Adventure She
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Empower Educate Entertain
Featuring Afghanistan’s Women Triathletes Enroute to Timbuktu Ocean Rowing
Plus Adventure Revolution with Belinda Kirk More from the United Nations Travels in Ukraine & lots more
Issue 16, April 2022 www.adventureshe.com
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Price £5.00 for 1 issue or £12 for all 4 of 2022’s issues
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Welcome From Our Editor Welcome to the 16th issue of Adventure She magazine which is a bumper issue and the theme for which is ‘step by step’.
one of us through sharing stories. Whilst the magazine focuses on adventure type stories which entertain, there’s a reason for that. My theory is if we find an article entertaining, we read to the end. If we read to the end, we might learn something and thereby be educated. If we’re educated, then doesn’t that make us feel more empowered and doesn’t empowerment encourage us to go out and do something, that we previously thought beyond our capability. Hence Adventure She’s tagline (albeit in a different order) empower, educate, entertain.
This issue is so packed, I had to make a really tough choice as to which articles to hold back until the June 2022 issue, the theme for which looks like being the importance of attitude. Anyways, back to this issue. So why on earth did I set up Adventure She magazine? After all, I’m no Arctic explorer, I haven’t climbed Mount Everest and I haven’t rowed an ocean.
So how to put this into practice? Whether it’s been in the adventure scene or with Adventure She magazine, for me, what’s worked is a step by step approach. After all, that’s how people climb a mountain, trek across a desert, or run a marathon. A step by step approach is also how one goes about rowing an ocean, as to successfully row an ocean, there’s a lot of work to be done before setting foot in a boat. Welcome to the world of Jessica Mullins who recently rowed the Atlantic as part of a team of four. Her story is so good, so detailed, we’re serialising it over at least two if not three or more issues. In this issue Jessica writes about the first steps on the ladder, steps that if we don’t action properly, will see us falling off the ladder and never making it to the top.
There’s a saying, ‘a fool learns by its own mistakes, a wise person learns from another’. I woke up one morning age 50 and leapt out of bed with the idea to create Adventure She. It literally came out of nowhere. I had no experience in publishing, none in blogging and I barely knew what Instagram and Twitter were, yet alone TikTok, Snap Chat etc (which I still don’t get). Was I being a fool? On that I had no idea. What I did know was I had regrets. I also knew that, if possible, I wanted to help others, so that they wouldn’t have as many regrets as I had. I didn’t want others to repeat my mistakes. I didn’t want others to let anxiety, fear and doubt to hold them back in the way I had let them hold me back, and I most definitely didn’t want shyness to hold them back.
Time and again I’ve heard people lament there’s not enough women leaders, there’s no one to look up to, to emulate, that there’s no one at the top. I think somewhat differently, how does the saying go, ‘seek and ye will find’? Helen Clark,
That is how Adventure She magazine was born. It was born to help each and every a lif
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
three time Prime Minister of New Zealand, two term Administrator United Nations Development Fund – the UN’s third most senior position, hiker, ski mountaineer and ski tourer, is back in this magazine, for part two of my interview with her. She too talks of the step by step approach, this time regarding career planning.
might laugh out loud at some of my early mistakes in ‘Hiking Mistakes’ when I was most definitely equipped like a fool. I’m only sharing it as a poll of readers in the magazine’s Facebook group showed a strong preference for reading more stories about ‘when things go wrong’. If you have such a story that you’re happy to share, please do contact me. As for beginners, if you are one, or if you know any, Harriet MacMillan’s article on Hiking Tips, is the one for you. Hopefully it may help you from accidently engaging in foolhardy behaviour and may help keep you safe in the mountains, as you embark on your own step by step journey from hiking easier trails to possibly with time and experience, much harder ones.
It's all well and good talking about step by step, but what do you do when you’re an Afghan woman living in Afghanistan? Since last August circumstances there have of course changed, but a few years ago two Afghan women did compete in a triathlon thanks to their grit, determination and a woman called Jackie Faye. The process was still step by step, it’s just there were a lot of additional and very tough steps. Jackie Faye’s article is one of the most empowering I have possibly ever read. She initially sent me the story in 2020 for publication in the September 2020 issue, the theme of which was leadership. However, at Jackie’s request it was held back due to the then upcoming peace talks and the slightest of possibilities that publishing the story could negatively impact upon those talks. The story has now been expanded to cover the events of last August. It’s stories like Jackie’s that make running Adventure She so extra special, it’s always special to be trusted with empowering, educating and entertaining stories, but her story is far more than that. Not surprisingly, Jackie Faye is the very well deserved recipient of this issue’s ‘What A Woman’ award. If you know of any other people who are opening up sport to women, please do get in touch, so Adventure She magazine can hopefully share their story and in the process possibly help raise awareness and thereby funds.
