About Me

I grew up climbing trees and swinging across brooks, spending my days outdoors from dawn til dusk. My first backpacking trip was with a group of friends in the South Downs when I was 17 (my first ‘bike packing’ trip was the year before) and I immediately fell in love with walking through the rolling hills under wide open skies. Since then, hiking has been an unwavering passion of mine.

I’ve always felt most at home in nature, and creating art has been a constant in my life. It’s no surprise these two passions have intertwined over the years. I studied fine art at Falmouth School of Art, and I returned to pursue a Master’s degree in the early 2000s. Since then the stunning landscape and rich natural history around me have deeply influenced my work.

Living in Cornwall, with its wild coastal scenery and ancient history, has been a profound source of inspiration, whether I’m making art or hiking on the South West Coast Path. There’s nothing like the turquoise of clear summer seas or the thrill of being battered by winter gales to make me feel alive!

In 2017 I decided to start this blog to share my experiences in an online journal. I wanted to explore how hiking helped me find joy and my place in the world, especially through periods of serious depression, which has been a constant struggle in my life. Writing about it helps me find clarity when life feels like stumbling around in a thick fog. Most importantly, I hoped to connect with like-minded people.

Since then the blog has been through various iterations until I discovered my true purpose: helping other women hike solo. Many women feel apprehensive about being alone in the outdoors and I want to alleviate that anxiety through candid and honest articles and practical guides. I share not only the freedom and joy I feel that inspire me and help me cope with depression but also the methods I use to manage my own anxieties. The independence you gain when you overcome challenges on your own builds resilience and self-confidence, positively impacting all areas of life.

I can’t express the elation I feel when someone tells me that a guide or article I’ve written has inspired them to take on an adventure; when it’s a woman, my heart soars!