blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Long-distance backpacker Alison “Blissful Hiker” Young has logged more than 14,000 miles across six continents, tackling iconic routes such as New Zealand’s Te Araroa, Europe’s Pyrenean Haute Route, South Africa’s Drakensberg Traverse, Nepal’s Great Himalayan Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail in the United States.
An award-winning professional musician and syndicated American Public Media host, Alison approaches storytelling through a deeply attuned ear. Her series of intimate personal essays — coupled with field recordings gathered on trail — trace a path of self-discovery as a middle-aged, titanium-reinforced cancer thriver. They reveal the often unglamorous but essential truths of empowerment, inviting listeners to find the courage to blaze their own trails on the journey we call life.
blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Life is Wide
Blissful's Great-grandma Emma used to say, "Life may be short, but it’s also wide."
- It’s a shift in perspective – from focusing on limitations to exploring possibilities, from dwelling on obstacles to finding creative detours.
- It would take walking the entire length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa for her to understand what Emma was talking about.
- The first lesson came in taking the risk to just go and do this thing – even in middle age –leaning into the unknown.
- Risk taking is good for us not because it promises a perfect life, but because it widens the journey ahead of us.
MUSIC: "Poema del Pastor Coya" by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.
