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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.
154 Episodes
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Send us a text “It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” —Charles Dickens Part four in the series takes us on a late-winter hike through Lake Maria State Park, a meditation on seasonal transition and the quiet resilience of a landscape poised between winter’s hold and spring’s emergence. 1. Late February in Minnesota is often a slippery in-between. 2. Sun, sleet, and shadow trade places on glacial...
Send us a text "Fall is audacious, even if it marks an ending, a last celebration as everything prepares for the long winter, and the Sioux quartzite escarpment that makes up Blue Mounds, bear witness." Part three in the series brings us to far, Southwestern Minnesota for a day of rock climbing at Blue Mounds State Park. The day unfolds as a contemplative journey through ancient rock, shifting seasons, and the resilient rhythms of prairie life. 1. A mile-long wall of Sioux quartzite rises nea...
Send us a text “Portage” means carrying a boat and its cargo between navigable waters. Thick forests once made overland travel in Minnesota and lands north slow and punishing, so lakes and rivers served as superhighways of the north. But moving from one lake to the next required hauling everything, canoes included... Part two in the series takes us on a short hike in Grand Portage State Park revealing the forces that shaped the land as well as the enduring human respect for that land which ha...
Send us a text “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” —Margaret Atwood Part one in the series highlights a night of near-solitude at Lake Itasca State Park. The moment is a reflection on spring’s renewal and the fragile, hard-won legacy of preservation that allows this landscape to remain alive and vibrant today. 1. Camping alone at Floating Bog Bay amid the rich smell of earth, Alison listens as frogs, birds, and insects erupt in raucous celebration. 2. The episo...
Send us a text “The goal of life … is not happiness, peace, or fulfillment, but aliveness.” —Hubert Dreyfuss 1. Sometimes curiosity about what’s around the next corner is enough to keep us exploring and moving forward. 2. Life doesn’t end once you’ve done “enough.” It keeps unfolding. 3. I hike because I am curious and because I can. 4. Here's a mantra I'll take with me on my next hike of the Great Divide Trail: You’re not hiking for records, for ego, or for others. You’re hiking ...
Send us a text "You can think your way into a new way of acting, or act your way into a new way of thinking." Sometimes we can’t wait for the right mindset to show up. Sometimes we have to step into the behavior first, and trust that the mindset will follow. Credit is due James Loehr the author of "Mental Toughness Training for Athletes." He says we tend to reside in three energy states: 1. Relaxed-Ready, 2. Positive-Energized, 3. Negative-Energized 4. and the ...
Send us a text The trail—like life—may not always be what we want it to be, but it offers us the opportunity to choose how we respond to whatever it doles out. In the hiking world we have a saying, "Embrace the Suck!" It's a reminder that the trail doesn't care what we want it to be and is not there simply to meet our expectations. But we always have a choice to accept what is and manage it with faith that things will eventually change for the better. A good mantra that emphasi...
Send us a text Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between is a great mindset when planning a major thru-hike – or any major life endeavor. Blissful is planning a thru-hike of the Great Divide Trail, a rugged and remote route that winds through the Canadian Rockies, tracing the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia. In getting ready, the best mantra is from Maya Angelou, “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by...
Send us a text I didn’t expect much when someone asked to closely examine my deformed fingers—but the moment ended up teaching me about what truly matters – and what doesn’t. I may be a Blissful Hiker, but my body is twisted and deformed from severe osteoarthritis.I’ve learned to ignore their appearance and carry on with life, focusing on what they can do rather than how they look.When someone asked to inspect then comment on my fingers, I realized not only was it impolite and uncalled for be...
Send us a text Let the Day Unfold! Let its gentle voice guide you toward unexpected surprises and open your heart to the lessons it holds. The lowly New Zealand sandfly teaches us about impermanence, to keep moving forward and to stay open to possibility.Letting the Day Unfold is a refreshing counterpoint to the classic carpe diem mindset. Rather than gripping the day tightly and trying to control every moment, this phrase invites us to ease our grip, to stay present, receptive, and read...