If despite reading Adventure She magazine, which has so far covered the following themes – mental health, travelling with children, dealing with fear, coping with change, risk assessment and management, self belief, seizing the moment, resilience, stepping beyond our comfort zone, gratitude, leadership, reflection, choice, controlling the controllable and SMARTER goal setting, you are still in doubt as to the value of adventure and the outdoors to our physical and mental wellbeing, then Belinda Kirk’s article Adventure Revolution and her book of the same name, is for you. As usual, there’s also a ‘normal’ book review section, but I figured given the importance of adventure to health, Belinda’s needed a different treatment. Here Belinda shares what drove her to write the book Adventure Revolution, which she has described as the book she wishes she could have read when she was starting out on her (literally adventurous) path in the adventure world.
I know a lot of you will be experienced outdoors people, but not everyone is. You
Interestingly, writing the book was a step by step process for Belinda, for it wasn’t a
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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case of simply sitting at her desk and writing, there was thinking about it, committing to it, plus pulling together her own stories and lots of additional research, before she could sit down at her computer to start planning out the book. Each step took time and effort, some steps took longer than others and some steps were harder than others.
making its own decisions, now who knows what lies ahead? Don’t worry, after that I figure we all need some light relief. Enter Annie Voight and her experience of living on a houseboat in Berlin. That’s right, adventures don’t have to be massive, learning new skills and achieving a more rounded understanding of all that’s around us can come from something as simple as housesitting a houseboat. Not all steps are equal, but each one is important. It’s what we make of each step in our step by step journey that matters and which can determine the direction of our next steps.
Whilst Belinda Kirk might have been adventuring to places like Lesotho since her pre university gap year, others take to adventure later in life. One person who recently changed her life is married mum of two Julia Stevens. She shares her step by step journey from being unhappy with her weight and wanting more, to becoming a mountain bike leader. That I think is some transformation.
Finally, Jacki Hill-Murphy is also back with part 2 of her adventures in Mali, this time it’s ‘On the road to Timbuktu’. Whenever I reread Jacki’s story it reminds me how lucky I am to be living where I live, it reminds me of the troubles other face, troubles I cannot imagine, and it reminds me of the importance of sharing stories, for if we don’t share our stories, how can others learn about them, and if we don’t know about them, what action can we take?
Another mum of two who really shows that middle age is no barrier to taking up new activities, is Vivian Lee. Originally from Beijing, China, Vivian has for a long time now lived in California, USA. Here Vivian, who’s only been running for seven years, shares the story of an ultramarathon she did which started from Everest Base Camp. It was an adventure that turned into way much more than step by step, one foot in front of the other, to get to the finish line.
Jane
Why can’t people appreciate the joys of another people and their culture, language and heritage? Kirsten Hamilton - Sturdy travelled to Ukraine shortly after the turn of the century when life in Ukraine was very different to life there now. Her story was so amazing, her record of history so interesting, I dug even further to find out more about events in Ukraine during the 21st century and also the Holodomor. Despite tremendous adversity, step by step Ukraine seemed to have found its way to
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
Following Adventure She on social media If you'd like to follow Adventure She on social media and / or join our Facebook Group, we'll be delighted to see you. Instagram
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Front cover Belinda Kirk, image courtesy of Belinda Kirk Back cover Annie Voight, image courtesy of Denis Alevi Photos accompanying editorial courtesy of Pixabay All photos courtesy of the author unless otherwise stated
Adventure She is published by TNA Consulting Services Ltd, the address of the registered of which can be obtained from Companies House. The entire contents are protected by copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction without prior permission is forbidden. Every care is taken in compiling the contents of the magazine, but the publishers assume no responsibility in the effect arising therefrom, Readers are advised to seek professional advice before acting on any information which is contained in the magazine. Neither TNA Consulting Services Ltd nor Adventure She magazine accept any liability for views expressed, pictures used, or claims made. Copyright © 2022 TNA Consulting Services Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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Team Building for the Atlantic Ocean By Jessica Mullins Photos courtesy of Jessica Mullins 9
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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The Big Interview Helen Clark, Former New Zealand Prime Minister Questions by Jane Harries Photos courtesy of Helen Clark 22
Helen Clark enjoying time out in the backcountry
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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Photo courtesy of Helen Clark
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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Hiking Mistakes By Jane Harries
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
www.adventureshe.com
We polled our Facebook group and asked what type of stories would you like to read? One of the most popular requests was stories about when things go wrong. Thing is, who’s prepared to put their hand up and admit to mistakes? If you are, please do let us know. Our editor has agreed to share the consequences arising from some of her hiking mistakes - probably in our next issue unless you get in there first and please do. Meanwhile here’s a story of mistakes and a very lucky escape.
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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Ultra Running Everest
By Vivian Lee Photos courtesy of Vivian Lee 87
Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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River Niger, Bamako, Mali Photo courtesy of Hugh Watts
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Adventure She magazine, Issue 16, April 2022
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MALI – PART 2 ON THE ROAD TO TIMBUKTU By Jacki Hill-Murphy
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