of White American Youth: My Descent into America’s Most Violent Hate Movement—and How I Got Out, in educating communities about violent far-right extremism, as well as helping those who want to disengage from hate movements.
https://www.shannonmartinezspeaks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldmillgroup