Ep 46: Megan Taylor on Belay Expeditions & Ecopsychology

12/27/23 • 103 min

Megan "Belay" Taylor is the owner of Belay Expeditions . She is a mountain climber, long-distance expeditionist, and extreme minimalist. Once entirely nomadic living only on the open road with her bicycle, She now calls Lake City, Colorado home.
Belay turned full-time entrepreneur at the age of 35 even though her love for the great outdoors has been ironclad since she was 23. Her entrepreneurial endeavors came after the tumultuous yet life-changing decision to exit a life-long career in academia.

Megan lives by and operates BELAY EXPEDITIONS by three values: BE Outside, BE Simple, and BE in Pursuit. She believes these three values coalesce for a life lived better. Hence the BE motto: BE You. Better.
Belay credits her achievements and happy life to these three guiding values and motto.
Quotes:
"Where there is interest there is education"
"If you don't care about something you're not going to preserve it"

Topics Discussed:

How Megan got into mountain guiding
How she became an extreme minimalist
Why she considers her expeditions to be a "journey"
Why her nickname "belay" has nothing to do with rock climbing
How challenging experiences in nature contribute to a higher quality life
Why she wants to own nothing
How her personal values of be outside, be simple, be in pursuit affect everything she does
Why schools should require a field trip to landfills
Why ecopsychology is so important for us all to understand
How epigenetics affect people's interest in the outdoors
Why the best gear makes all the difference in your outdoor experience
What the "3 day effect is"
Her required expedition gear
Why Belay quit social media

Resources Mentioned:

The Adventure Made Podcast is sponsored by Rewild Gear. Essential gear built for the great outdoors, designed to fuel your next adventure. Come find your wild at RewildGear.com!

Topics Discussed:

How Megan got into mountain guiding
How she became an extreme minimalist
Why she considers her expeditions to be a "journey"
Why her nickname "belay" has nothing to do with rock climbing
How challenging experiences in nature contribute to a higher quality life
Why she wants to own nothing
How her personal values of be outside, be simple, be in pursuit affect everything she does
Why schools should require a field trip to landfills
Why ecopsychology is so important for us all to understand
How epigenetics affect people's interest in the outdoors
Why the best gear makes all the difference in your outdoor experience
What the "3 day effect is"
Her required expedition gear
Why Belay quit social media

Resources Mentioned:

The Adventure Made Podcast is sponsored by Rewild Gear. Essential gear built for the great outdoors, designed to fuel your next adventure. Come find your wild at RewildGear.com!

Previous Episode

Ep 45: Paul Lewis on Starting FHF Gear & Joining Meat Eater

Paul Lewis is the founder of FHF Gear, a high quality brand of hunting, fishing, and tactical outdoor gear. He is an avid fly fisherman, bow hunter, and retired law enforcement officer and SWAT Team Leader from Bozeman, MT. He has a bachelor of science degree in wildlife management from Montana State University. He started FHF Gear as a side gig by hand making gear for himself, teammates and hunting partners, which eventually turned into a full time business that was recently acquired by Meat Eater.
Quote:
"Always be willing to look at both sides of an opinion"
Topics Discussed:

How Paul started FHF Gear
His creative process for gear design
How they test new gear
How the company has changed and grown over the years
What it was like getting acquired by Meat Eater
Where Paul gets his creative inspiration for new gear
How their popular bino harness differs from others in the market
Why conservation is so important
Paul's thoughts on predator reintroduction
Why changing one's mind is a sign of intelligence
His craziest adventure flipping a canoe
Essential gear when venturing into the wilderness

Resources Mentioned:

FHF Gear
Instagram: FHF Gear
Facebook: FHF Gear
YouTube: FHF Gear
Paul's personal Instagram
Argali Outdoors
Seek Outside
Sparten Precision
Marsupial Gear
Weatherby
FirstLite
Book: Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
Book: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink
Book: The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt
Book: Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage by Dan Crenshaw
Book: The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
Book: American Buffalo by Steve Rinella
Podcast: The Joe Rogan Experience
Podcast: Meat Eater
Podcast: Bear Grease
Podcast: Andy Frisella

The Adventure Made Podcast is sponsored by Rewild Gear. Essential gear built for the great outdoors, designed to fuel your next adventure. Come find your wild at RewildGear.com!