The Trail Ahead

Meet Erin McGrady. Erin is an Asian American photographer, writer, runner, outdoor enthusiast, and lover of good food. She is also the co-founder of Authentic Asheville - a storytelling platform that celebrates local travel by creating inclusive city guides aimed at identifying welcoming places for travelers from the LGBTQ+ community.

In this episode, Erin gets vulnerable as she shares her story, what she’s learning, and how she navigates difficult conversations. She shares the trials she faced when she first came out to her family, how she met her partner, Caroline, and how she balances a compassionate partnership and working relationship with her. We also discuss the world of social media as a creator and storyteller, and why travel writing needs to be a more inclusive space. From embracing difficult conversations to creating happiness through hard work, we hope you’ll be as inspired by this conversation as we were.

Connect with Erin:

• Instagram
• Who Is a Runner Short Film
• Camper Van Travel Blog

Sergio Avila is a conservation scientist, educator, and wildlife researcher and tracker based in Tucson, Arizona. He is the first regional Local Outdoors Coordinator for the Sierra Club. He is dedicated to designing and implementing local strategies and projects that increase opportunities for people to connect with nature and ignite their commitment for protecting the planet and to each other. Sergio was born in Mexico City and has over 20 years working on local and regional conservation efforts along the US-Mexico borderlands. He works with species from jaguars to butterflies - in real life. He also loves trail running, gardening and spending time outside. We met up with him to run in the desert and to visit the border wall, it was powerful and transformative, we think this episode is too.

Note: This is an English summary episode of our conversation with Sergio. You can listen to the full conversation in Spanish in the previous episode in the podcast feed.

For more information about Faith, Addie and The Trail Ahead go to https://www.thislanddoc.com/thetrailahead.

Discussed in this episode:

Sierra Club

Sergio's twitter

After taking some time off from their first 12 episodes, Addie and Faith are back with a fun but important conversation where you get to know the hosts of The Trail Ahead a little more intimately.

In this episode, Addie and Faith interview one another and re-introduce themselves to old and new listeners alike. They discuss what playing outside means to them and dive deeper into why their work is important to them. They discuss how trail running brought both of them today, how the identity of being in-between shaped Faith’s life, and what ultimately allowed Addie to get comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to have important conversations.

Then, they talk about the process of learning (and unlearning) and why it’s so important to never quit, even if you feel shame, guilt, or embarrassment. Faith also shares how being an extrovert lends itself to her interest in having these difficult conversations. Finally, Addie and Faith ask light-hearted questions that’ll allow you to get to know your hosts on a personal level.

Ways to get involved with The Trail Ahead:

• Donate to our Patreon
• Follow Us on Social Media

Alex is an Indigenous artist and activist who spends much of his time on the road, often moving between communities to stand in solidarity with their pressing calls to action. He is a member of the Navajo Nation, a vocal advocate in the Land Back movement, and a supporter of Indigenous-owned businesses. His jewelry and pottery convey traditional designs and stories of the Navajo people - serving as a form of resistance.
He joins the podcast for an eye-opening look into the meaning of kinship and connectedness. Alex shares stories from his childhood and how his upbringing, especially his grandparents, played a major role in shaping and influencing his life today. We also ask Alex about his practice as an artist, how his jewelry and crafts serve as a form of resistance, and why each piece he creates is filled with intention and meaning. Alex shares what Land Back is and why it’s so important, as well as our society’s need to acknowledge the inequities all around us and learn to care for one another.

Tune in to this conversation all about expression, connectedness, and how we can be better relatives to our communities.

In this episode of The Trail Ahead, Addie and Faith are joined by Noël Russell. Noël is a writer, van lifer, and dog-mom who works in digital marketing, and so much more. She’s someone whose words deeply resonate with Faith especially when it comes to encouragement and truth.

Today, Noël shares the story of her upbringing and how it played a formative role in her life. She also discusses how she aggregates being in this outdoor environment with both work and play, her relationship with stories and storytelling, and what contentment has to do with being outdoorsy. A huge theme for Noël is contentment as a radical state of mind, especially how it allows her to be kinder to herself.

Then, they all discuss why curiosity is key especially when it comes to championing change. From balancing the idea of discovering new places versus keeping some of them hidden and untouched, Noël’s conversation with Faith and Addie is sure to spark your curiosity.