PODCAST EPISODE: Stress Inoculation & Arctic Exploration
Last week, I had the pleasure of being hosted by Alastair Green, also known as The Outdoorsy Educator. I had never done a podcast interview before, so I was a bit nervous going in, but I felt truly honored to be invited. Alastair is passionate about hiking and found me because of my experience hiking the 1800-mile Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand. While that’s how he discovered me, he was even more interested in talking about my previous career, which took me to places like Guam and Greenland and pushed me to my limits around the world. We talked about how the challenges I faced during my travels and military service helped me learn to manage stress in a healthy way, which gave us an opportunity to discuss a concept that I think is extremely valuable for both an outdoorsy adventurer and an office professional alike: stress inoculation.
Stress inoculation is such a valuable practice. To place yourself in situations that are not dire, but push you to feel the burden, the pressure, of having to think critically and efficiently in an uncomfortable situation. The outdoors can give plenty of those (and as Alastair will share with us, sometimes a smidge too much discomfort to the point of danger). Yet, those lived experiences also provide us with an opportunity to relax into other situations that would otherwise have us paralyzed... because you know, you can do worse.
Of course, this is just one part of our 48-minute conversation. We also talked about access to the outdoors, the challenges of making it more accessible, but also how people’s perceptions of what it means to get outdoors can get in the way of their experience. We dive into how people can rethink what “adventure” means and what it means to be an outdoorsy person, especially in a world that often puts thru-hikers and mountaineers on a pedestal.
I’m extremely proud to have been brave enough to step into the world of podcasting for the first time and share a little bit about my life journey, some of those crazy adventures, and some lessons learned in the outdoor recreation industry I’m so passionate about.
You can listen here, or on your Spotify app now.
OR if it is better access for you, the transcript if provided for you below.
And don’t forget to visit @theoutdoorsyeducator on Instagram for future episodes—and hopefully, I’ll be back again soon.
