Welcome! My name is Nikki, I live in the beautiful state of Arizona. For those who live outside of a desert state, the word “Arizona” often conjures up images of dry, desolate, desert landscapes; mangy coyotes pursuing nimble roadrunners around piles of dynamite while Prius-sized tumbleweeds roll lazily past ancient saguaros. At least this is what I pictured when I packed up my car and drove the 11 hours from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2014 to my new home in the Grand Canyon State.
Turns out I was right. Well, partially right. There are plenty of coyote and roadrunners, tumbleweeds and dry, desolate desert to be found in this state. What I didn’t expect, however, were the candy-colored sunsets, the flowing rivers, the wild horses, the red rocks of Sedona and the shady pines of the northern part of the state. The topography is anything but flat and while the beauty is different from the high elevation wonders of the Rocky Mountains, for example, spend some time exploring this state with a local outdoor-enthusiast and you will see why so many of us love it here.
I am a physical therapist by trade and a relative newbie in the outdoor world. I grew up riding horses, camping inside cabins and trailers and riding four wheelers around the Sierras but it wasn’t until I was in my early 30s and living in Arizona that I began to really appreciate the wonders of the outdoors by exploring it in new ways. My entire life I have always wished I was more athletic than the universe and my genetics have made me. I’ve never been very strong, very fast, had a ton of endurance or played any real sports.
In my 20s I took up running just to prove I could evolve beyond the back-of-the-pack high school mile runner gasping for breath and holding back tears of confusion as to why it was always so hard for me. I wanted to be better but it wasn’t in the cards. With consistent training, however, I did evolve. Never to the front of the pack, often not in the middle, but I began to experience movement in a way that made me feel strong and proud of what my body could do. Working out and running on and off throughout my 20s was a way I stayed in shape, managed stress and paid occasional tribute to the little girl inside of me that still wished she could be a very talented athlete like the people she admired.
In my 30s, life took some turns. I found myself single and still waiting for “my person” to come into my life and give me the opportunity to go on all of the adventures I saw my family, friends, and perfect strangers enjoying all of these years. But we don’t always get what we want in life and I realized that I would have to start going on some of these adventures on my own or life would just continue to pass me by.
So I started. I joined group hikes through Meetup, I found a friend who wanted to train to hike the Grand Canyon, I joined a local trail running group (shout out to Aravaipa Running!) and met some of my most fun, adventurous, closest friends. I went on solo hikes, I kayaked lakes and rivers, I camped, I backpacked, I learned how to paddle board. I bought a beginner mountain bike that I still mostly ride on paved pathways and I found myself in the outdoors.
I am far from an expert in the outdoors. I am not the fastest and need to take breaks. I hate exposed scrambles and love to lie in a hammock under some trees. I get scared when I sleep in a tent by myself and listen to too many true crime podcasts. Chronic illness over the last 3 years has changed the way I engage with the outdoors and I’d be lying if I said I had come fully to terms with those changes but the outdoors still nourish my soul.
I have been working as a freelance writer on physical therapy topics for the last 2.5 years and it has allowed me to cut back on direct patient care. Because it is my area of expertise the writing comes fairly easily but my heart wants to write about the outdoors. I am a learner in the outdoors, like many of you are, and while it might take some time to prove I have a place in the outdoor industry, like any big mountain, you climb it one step at a time.
This blog is meant as a training ground and playground for my outdoor writing interests. You will probably learn more about me as time goes on and hopefully learn a lot about the outdoors and what it means to recreate safely, responsibly and enjoyably in the beautiful landscapes around us!
Grab your packs! Let’s go!
Evolving Adventurer 