Send us a text 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...
Send us a text When everything goes sideways and you’re having a bad day, repeat the mantra to not quit today but instead give yourself the self-love, the break, the reset to get back on track. We have a saying in the hiker community, "Never Quit on a Bad Day." It’s a reminder that it’s a good idea to hold off on making major decisions when things get tough and instead give yourself space to get some perspective. On day 100 of the Te Araroa, New Zealand's long trail, Blissful Hiker hi...
Send us a text Walking through woodland ephemerals in early spring reminds us to embrace impermanence and stay present in the here and now. We have a saying in the hiker community, “Be Where Your Feet Are.” It’s all about staying present in the moment and not dwelling too much on the past or worrying about the future. To “be where your feet are” quite literally encourages us to stay grounded. On an early spring hike through woodland wildflowers, Blissful Hiker considers th...
Send us a text Hiking has a way of making us more resilient, not so much manifested as strength and persistence, but in developing trust and embracing the unknown. We have a saying in the hiker community, “The Trail Will Provide.” It signifies the aid and assistance hikers encounter on trail, encouraging trust and faith that things will work out. On a section hike of the Continental Divide Trail, Blissful encounters a miracle and realizes that allowing the trail to provide is part of ...
Send us a text On October 10, Blissful gave her first TEDx talk, “How do you find your bliss? Take the long trail!” Blissful shares the loss of her flute career due to a neurological disorder called dystonia. It was on trail that she began to heal – and her greatest teacher on learning to live with her loss and move forward into the unknown. Blissful's talk is about resilience in spite of life's inexplicable randomness.Watch the TEDx and see some jaw-dropping images as well!MUSIC: I...
Send us a text WATCH TEDx On October 10, Blissful gave her first TEDx talk about Resilience as part of TEDX AmoskeagMillyard in Manchester, New Hampshire. What is a TED talk?? TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and was founded in 1984 to showcase the "most interesting people on earth and let them communicate their passion."The tagline is "ideas worth spreading."The talks are short (under 18 minutes) and all memorized, given on a red dot of a carpet in front of a liv...
Send us a text Taking a class this weekend, Blissful learns about the key skills of a good teacher. This was especially important when she needed to face down an irrational fear of falling out of her kayak and being upside down in the water. Here are some of those skills: Positive Learning Environment. Encourage Risk Taking. Provide Feedback and GuidancePromote a Growth Mindset Just wanting to get better and do something out of our comfort zone isn't e...
Send us a text On the Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming, Blissful decides to go for an "SKT" (Slowest Known Time) and surprises abound. 1. John Muir (and Henry David Thoreau) hated the word "hike" and preferred to saunter, entering beautiful natural places with reverence. 2. Physiologists tell us that walking at a turtle's pace releases endocannabinoids a kind of "persistence high" that elicits a state of euphoria. 3. But most important, going slow and leaving plenty of time allows us to simp...
Send us a text On the Pyrenean Haute Route, an oafish American hiker questioned Blissful's ability to manage a route of this difficulty. “Even YOU?” he asked, his lip curling in disdain. “I haven’t seen many old people hiking this.” It shook her confidence, for sure, but here she was, backpacking while old. We don’t tend to bounce back the way we did when we were younger. That’s why we have to prioritize – 1:46 Rest 3:34 Nutrition 5:46 Exercise – and in that order! Blissful wil...
Send us a text Have you been wanting to do something a little wild and out-of-your-comfort-zone but were afraid to take the first step? When it comes to dreams, don't let them become a broken record of something you'll do "someday." In this episode, Blissful shares three reasons why we fail to act and keep our dreams to ourselves – rulesfear shameTake your dreams for a spin, even if you fail spectacularly. Your future self will thank you because, afterall, we tend not to regr...
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