28

August

0

Back in Bhutan

After dealing with a flight mix up (which involved calls to various embassies by friends in Bhutan and US to try and sort out where I was!!!) and a typhoon I have arrived in my beloved Bhutan, again. While on the drive from the airport to Thimphu I felt so much joy to be back in this beautiful, peaceful place. My heart is full. It was fitting that the first familiar face and hug was from Secretary General of Bhutan Olympic Committee! Bhutanese love to joke so I threw down my first at the airport when they did what is so common here—collect several people to do one task. “How many Bhutanese does it take to put a bike case […]

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Category: Adventure

16

August

0

2-Days in Yosemite Backcountry—Pondering Perception and Freedom

One intriguing aspect of my long term relationship with the Range of Light is how it pulls at me like a magnet. Most readily when I am in balance, and sometimes when I am feeling weighted down. Experiencing the latter as of late, I took off in the middle of the night on Sunday to Tuolumne Meadows for two days of tough solo hiking in the backcountry and one night of blissful sleep under the stars. I never know what will surface from each foray into the Sierra Range except that I will have wiped the slate clean on unproductive mental grappling, and in position to create what I wish moving forward. This familiar scenario played out, yet this time […]

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Category: Adventure

03

January

0

 Creating Our Future

Reflecting back on 2016 so many exciting, notable and moving memories come to mind. As I look forward to another fulfilling year I ask  the question—what do I wish to create in 2017? The long awaited Crossing Bhutan was premiered at Santa Barbara International Film Festival to a standing ovation for Ben Henretig, as well as several others festivals last year and I am now thrilled to share it with those in my hometown on January 27th—join us! My newest book, Dirty Inspirations, came out with a poignant and exciting book signing at my favorite, Book Shop Santa Cruz. I then took the book on my 8th trip to Bhutan, while once again supporting the Bhutan Olympic Committee in producing the 3rd Annual Bhutan International […]

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Category: Adventure

16

September

0

What Matters to Ruben Parma?

We met Ruben, a Venezuelan who lives in Barcelona, in Rabanal, on the Camino de Santiago trail. We had ordered too much pasta at our albergue, so we invited him to finish it off for us. This meal would be the start of a lovely friendship, solidified while we all pedaled the pilgrims route. He is not only an amiable, upstanding guy but one with whom, silence and intriguing conversation both run deep. Due to my effervescent curiosity, I have been known to have an ‘interrogation’ style of getting to know someone I believe may be interesting. One of the tests of that first conversation is whether the recipient of my barrage of questions, is equally curious, or not. Ruben […]

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Category: Adventure

29

July

0

Ocean to Mountains to Ocean—Quickly

After helping some open water swimmers get psyched about the ocean on Saturday, I headed up for a quick/big hike in Yosemite. Leaving the Valley early morning I headed up the John Muir Trail to top out in the afternoon in Tuolumne Meadows. I loved the huge/tough push, the heady granite visuals and pristine mountain lakes. Rugged hiking up high never gets easier—given that I have not been doing much hiking specifically, I could really feel the effort in my feet about 6 hours in. Yet the allure for it all just seems to continually deepen. From the ocean, then in close to triple digit heat in the mountains while pushing hard amidst the granite waves, it was sweetly pleasurable to […]

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Category: Adventure

29

July

0

CAMINO LOVE! – Video of Mountain Biking the Camino de Santiago Trail

Thank you Ruben Parma for putting together this video of your trip and our time together mountain biking the 500 mile, Camino de Santiago trail. Its perfect, as it captures the essence of our experience. Video starts with Ruben’s initial ride on the Camino a while back, before coming back for the second half, which is when we crossed trails. After we had been on the trail about a week, we met up with Ruben in the mountains in Rabanal when we invited him to finish our too large plate of pasta. We were joined at the hubs to the end and inclusive of Mark Sullivan whom we met a couple days later. LOVE his intro of us with the song, California Girls. Note […]

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Category: Adventure