Facing one of life’s major crossroads, I set out on an epic period of work, travel and never-saying-no that landed me on the Khumbu Trail in Nepal, teaching and living Wilderness Medicine on a journey to Everest Basecamp.  During each adventure, no matter how small or  grand, I took my “angels” with me, blogging on Facebook, making sure everyone knew I was not just “hanging in there,” but healing by living life.  My own mother even joined Facebook so that she could come along for the ride.  Mom, less than thrilled about this particular trek at extreme altitude in Nepal, followed along via our trekking blog, clicking “like” and inquiring about the cold (often).  One day, after reading my post about our arrival at Everest Basecamp, Mom commented “AWESOME! I feel like I’m there with you, and so wish I could be!” Wow. Then I understood – sharing experiences is as important and meaningful as the experiences themselves.  Read about the trek to Everest Basecamp here.

Everest was epic in every way.  But everything that came before, like med school and my first backpacking trip when I wore all cotton, carrying a square-shaped canvas pack (and lived to tell), led to that trek in the Khumbu. Each adventure made me more comfortable in my own skin. Wild Medicine Girl is about the adventure of all of those things – ordinary and extraordinary.  It’s about the Wilderness, whether it’s the Ansel Adams Wilderness or Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. It’s about medicine – in and out of the hospital. And it’s about the girl.  My goal is to entertain, but also to encourage or inspire anyone reading to check out some fantastic bucket-list places and experiences, small and large, stay true to yourself, and to find adventure in all that you do.

Any opinions expressed on this blog are solely my own  and do not reflect those of my professional affiliations or place of employment.  Posts from guest contributors express the opinions of the authors only.