About

the outdoorista, noun: an outdoor adventurer who likes to play hard and look good

How it started

I was born at the beach, but the mountains held my heart at a young age.

I was raised in Manhattan Beach, California. I should have grown up surfing and playing beach volleyball, but instead, I longed to ski. My snowboarding addiction wasn’t a surprise for my family, who put me on skis at age 3. But the need to reorganize my life around it was. Growing up, we took family ski vacations with my grandfather, who was borderline insane – for skiing – and all things he did as a former WWII pilot.

I graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder Journalism School with 100 days of skiing under my belt. Armed with a degree, a large amount of uncertainty for my next step in life, and an insatiable sense of wanderlust, I packed a bag and a one-way ticket, solo, to Australia.

I had caught the travel bug. Throughout my childhood, our family traveled throughout the US and across the globe. But as a 22 year old solo female traveler, things hit differently. I started writing about my travels, from hitchhiking through Australia, to hopping trains and visiting temples across Southeast Asia, to buying a cheap car and road tripping through New Zealand, where I eventually settled for two winters.

New Zealand captured by heart through its spectacular beauty and Asia for its food and culture. I prefer to take the slow route, driving through every corner of the country or taking the train to watch the landscape change. After spending a couple winters in New Zealand as a ski bum, I didn’t want to leave, but the skiing was better in Colorado. Eventually, I moved back to the US and fell in love with the beauty and community of the Vail Valley. It’s in these mountains that I met my husband, planted roots, and started a family.

How it’s going

I love to chase powder days, pedal for miles on my mountain bike, get lost in the woods, explore the open road in a van (current edition: Storyteller Overland), travel through foreign countries, wander through art galleries, eat my way through new cities, and get off the beaten path with my husband, our two young boys, and a sweet husky mix pup.

While I found a place to call home, I never lost my sense of adventure. I’ve continued to travel around the states and the world, checking off dozens of countries on every continent (other than Antartica). From luxury travel at 5 star resorts to living out of a backpack or roadtripping on a shoestring budget, I’ve done it all. What matters most is experiencing a destination and immersing yourself in a place, transitioning from tourist to traveler.

As a couple, we love collecting stamps in our passports and heading in our van to ride bikes or climb mountain peaks. When our family grew, we were determined to keep adventuring, but we knew it would look different. Harder? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. One day our boys will be riding and skiing right along with us, but right now we’re instilling our passion for outdoor play and keeping our adventures within roadtrip distance.

To continue to fund my family adventures, I work with businesses as a multi-use marketing tool to write and design content. Looking for branded content or marketing materials? Let’s partner. Need copywriting, editorial, or social media content? I got you covered. Check out my full portfolio here.